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A MANUAL 


EDMUND A. PARKES, M.D., F.RBS. 


LATE PROFESSOR OF MILITARY HYGIENE IN THE ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL; MEMBER OF THE GENERAL 
COUNCIL OF MEDICAL EDUCATION ; FELLOW OF THE SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ; 
EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL MEDICINE IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON 


EDITED BY 


F. S. B. FRANCOIS DE CHAUMONT, M.D., F.R.S. 


EELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF EDINBURGH ; FELLOW AND MEMBER OF COUNCIL 
OF THE SANITARY INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN } PROFESSOR OF MILITARY 
HYGIENE IN THE ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL 


SEVENTH EDITION 


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PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. 


In the present Edition some changes have been made in the arrange- 
ment of the chapters, so as to suit better the Course of Lectures as 
given at Netley, and thus secure a more natural sequence of subjects. 
The principal processes for analysis of water, air, &c., have been 
placed in a separate section at the end, which it is hoped will be 
found convenient. I regret that prolonged illness has obliged me 
to delay the appearance of the work longer than I had intended. I 
take this opportunity of acknowledging the kind assistance I have 
received from my friend and colleague, Surgeon A. M. Davies, M.S., 


Assistant Professor of Hygiene, Army Medical School, 


F, DE CHAUMONT. 


Woo.tston Lawn, 
SOUTHAMPTON, September 1887. 


v 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION, . ; ; A ; ‘ 


BOOK I 
CHAPTER I. 


SoILs, 

Section I.—Conditions of soil affecting health, 
Air in soil, 5 
Water in soil, 
Solid constituents, 
Malarious soils, 

Section II.—Examination of soil, 

Section III.—Method of examining a locality, : 

Secrion I1V.—Preparation of site, 


CHAPTER II. 


WATER, : 5 
Sectios L— Quantity and Supply, 
Quantity for healthy men and animals, . P 
sick men, . 2 
Collection, 
Storage, 
Distribution, 
Action on lead pipes, 
Section II.—Quality, 
Composition of drinking water, 


Characters and classification of drinking water, 5 


Origin of the impurities in drinking water, 
Impurities of source, 
transit, 
storage, : 
distribution, : 
Section III.—Effects of an insufficient or pute supply, 
Insufficient supply, 
Impure supply, 
Section IV.—Purification of water, 
Without filtration, 
With filtration, 
Section V.—Search after water, 
Supply of water to soldiers, 


CHAPTER III. 


REMOVAL OF EXCRETA, 
Section I. Amount of excreta, 


PAGE 
° d. Kir 


vill CONTENTS. 


Section II.—Methods of removal, 
Sewers, 
Removal by w ater, A 
Influence of sewers on the death-rate of towns, 
Dry methods of removal, 
Comparison of different methods, 


CHAPTER IV. 


AIR, . 
SECTION I, — Impurities i in 1 air, 
. Suspended matters, 
Gaseous matters, ; 
Impurities in certain special Cases, . 
Section II.—Diseases produced by impurities in air, 
suspended impurities, 
gaseous impurities, 
coexisting impurities, 


CHAPTER V. 


VENTILATION, 
- SECTION f —Quantity of air required, : 

Section II.—Mode in which it should be given, 

Section IIT.—Means by which air is set in motion, 
Natural ventilation, 
Artificial ventilation, 
Extraction, 
Propulsion, 

Section IV.—Relative value of natural and artificial ventilation, 

Section V.—Examination of the sufficiency of ventilation, 
Measurement of cubic space, 
Movement of air in the room, 


CHAPTER VI. 


HABITATIONS, : : - : 
Section I.—General conditions of health, 
Mode of examining healthiness, . 
Section II.—Hospitals, . 


CHAPTER VII. 


WARMING OF HousEs, 
Section I.—Degree of warmth, 
Section II. —Kinds of warmth, . 


CHAPTER VIII. 


Foon, ° 
Srcrion I.—General principles of diet, 
Quantity of food, 
On the energy obtainable from food, 
On the relative value of food, 
The digestibility of food, 
Section II.—Diseases connected w ith food 


PAGE 
94 
95 
97 

120 
122 
128 


130 
132 
132 
139 
140 
151 
151 
156 

160 


175 
175 
182 
186 
186 
201 
ZOL 
205 
206 
207 
208 
210 


213 
213 
215 
216 


227 
227 
228 


233 
233 
240 
246 
247 
249 
250 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Quacity, CHOICE, AND CooKING oF Foon, 
SECTION T:— Meat, : 
Section I1.—Wheat, 
Section III.—Barley, 
Section IV.—Oats, : ‘ 
Section V.—Maize and Rye, 
Section VI.—Rice, ‘ F 
Section VII. —Millet, Buckwheat, W5G5 
Section VIII. —Leguminose, : 
Srcrion IX.—Starches and Sugar, 
Arrowroots, 
Tapioca, 
Sago, 
Sugar, 
Section X.—Succulent Vegetables, 
Section XI.—Muilk, 
Section XII. — Butter, 
Section XIII. —Cheese, 
SEcTION XIV.—Eggs, P 
Section XV.—Concentrated and Preserved Food, 


CHAPTER X. 


BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS, 
Section I.—Alcoholic beverages, 


Beets lias : 
Wine, 
Spirits, . 


Alcohol as an article of diet, 
Section II.—Non-alcoholic beverages, 


Coffee, 
Tea, 
Cocoa, ° 
Snor10N I1J.—Condiments, » 

Vinegar, 

Mustard, 

Pepper, 

Salt, 


Section IV.—Lemon and lime j juice, 


CHAPTER XI. 


EXERCISE, : P : 
Section I1.—Effects of exercise, 
Section II.—Amount of exercise, 
Section III.—Training, . 


CHAPTER XII. 


CLOTHING, 
Mater ials of clothing, 


CHAPTER XIII. 


INDIVIDUAL HyciEnic MANAGEMENT, : 


1X 


PAGE 
254 
254 
270 
292, 
293 
294 
294 
295 
296 
297 
297 
297 
298 
299 
299 
301 
305 
309 
309 
310 


315 
315 
316 
318 
319 
338 
338 
343, 
346 
347 
347 
300 
351 
302 
3503 


354 
354 
364 
368 


369 
369 


374 


x CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XIV 


PAGE 

DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD, . ° ‘ - ° ® . 378 

CHAPTER XV. 

CLIMATE, ; : ; 5 : : 382 
Section I. —Temperature, : , : ; : ; 384 
Section IJ.—Humidity, : : i : ; : 389 
Section III.—Movement of air, . - : : F 390 
Section 1V.—Weight of air, : ; P 5 391 
Section V. —Composition of air (ozone, ‘malaria), : : : 394 
Section VI.—Electrical conditions—lght, 3 : ; : 395 

CHAPTER XVI. 

METEOROLOGY, ° é : : 3 ; - : 398 
SECTION I.—Thermometers, . i ; : : : 399 
Section I1.—Hyegrometers, . : : ; : : 404 
Section III.—Barometer, : : ° : ; é 407 
Section JV.—Rain, . : ; ; 5 ; ; 414 
Section V.—Evaporation, . - : : : é 415 
Section VI.—Wind, . ; : : : i : 416 
Section VII,—Clouds, . ; P : : : ; 418 
Section VIII.—Ozone, . : : ; : : ‘ 419 
Section IX.—Electricity, : . ‘ : : . 420 
SEecTION X.—Thermometer stand, . C : . : 420 
Section XI.—Weather, 2 : ; 420 
Section XII.—Diseases and meteorological conditions, 5 : 420 

CHAPTER XVII. 

DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION, é ° ; 4 : 422 
Nature of the contagia, . : . : 2 423 
The media in which the contagia are spread, 5 , ; . 426 
Effects of heat as a disinfectant, : . : : ; 427 
Disinfecting chambers, . . : : ) 5 < 428 
Effects of chemical agents, - : : 3 : : 430 
Purification of clothes, . ° : s 428, 430 
Purification of the air by chemical methods, : . : , 431 
Purification of rooms after infectious diseases, . : : ‘ 435 
Disinfection in various diseases, ; : ; ; ; 437 
Exanthemata, . : ; ; : : 4 : 437 
Typhus, . ; ¢ : ; F ; : F 437 
Plague, . ; A 5 : , : . : 438 
Enteric fever, . : 5 : z : : : 438 
Cholera, . ‘ ; : ‘ : 2 : : 438 
Yellow fever, . ; * E : ; : . 439 
Dysentery, : : “ : 4 : i ‘ 439 
Cattle plague, . : ; é ; 5 : 440 
Deodorisation of sew age, ; : E ; : - 440 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

ON THE PREVENTION OF SOME CoMMON DISEASES, . ; , ; 446 

Section I.—Specific Diseases 
Paroxysmal fevers, . . 4 ; : 448 


Yellow fever, . : 5 ; : : 449 


CONTENTS. X1 


PAGE 
Dengue, : 2 : : - : 452 
Cholera, : : ; : : : 453 
Typhus, : : : : . : 458 
Plague, ; : ‘ : 5 ; 459 
Enteric fever, . : - : : ; 459 
Relapsing fever, : : : “ : 460 
Bilious remittent fevers, ; : ‘ : 460 
Cerebro-spinal meningitis, . : : : 461 
The eruptive fevers, . : : : : 461 
Erysipelas, : ; ; : ; : 461 
Hospital gangrene, , : : : 6 462 
Section II.—Non-specific diseases— 
Dysentery and diarrhcea, : : é : 463 
Liver diseases aa: : : ; ; 465 
Insolation, 4 : “ : : 466 
Phthisis, . " 3 : : . 467 
Scurvy, : : ‘ : : 468 
Military ophthalmia, : : : 3 471 
Venereal diseases in the army, : ; ‘ 473 
CHAPTER XIX. 
STATISTICS. 
Section I.—A few elementary points, . . - ’ 7 479 
BOOK TE 
THE SERVICE OF THE SOLDIER. 
CHAPTER I. 
Tue RECRUIT, . ° ; 486 
CHAPTER II. 
CoNDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE SOLDIER IS PLACED, : : : 492 
Section I1.—Barracks at home, : 2 c ‘ ‘ 492 
Barracks in hot climates, . E é : : 501 
Weoden huts, : : : 5 A 506 
War huts, . ; 5 j ‘ ; : 507 
Tents, : ‘ : : : F 2 508 
Camps, A : : ‘ : : 513 
Hespital encampment, otk lie : ; : 516 
Section II.— Food of the soldier, : : : ‘ . 516 
Section I1J.—Clothing of the soldier, . : ; : ‘ 524 
Section IV.—Articles of clothing, : ; ; : : 527 
Section V.—Equipments, é 3 : : 533 
Section VI.—Carriage of necessaries and armaments, , : : 537 
Section VII.—Work of the soldier, : ; : , ‘ 541 
Gymnastic exercises, 2 ; : F 542 
Marches, ; A : 546 
Duty of medical officers during marches, i P 5d4 
Marching in India, . 4 : 5 ; 556 


Canada, 5 : : ; 556 


Xli CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER III. 


PAGE 
EFrFrects OF MILITARY SERVICE, . 5 : 3 4 5 557 
ARMY STATISTICS, . : : 5 “ : : 557 

Section I.—Statistics in 1 war, : eae 5 : : 561 

Loss of strength per annum, : 5 : : 561 

By death, . ; : 3 5 ; ‘ 561 

By invaliding, ; ; : ; : 575 

Section II.—Loss of service from sickness, 5 : : 3 575 

Srction III.—General conclusions; soldierly qualities, . : : 579 
CHAPTER IV. 

FoREIGN SERVICE, . : ; . i ‘ : : 582 
Gibraltar, : : : 5 ; , ‘ 582 
Malta, . : : ; : 5 ; : : 587 
Cyprus, . : : : 5 : ; j : 591 
West Indies, ; 5 ; : : ; : 593 
Jamaica, . : : : : F : : 594 
Trinidad, ; : : : ; : ; 597 
Barbadoes, : Ae Be , : 5 : ; 599 
St Lucia, : 5 : 5 : : ; 3 601 

sritish Guiana, . , - aa ge ‘ : - ; 601 
Bahamas and Honduras, : : : ; § : 603 
Bermuda, : 3 5 ; 5 2 603 
North American stations, 5 : ; : : ‘ 605 
Canada, . 5 : j : : : : 605 
St Helena, ; : : : : 5 : : 608 
West Coast of Africa, . : : ; ; : ; 608 
Cape of Good Hope, i é ; : : ; 612 
Mauritius, : : 3 : : ; 614 
Ceylon, . : : ; : : é : 617 
India, . : ; ; ; , s : ‘ 619 
China, . ; : : 5 . ; : 4 644 
Egypt, . : 5 : P 5 5 : - 646 

CHAPTER V. 

SERVICE ON Boarp SHIpP, . : ; E ; 648 
Section I. —Transports for healthy troops, : : : - 648 
Section II.—Transports for sick troops, : . 5 : 648 
Sxcrion II1I].—Hospital ships, . : : . ; ; 649 

CHAPTER VI. 

War, : . : Pr! ; >! M652 
Section I.—Preparations for war during peace, - ? : 653 
Section JI.—Entry on war, . : 5 : : : 655 
Section ITI.—Actual war, : : 2 , 656 

Army Medical Regulations i: in war, . 5 ; 657 
Causes of sickness and mor tality, . : , 657 
Duties of sanitary officer, . . é / 659 
Hospitals in war, . : 3 - : 660 


Sieges, z : : ; ; - 665 


CONTENTS. 


1540) @ 1s QUI 


CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATIONS. 


CHAPTER I. 


EXAMINATION OF WATER FOR HYGIENIC PURPOSES, 
Collection, é : : 
Coarser physical examination, 

Examination of suspended matters, 
Microscopical, : 
Chemical, . 

Of dissolved matters, 
Qualitative, 
Quantitative, 


CHAPTER II. 


EXAMINATION OF AIR, ° 


CHAPTER III. 


EXAMINATION OF Foop, BEVERAGES, AND CONDIMENTS. 


Secrion I.—Food, 
Flour, 
Bread, 
Sugar, 
Milk, 
Butter, 

Section II.—Beverages, . 

. Beer, 

Wine, 
Spirits, 
Coffee, 
Tea, 
Cocoa, 

Section ITI.—Condiments, 
Vinegar, : 5 
Mustard, . ; : 
Pepper, 
Salt, 
Lemon and_lime j juice, 


APPENDIX, 


INDEX, 


X11 


‘DIRECTIONS TO BINDER. 


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Plater Views: : : : : : $3 709 
late me aValenn a : i : : j i 137 — 
late Villas : ‘ ; : ; AA 298 ) 
Plate VIII. . ‘ j : . : F 344 


Ie IDKS. : : : : , an 418 


INTRODUCTION. 


Hyciene is the art of preserving health; that is, of obtaining the most 
perfect action of body and mind during as long a period as is consistent 
with the laws of life. In other words, it aims at rendering growth more 
perfect, decay less rapid, life more vigorous, death more remote. 

This art has been practised from the earliest times. Before Hippocrates 
there were treatises on hygiene, which that great master evidently embodied 
in his incomparable works. It was then based on what we should now call 
empirical rules, viz., simply on observations of what seemed good or bad 
for health. Very early, indeed, the effects of diet and of exercise were 
carefully noticed, and were considered the basis of hygiene.’ Hippocrates, 
indeed, appears to have had a clear conception of the relation between the 
amount of food taken and of the mechanical energy produced by it; at 
least, he is extremely careful in pointing out that there must be an exact 
balance between food and exercise, and that disease results from excess 
either way. 

The effects on health of different kinds of air, of water, and to some extent 
of soils, were also considered at a very early date, though naturally the 
ignorance of chemistry prevented any great advance in this direction. 
Hippocrates summed up the existing knowledge of his time on the six 
articles, which in after-days received the absurd name of the “ Non- 
naturals.” The six articles, whose regulation was considered indispensably 
necessary to the life of man, were—air, aliment, exercise and rest, sleep and 
wakefulness, repletion and evacuation, the passions and affections of the 
mind. 

With the exception of the attempts of the alchemists, and of the chem- 
ical physicians, to discover some agent or drug which might increase or 


1 Herodicus, one of the preceptors of Hippocrates, was the first to introduce medicinal 
gymnastics for the improvement of health and the cure of disease; though gymnastics in 
training for war had been used long before. Plutarch says of him that, labouring under a 
decay which he knew could not be perfectly cured, he was the first who blended the 
gymnastic art with physic, in such a manner as protected to old age his own life and the 
lives of others afflicted with the same disease. He was censured by Plato for keeping alive 
persons with crazy constitutions.—Mackenzie on Health. 

* This title originated in a sentence of Galen, and was introduced into use by the jargon of 
the Peripatetic school. It was employed in all treatises on hygiene for probably nearly 1500 
years. 


XV1 INTRODUCTION. 


strengthen the principle of life,! the practice of hygiene remained within | 
the same limits until physiology (the knowledge of the laws of life) began 
to be studied. Hygiene then began to acquire a scientific basis. Still 
retaining its empirical foundation drawn from observation, it has now 
commenced to apply the discoveries of physiology to the improvement of 
health, and to test the value of its own rules by this new light. It is now 
gradually becoming an art based on the science of physiology, with whose 
progress its future is identified. 

But.the art of hygiene has at present still another object. If we had a 
perfect knowledge of the laws of life, and could practically apply this know- 
ledge in a perfect system of hygienic rules, disease would be impossible. 
But at present disease exists in a thousand forms, and the human race lan- 
guishes, and at times almost perishes, under the grievous yoke. The study 
of the causes of disease is strictly a part of physiology,” but it can only be 
carried out by the practical physician, since an accurate identification of 
the disease is the first necessary step in the investigation of causes. 

The causes being investigated, the art of hygiene then comes in to form 
rules which may prevent the causes or render the frame more fitted to bear 
them ; and as in the former case it was the exponent of physiology, in this 
case it becomes the servant of the pathologist. 

Taking the word hygiene in the largest sense, it signifies rules for perfect 
culture of mind and body. It is impossible to dissociate the two. The 
body is affected by every mental and moral action; the mind is profoundly 


1It was when chemistry was being rudely studied by the alchemists that an entirely 
different school of hygiene arose. The discovery of chemical agents, and the great effect 
they produce on the body, led to the notion that they could in some way aid the forces of 
life, and insure a prolonged, if not an eternal youth, and a life of ages instead of one of years. 
This belief, the natural result of the discovery of new powers, has not yet entirely died out; 
and while there are some who still look to every fresh agent as possibly containing ‘‘ the 
balsam of life,” there are also still enthusiasts who search the mystic tomes of the alchemists 
or the Rosicrucians in the faith that, after all, the great secret was really found. It may 
be worth while to consider the idea which underlay the dreams of the alchemists. Life was 
looked on as an entity or principle liable to constant waste, and to eventual expenditure. 
If some agent could be found to arrest the waste, to crystallise, as it were, the tissues in 
their full growth and vigour, decay, it was conceived, would be impossible, and youth would 
be eternal. In other cases, it was supposed that the agent would itself contain the principle 
of life, and therefore would at once restore destroyed health, and recall again departed youth. 
We now know this idea to be wrong in every point, The constant decay the alchemists 
sought to check is life itself, for life is but incessant change, and what we call decay is only 
a metamorphosis of energy. To arrest the changes in the body for one single moment would 
be death, or, short of death, it would be lessening of the energy which is the expression of 
life. Nor is there any hope that the extension of the period of vital energy can ever be 
accomplished except by improving the nutrition of the tissues. Here, indeed, it is just pos- 
sible that, in time to come, drugs will aid hygiene, either by better preparing food for the pur- 
poses of nutrition, or by removing or preventing those chemical changes in the tissues which 
we call decay. But at present, certainly, no rules can be laid down for the use of drugs in 
hygiene, except in that debatable land which lies between hygiene and the practice of medi- 
cine, that is, in that uncertain region which we do not like to call disease, and yet which is 
not health. 

2 Physiology and pathology are, in fact, one; normal and abnormal life, regular and 
irregular growth and decay, must be studied together, just as, in fact, human physiology is 
imperfect without the study of all the other forms of life, animal and vegetable, which are 
in the world. Separated for convenience, these various studies will finally converge. 


INTRODUCTION. XVI 


influenced by bodily conditions. For a perfect system of hygiene we must 
train the body, the intellect, and the moral faculties in a perfect and 
balanced order. 

But is such a system possible ? 

Is there, or will there ever be, such an art, or is the belief that there will 
be, one of those dreams which breathe a blind hope into us, a hope born only 
of our longings, and destined to die of our experience? And, indeed, when 
we look around us and consider the condition of the world—the abundance 
of life, its appalling waste ; the wonderful contrivances of the animal king- 
dom, the apparent indifference with which they are trampled under foot ; 
the gift of mind, its awful perversion and alienations ; and when, especially, 
we note the condition of the human race, and consider what it apparently 
might be, and what it is: its marvellous endowments and lofty powers ; its 
terrible sufferings and abasement ; its capacity for happiness, and its cup of 
sorrow ; the boon of glowing health, and the thousand diseases and painful 
deaths,—he must indeed be gifted with sublime endurance or undying faith 
who can still believe that out of this chaos order can come, or out of this 
suffering happiness and health. 

Whether the world is ever to see such a consummation no man can say ; 
but as ages roll on hope does in some measure grow. In the midst of all 
our weaknesses, and all our many errors, we are certainly gaining know- 
ledge, and that knowledge tells us, in no doubtful terms, that the fate of 
man is in his own hands. 

It is undoubtedly true that we can, even now, literally choose between 
health or disease; not, perhaps, always individually, for the sins of our 
fathers may be visited upon us, or the customs of our life and the chains of 
our civilisation and social customs may gall us, or even our fellow-men may 
deny us health, or the knowledge which leads to health. But, as a race, 
man holds his own destiny, and can choose between good and evil; and as 
time unrolls the scheme of the world it is not too much to hope that the 
choice will be for good. 


Looking only to the part of hygiene which concerns the physician, a per- 
fect system of rules of health would be best arranged in an orderly series of 
this kind. 

The rules would commence with the regulation of the mother’s health 
while bearing her child, so that the growth of the new being should be as 
perfect as possible. Then, after birth, the rules (different for each sex at 
certain times) would embrace three epochs :! of growth (including infancy 
and youth) ; of maturity, when for many years the body remains apparently 


1 First expressly noted by Galen, 


XVill INTRODUCTION. 


stationary; of decay, when, without actual disease, though, doubtless in 
consequence of some chemical changes, molecular feebleness and death 
commence in some part or other, forerunning general decay and death. 

In these several epochs of his life, the human being would haye to be 
considered — 

1st, In relation to the natural conditions which surround him, and which 
are essential for life, such as the air he breathes ; the water he drinks; his 
food, the source of all bodily and mental acts ; the soil which he moves on, 
and the sun which warms and lights him, &c. ; in fact, in relation to nature 
at large. 

2nd, In his social and corporate relations, as a member of a community 
with certain customs, trades, conditions of dwellings, clothing, &c.; sub- 
jected to social and political influences, sexual relations, &c. 

3rd, In his capacity as an independent being, having within himself 
sources of action, in thoughts, feelings, desires, personal habits, all of which 
affect health, and which require self-regulation and control. 

Even now, incomplete as hygiene necessarily is, such a work would, if 
followed, almost change the face of the world. But would it be followed ? 

In some cases the rules of hygiene could not be followed, however much 
the individual might desire to do so, For example, pure air is a necessity 
for health; but an individual may have little control over the air which 
surrounds him, and which he must draw into his lungs. He may be power- 
less to prevent other persons from contaminating his air, and thereby 
striking at the very foundation of his health and happiness. Here, as in 
so many other cases which demand regulation of the conduct of the indi- 
viduals toward each other, the State steps in for the protection of its 
citizens, and enacts rules which shall be binding upon all. Hence arises 
what is now termed “State Medicine,” a matter of the greatest importance. 
The fact of “State Medicine” being possible marks an epoch in which 
some sanitary rules receive a general consent, and indicates an advancing 
civilisation. Fear has been expressed lest State Medicine should press too 
much on the individual, and should lessen too much the freedom of per- 
sonal action. This, however, is not likely, as long as the State acts 
cautiously, and only on well-assured scientific grounds, and as long as an 


unshackled Press discusses with freedom every step.1 


1 A watchful care over the health of the people, and a due regulation of matters which con- 
cern their health, is certainly one of the most important functions of Government. The fact 
that, in modern times, the subject of hygiene generally, and State Medicine in particular, has 
commenced to attract so much the public attention, is undoubtedly owing to the application 
of statistics to public health. It is impossible for any nation, or for any Government, to 
remain indifferent when, in figures which admit of no denial, the national amount of health 
and happiness, or disease and suffering, is determined. The early Statistical Reports of the 
Army by Tulloch, Marshall, and Balfour directed attention to the importance of this matter. 
The establishment of the Registrar-General’s office in 1838, and the commencement of the 


: 


INTRODUCTION. x1x 


There are, however, some cases in which the State cannot easily interfere, 
though the individual may be placed under unfavourable hygienic conditions 
by the action of others. For example, in many trades, the employed are 
subjected to danger from the carelessness, or avarice, or ignorance of the 
employers. Every year the State is, however, very properly more and more 
interposing and shielding the workman against the dangers which an 
ignorant or careless master brings on him, 

But in other cases the State can hardly interpose with effect; and the 
growth of sanitary knowledge and the pressure of public opinion alone can 
work a cure, as, for example, in the case of the dwellings of our poorer classes. 
In many parts of the country the cottages are unfit for human beings ; in 
many of our towns the cupidity of builders runs up houses of the most 
miserable structure, for which there is unhappily no lack of applicants ; or 
masters oblige their men to work in rooms or to follow plans which are 
most detrimental to health, 

But even in such cases it will be always found that self-interest would 
really indicate that the best course is that we should do for our neighbours 
as for ourselves. Analyse also the effect of such selfishness and carelessness 
as has been referred to on the nation at large, and we shall find that the 
partial gain to the individual is far more than counterbalanced by the injury 
to the State, by the discontent, recklessness, and indifference produced in 
the persons who suffer, which may have a disastrous national result. It 
is but too commonly forgotten that the whole nation is interested in the 
proper treatment of every one of its members, and in its own interest has a 
right to see that the relations between individuals are not such as in any 
way to injure the well-being of the community at large. 

In many cases, again, the employer of labour finds that, by proper sanitary 
care of his men, he reaps at once an advantage in better and more zealous 


system of accurately recording births and deaths, will hereafter be found to be, as far as the 
happiness of the people is concerned, one of the most important events of our time. We owe 
a nation’s gratitude especially to him to whose sagacity the chief fruits of the inquiry are 
due, to William Farr. 

Another action of the Government in our day was scarcely less important. It is impossible 
to overrate the value of the Government Inquiry into the Health of Towns, and of the country 
generally, which was commenced forty years ago by Edwin Chadwick, Southwood Smith, 
Neil Arnott, Sutherland, Guy, Toynbee, and others, and has, in fact, been continued ever 
since by the official successors of these pioneers, the former medical officer to the Privy 
Council, Mr Simon, the late Dr Seaton, and the present medical officer of the Local Govern- 
ment Board, Dr Buchanan. Consequent on this movement came the appointment of medical 
Officers of health to the different towns and parishes. The reports published by many of 
these gentlemen have greatly advanced the subject, and have done much to diffuse a know- 
ledge of hygiene among the people, and at the same time to extend and render precise our 
knowledge of the conditions of national health. When the effect of all these researches and 
measures develops itself, it will be seen that even great wars and political earthquakes are 
really nothing in comparison with these silent social changes. Even now legislation, such 
as the Public Health Act, 1875, and the various measures since passed, is beginning to exert 
adeep influence. Legislation, and action based on legislation, can only proceed slowly, and 
Ee must be satisfied if there be a continual advance, though it may not be so rapid as some 

esire, 


xx INTRODUCTION. 


work, in fewer interruptions from ill health, &c., so that his apparent outlay 
is more than compensated. 

This is shown in the strongest light by the army. The State employs a 
large number of men, whom it places under its own social and sanitary con- 
ditions. It removes from them much of the self-control with regard to 
hygienic rules which other men possess, and is therefore bound by every 
principle of honest and fair contract to see that these men are in no way 
injured by its system. But more than this: it is as much bound by its 
Self-interest. It has been proved over and over again that nothing is so 
costly in all ways as disease, and that nothing is so remunerative as the 
outlay which augments health, and in doing so augments the amount and ~ 
value of the work done. 

It was the moral argument as well as the financial one which led Lord 
Herbert to devote his life to the task of doing justice to the soldier, of 
increasing the amount of his health, and moral. and mental training, and, 
in so doing, of augmenting not only his happiness, but the value of his 
services to the country. 


BOOK. & 


CHAPTER I. 
SOLLS. 


CHOICE OF SITES. 


Tue term soil is used here in a large sense, to express all the portion of the 
crust of the earth which by any property or condition can affect health. 

The subdivision into surface soil and subsoil is often very useful ; and these 
terms need no definition. 


SECTION I. 
CONDITIONS OF SOIL AFFECTING HEALTH. 


Soil consists of mineral, vegetable, and often animal substances, in the 
interstices of which are also air and often water. 

In reviewing the conditions which affect health, it will be convenient to 
commence with the air and the water in soils. 


Sup-Ssection I.—THe AIR IN THE SOIL. 


The hardest rocks alone are perfectly free from air; the greater number 
even of dense rocks, and all the softer rocks, and the loose soils covering 
them, contain air. The amount is in loose sands often 40 or 50 per cent. ; 
in soft sandstones, 20 to 40 per cent. The loose soil turned up in agricul- 
tural operations may contain as much as 2 to 10 times its own volume of 
air. 

The nature of the air in soils has been examined by a good many 
observers ; it is mostly very rich in carbon dioxide, is very moist, and 
probably contains effluvia and organic substances, derived from the animal 
or vegetable constituents, which have not yet been properly examined. 
Occasionally it contains carburetted hydrogen, and in most soils, when the 
water contains sulphates, a little hydrogen sulphide may be found. It has 
been examined by Nichols! in America, Fleck ? in Dresden, Fodor? in Buda- 


1 Sixth Report of Board of Health, Massachusetts, 1875. 
2 4ter and 5ter Jahresbericht der chemischen Centralstelle, Dresden, 1876. 
3 Deutsche Vierteljahrschrift fiir dffentliche Gesundheit., Band vii. p. 205, 1875; also 
Hygienische Untersuchungen ueber Luft, Boden, und Wasser, von Dr Josef Fodor, Braun- 
schweig, 1882. 
A 


2 SOILS. 


Pesth, Lewis and Cunningham! in Calcutta, and many others. Nichols 
made his experiments in the Back-Bay lands of Boston, Massachusetts,—land 
made by throwing gravel upon sea mud. His first series of experiments 
was upon air drawn from depths of 33 to 54 feet. There was no hydrogen 
sulphide, and only a little ammonia; the CO, was from 1°49 to 2:26 volumes 
per 1000, and varied inversely as the height of the ground water, which was 
very near the surface. This relation, however, was not constant at a depth — 
of 6 to 10 feet. Fleck found at 2 metres the CO, 29-9 per 1000, and the 
oxygen 163°3; at 6 metres the CO, 79°6, and the oxygen 148°5. Fodor 
found (out of 13 observations) at 1 metre from 8-99 to 10°39 of CO,, and 
oxygen from 187-97 to 213°35; at 4 metres (11 observations) from 26°31 
‘to 54°45 CO,, and oxygen from 179-06 to 185°32. The great amount of 
CO, points to very intense chemical changes in the ground, especially in 
the deep strata, but at the same time it may be very variable in different 
places. The amount of oxygen was in a measure inversely as the CO,. 
At a depth of 4 metres (13 feet) the air would be irrespirable, and vould 
extinguish a light. (How many cellars go as deep as 13 feet into the 
oround, and the cellar air feeds. the house with air!) From the examina- 
tion of the organic matter, he comes to the conclusion that it is not 
necessarily its oxidation on the spot that produces the CO,, and that 
therefore the latter cannot be taken, except under certain conditions, as a 
measure of impurity, depending as it does to a large extent upon the perme- 
ability of the soil. He found no hydrogen sulphide, but a good deal of 
nitric acid and ammonia, the relative quantities depending upon free access 
of air or otherwise. As regards moisture, the mean percentage of humidity 
was 80-7 at 2 metres and 93°8 at 4. Lewis and Cunningham, in their 
observations at Calcutta, found results somewhat similar to those of Fodor, 
the CO, being greatest in the lower strata examined. The composition of 
soil air differs at different times and seasons, the absolute and relative 
amounts of the constituents varying under varying conditions. 

Professor Wollny? shows that the amount of CO, depends upon the 
factors of the decomposition of organic matter (heat, moisture, and porosity) 
as affected by the physical nature of the ground and its covering, and on 
the physical resistance that the ground presents to its escape. The CO, 
is at its maximum when the slopes are at 20°, and southern have more than 
northern, though the difference is not great, heat and moisture counter- 
acting each other. In drought northern slopes have most CO,. With 
equal quantities of organic matter there is more CO, the more granular the 
soil, and such soil prevents the passage of CO, downwards as well as 
upwards. The air in ground shaded by living plants has considerably less 
CO, than that in bare ‘ground, and in the latter it has less (in dry years, 
not in wet) than in ground covered by dead parts of plants. 

The amount of arr in soils can be roughly estimated, in the case of rather 
loose rocks, by seeing how much water a given bulk will absorb, which can 
be done by the following plan :—Weigh a piece of dry rock, and call its 
weight W: then weigh it in water and call this weight W,: then take it 
out of the water saturated with moisture, and weigh it again: call this 
weight W,. We then have— 


(W, — W)100 ; 
We Wee = percentage of air, 


hy WOE —A piece of dry sok weighs 100 grammes (W): when w ergheda in 


1 The ‘Soil in its oni to Disease, Calcutta, 1875. 
2 Nature, Jan. 6, 1887, p. 230 (from Naturforscher). 


ATR IN SOIL—POROSITY. 3 


water it weighs 60 (W,) ; weighed out of water, but saturated, it weighs 110 

110-100 10 
is): then top 60-40 
cent. of porosity. 

When the soil is loose, Pettenkofer adopts the following plan :—Dry the 
loose soil at 212° Fahr. (100° Cent.), and powder it, but without crushing 
it very much ; put it into a burette, and tap it so as to expel the air from 
the interstices as far as possible ; connect another burette by means of an 
elastic tube with the bottom of the first burette and clamp it on close to 
the end of the latter; pour water into No. 2 burette, and then, by 
pressing the clamp, allow the water to rise through the soil until a thin 
layer of water is seen above it; then read off the amount of water thus 
gone out of the second burette. The calculation— 


= 0-25, and this multiplied by 100 gives 25 per 


Amount of water used x 100 
Cubic centimetres of dry soil 


= percentage of air. 


Lrample.—30 c.c. of soil were put in the burette: it took 10 cc. of 
10 x 100 
30 

Renk’s plan is very simple. Take a measured quantity of soil, say 50 
¢.c., Shaken well together, so as to represent its natural condition as much 
as possible, and put it into a 200 cc. graduated glass measure: then pour 


water to reach to the top: then = 33°3 per cent. of porosity. 


in 100 c.c. of water, and shake well so as to expel all air. Allow it to 


stand a little, and read off the point at which the water stands. Suppose 
it stands at 125 c.c., then the 50 c.c. of soil and the 100 cc. of water, 
when shaken together, only occupy a space of 125 cc. the difference, 
25 c¢., representing the bulk of air displaced from the 50 c.c. of soil: 
therefore = x 100 =50 per cent. of air or porosity in the sample of soil. 

The subterranean atmosphere thus existing in many loose soils and rocks 
is in continual movement, especially when the soils are dry; the chief 
causes of movement are the diurnal changes of heat in the soil, and the fall 
of rain, which must rapidly displace the air from the superficial layers, and, 
at a later date, by raising the level of the ground water, will slowly throw 
out large quantities of air from the soil. Fodor considers the temperature 
of the air, the ground temperature, the action of the winds, rainfall, baro- 
metric pressure, and level of ground water to be all influential in causing 
movement of the ground air, and consequent relative change in its consti- 
tuents. As far as the CO, was concerned, Lewis and Cunningham found 
that the air temperature and wind were both inoperative, whilst the 
moisture had the greatest influence on the upper strata, and the ground 
water on the lower. 

Local conditions must also influence the movement; a house artificially 
warmed must be continually fed with air from the ground below, and doubt- 
less this air may be drawn from great depths. Coal gas escaping from pipes, 
and prevented from exuding by frozen earth on the surface, has been known 
to pass sideways for some distance into houses.!_ The air of cesspools and of 
porous or broken drains will thus pass into houses, and the examination of 
drains alone often fails to detect the cause of effluvia in the house. 

The unhealthiness of houses built on “ made soils,” for some time after the 
soils are laid down, is no doubt to be attributed to the constant ascent of 
impure air from the impure soil into the warm houses above. 


1 Lancet, 1873, vol. ii. p. 592. 


4 SOILS. 


To hinder the ascent of air from below into a house is therefore a sanitary 
point of importance, and should be accomplished by paving and concreting 
the basement, or, in some cases, by raising the house on arches off the 
ground. The improvement of the health of towns, after they are well paved, 
may be partly owing to lessening of effluvia, though partly also to the 
greater ease of removing surface impurities. In some malarious districts 
great benefit has been obtained by covering the ground with grass, and thus 
hindering the ascent of the miasm. 

As a rule, it is considered that loose porous soils are healthy, because 
they are dry, and, with the qualification that the soil shall not furnish 
noxious effluvia from animal or vegetable impregnation, the rule appears to 
be correct. It is, however, undoubted that dry and apparently tolerably 
pure soils are sometimes malarious, and this arises either from the soils 
being really impure, or from their porosity allowing the transference of air 
from considerable distances. Even on the purest soils it is desirable to- 
observe the rule of cutting off the subsoil air from ascent into houses. 

The diseases which have been attributed to telluric effluvia are— 


Paroxysmal fevers. Bilious remittent fever. 
Enteric (typhoid) fever. Cholera. 
Yellow fever. Dysentery. 


The questions connected with these effluvia will be noticed farther on. 


THe WATER IN THE SOIL. 


The water present in soils is divided into moisture and ground water. 
When air as well as water is present in the interstices the soil is merely 
moist. The ground water must be defined, with Pettenkofer, as that 
condition in which all the interstices are filled with water, so that, except 
in so far as its particles are separated by solid portions of soil, there is a 
continuity of water. Other defimitions of ground water have been given, — 
but it is in this sense it is spoken of here. 

Moisture of Soil.—The amount of moisture depends on the power of 
the soil to absorb and retain water, and on the supply of water to the soil 
either from rain or ground water. With respect to the first point, almost 
all soils will take up water. Pfaff! has shown that dried quartz sand on a_ 
filter can take up as much as 20 per cent. of water, and, though in the 
natural condition in the soil the absorption would not be so great, there 
is no doubt that even the hardest sands retain much moisture. After 
several months of long continued drought, Mr Church found a light 
calcareous clay loam subsoil to contain from 19 to 28 per cent. of water. 

A loose sand may hold 2 gallons of water in a cubic foot, and ordinary 
sandstone may hold 1 gallon. Chalk takes 13 to 17 per cent.; clay, if 
not very dense, 20; humus, as much as 40 to 60, and retains it strongly. 
The so-called “cotton-soil” of Central India, which is derived from trap 
rock, absorbs and retains water with great tenacity ; the driest granite and 
marbles will contain from -4 to 4 per cent. of water, or from 5 to 50 pints 
in each cubic yard. 

The moisture in the soil is derived partly from rain, to which no soil is 
absolutely impermeable, as even granite, clay slate, and hard limestone 
may absorb a little. Practically, however, soils may be divided into the 
impermeable (unweathered granite, trap and metamorphic rocks, clay slate, 


1 Zeitsch. fir Biologie, Band iv. p. 249. 


WATER IN SOIL—GROUND WATER. 5 


dense clays, hard oolite, hard limestone and dolomite, &c.) and permeable 
(chalk, sand, sandstone, vegetable soils, &c.). The amount of rain passing 
into the soil is influenced, however, by other circumstances—by the 
declivity and inclination of the soil; by the amount of evaporation, which 
is increased in summer ; by hot winds; and by the rapidity of the fall of 
rain, which may be greater than the soil can absorb. On an average, in 
this country, about 25 per cent. of the rain penetrates into the sand rock, 
42 per cent. into the chalk, and from 60 to 96 per cent. into the loose 
sands. ‘The rest evaporates or runs off the surface by the lines of natural 
drainage. The rapidity with which the rain water sinks through soil 
evidently varies with circumstances ; in the rather dense chalks it has been. 
supposed to move 3 feet downwards every year, but in the sand its move- 
ment must be much quicker. 

The moisture of the soil is not, however, derived solely from the rain ; 
the ground water by its own movement of rising and falling, by evapora- 
tion from the surface of the subterranean water, and by capillary attraction, 
makes the upper layers of the soil wet. By these several agencies the 
ground near the surface is in most parts of the world kept more or less 
damp. 

Determination of Moisture in the Soil.—By drying 10 grammes at a tem- 
perature of 220° Fahr. (104°-4 Cent.), then weighing, exposing to air, and 
observing the increase of weight, an idea is formed of the amount of moisture, 
and of the hygrometric properties of the soil. If the dried soil is put over 
water under a bell jar, it will be exposed to air saturated with moisture, or 
by observing the dry and wet bulb thermometers, the humidity of the air 
at the time can be noted. 

The Ground or Subsoil Water.—The subterranean continuous water, 
known as ground or subsoil water, is at very different depths below the 
surface in different soils ; sometimes it is only 2 or 3 feet from the surface, 
in other cases as many hundreds. This depends on the compactness or 
permeability of the soil, the ease or difficulty of outflow, and the existence 
or not of an impermeable stratum near or far from the surface. It is an 
error to look upon the ground water as a subterranean lake or sea, with an 
even surface like an ordinary sheet of water, for it is not necessarily 
horizontal, and in some places it may be brought nearer to the surface 
than others by peculiarities of ground. The water is in constant move- 
ment, in most cases flowing towards the nearest water-courses or the sea ; 
the rate of movement has not yet been perfectly determined. In Munich 
Pettenkofer reckons its rate as 15 feet daily; the high water in the Elbe 
moves the ground water in the vicinity at the rate of about 7 or 8 feet 
daily. Fodor! gives the mean rate at Buda-Pesth as 53 metres (174 feet), 
with a maximum of 66 metres (216 feet) in twenty-four hours, reckoning 
by the rise of the wells following the rise of the Danube. 

The rate of movement is not influenced solely by compactness or porosity 
of soil, or inclination. The roots of trees exert a great influence in lessening 
the flow; and, on the other hand, water runs off more rapidly than before 
in a district cleared of trees. The level of the ground water is constantly 
changing. It rises or falls more or less rapidly and at different rates in 
different places; in some cases its movement is only a few inches either 
way, but in most cases the limits between its highest and lowest levels in 
the year are several feet (in Munich about 10). In India the changes are 
greater. At Saugor, in Central India, the extremes of the soil water are 


1 Op. cit., Bd. ii. p. 98. 


6 SOILS. 


from a few inches from surface (in the rains) to 17 feet in May. At’ | 
Jubbulpore it is from 2 feet from the surface to 12 or 15. 

The causes of change in the level of the ground water are the rainfall, 
pressure of water from rivers or the sea, and alterations in outfall, either 
increased obstruction or the reverse. The effect of the rainfall is sometimes — 
only traceable weeks or even months after the fall, and occasionally, as in 
plains at the foot of hills, the level of the ground water may be raised by 
rainfalls occurring at great distances. The pressure of the water in the 
Rhine has been shown to affect the water in a well 1670 feet away. The | 
pressure of the Danube at Buda-Pesth is found to influence a well at a 

distance of 2700 feet (Fodor). 

In a place near the Hamble River (Hampshire) the tide was found to 
affect the water of a well at a distance of 2240 feet, the well itself being 
83 feet deep and 140 feet above mean water-level.+ 

Diseases connected with Moisture and Ground Water.—Dampness of soil 
may presumably affect health in two ways—lst, by the effect of the water, 
per se, causing a cold soil, a misty air, and a tendency in persons living on 
such a soil to catarrhs and rheumatism ; and 2nd, by aiding the evolution” 
of organic emanations. The decomposition which goes on in a soil is owing 
to four factors, viz., presence of decomposable organic matters (animal or 
vegetable), heat, air, and moisture. These emanations are at present known 
only by their effects ; they may be mere chemical agencies, but there is in- 
creasing reason to believe that they are caused by low forms of life which — 
grow and propagate in these conditions, At any rate, moisture appears to — 
be an essential element in their production. The ground water is presumed 
to affect health by rendering the soil above it moist, either by evaporation — 
or capillary attraction, or by alternate wettings and drvings. 

A moist soil is cold, and is generally believed to predispose to rheumatism, 
catarrh, and neuralgia. It is a matter of general experience that most 
persons feel healthier on a dry soil. 

In some way which is not clear, a moist soil produces an unfavourable 
effect on the lungs: at least in a number of English towns which have 
been sewered, and in which the ground has been rendered much drier, 
Buchanan has shown that there has been a diminution in the number of 
deaths from “phthisis.”? Dr Bowditch of Boston (U.S.) and Dr Middleton 
of Salisbury noticed the same fact many years ago. Buchanan’s evidence 
is very strong as to the fact of the connection, but the nature of the link 
between the two conditions of drying of soil and lessening of certain 
pulmonary diseases is unknown, It is curious how counter the observation 
runs to the old and erroneous view that in malarious (and therefore wet) 
places there is less phthisis. 

A moist soil influences greatly the development of the agent, whatever 
it may be, which causes the paroxysmal fevers. The factors which must 
be present to produce this agent are heat of soil (which must reach a certain 
point = isotherm of 65° Fahr. of summer air temperature), air, moisture, and 
some impurity of soil, which in all probability is of vegetable nature. The 
rise and fall of the ground water, by supplying the requisite degree of 
moisture, or, on the contrary, by making soil too moist or too dry, evidently 


1 Lectures on State Medicine, by F. de Chaumont (Smith and Elder), p. 91, 1875. 

2 Buchanan, Ninth and Tenth Reports of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, 1866, — 
p. 48, and 1867, p. 57. As the term “phthisis ” is a general one, and includes all the fatal 
diseases of the lungs, with destruction of lung-tissue (tuberculous and inflammatory), as well 
as other cases of wasting, with pulmonary symptoms, it would be well to translate the word 
‘‘phthisis ” by the phrase “ wasting diseases of the lungs.” 


DISEASES CONNECTED WITH MOISTURE AND GROUND WATER. i 


plays a large part in producing or controlling periodical outbreaks of 
paroxysmal fevers in the so-called malarious countries. The development 
of malaria may be connected either with rise or with fall of the ground 
water. An impeded outflow which raises the level of the ground water 
has, in malarious soils, been productive of immense spread of paroxysmal 
fevers. In the making of the Ganges and Jumna Canals the outflow of a 
large tract of country was impeded, and the course and extent of the 
obstruction was traced by Dempster and Taylor by the almost universal 
prevalence of paroxysmal fevers and enlarged spleens in the inhabitants 
along the banks.1 The severe and fatal fever which prevailed in Burd- 
wan, in Lower Bengal, for a number of years, appears to have been in 
part owing to the obstruction to the natural drainage from mills and from 
blockage of water-courses.? In some cases relative obstruction comes into 
play; ¢.e., an outfall sufficient for comparatively dry weather is quite 
inadequate for the rainy season, and the ground water rises. At Pola, in 
Istria, for example, there are no marshes, but in the summer sometimes 
half, sometimes 90 per cent. of all cases are malarious ; the reason is, that 
a dense clay lies a little below an alluvial soil, and the only exit for the 
rain is through two valley-troughs, which cannot carry off the water fast 
enough in the wet season,* from February to May. 

A remarkable instance of excessive rainfall, causing an outbreak of 
malarial disease, occurred at Kurrachee, in Scinde, in 1869. The average 
annual rainfall in Scinde in 11 years (1856-66) was only 6°75 inches; and 
the greatest rainfall in that time was 13°9 inches (1863). In 1867 the rain- 
fall was 2°73, in 1868 it was 3°36 inches; while in 1869 it reached the 
unpredecented amount of 28°45 inches ; of which 13°18 fell in July and 
8-39 inches in September. April, May, October, November, and December 
were rainless. The Ist Batt. 21st Regiment had the following attacks of 
paroxysmal fever per 1000 of strength:—In April, none; in May, 9; in 
June, 39; in July, 30; in August, 93; in September, 105 ; in October, 198 ; 
in November, 1004 ; and in December, 644. In December the regiment 
was embarked for Madras, as it had ‘‘thoroughly lost heart.” The disease 
was not fatal, as the death-rate for the year, from all causes, was only 25-7 
per 1000. At Kurrachee, as the rainfall is usually so small, the ground 
dries fast, and is then non-malarious. The ground is flat, and there is no 
subsoil drainage. In 1866, when there was heavy rainfall (13°75 inches), 
there was also a development of malarial disease, which was continued in 
1867. 

The opposite result, viz., an increased outflow lowering the subsoil water, 
has been observed in drainage operations, and very malarious places have 
been rendered quite healthy by this measure, as in Lincolnshire, and many 
parts of England. The case of Boufaric, in Algeria, is a good instance. 
Successive races of soldiers and colonists had died off, and the station had 
the worst reputation. Deep drainage was resorted to; the level of the 


1 The observations of Dempster and Taylor on the Jumna Canal have been more recently 
confirmed by Ferguson (Sanitary Administration of the Punjab for 1871, Appendix IV.), 
who has investigated the effect on malarious disease on the Bari Doab Canal District ; he 
found canal irrigation increased malarious fever, apparently by raising the soil-water 
levels. 

2 Dr Derby (Third Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts, Boston, 1872) 
points out how ague has been produced by obstructions to outflow, such as tide-mills, We. 
So long ago as 1828 authority to remove a dam was obtained on account of injury to health. 
See also case recorded by Dr Cattell in Natal, Army Medical Reports, vol. xiii., 1871, p. 178, 
produced by natural causes. 

3 Dr Jilek, in Archiv der Heilk., 1870, p. 493. 


8 SOILS. 


ground water was lowered less than 2 feet. This measure, and a better 
supply of drinking water, reduced the mortality to one-third. 

A case mentioned by Pettenkofer! is also very striking as to the effect of 
subsoil drainage on some kind of fever in horses. Two royal stables near 
Munich, with the same arrangements as to stalls, food, and attendance, and 
the same class of horses, suffered very unequally from fever; horses sent 
from the unhealthy to the healthy stables did not communicate the disease. 
The difference between the two places was, that in the healthy stables the 
ground water was 5 to 6 feet, in the unhealthy only 25 feet from the surface. 
Draining the latter stables, and reducing the ground water to the same height, 
made these stables as healthy as the others. 

Enteric fever has also been supposed to be connected with changes 
in moisture of the soil, owing to rising and falling of the ground water. 
Professor Pettenkofer’s observations on the wells of Munich led Buhl 
to the discovery that in that city there is a very close relation between 
the height of the ground water and the fatal cases of enteric fever ;? the out- 
breaks of enteric fever occurred when the ground water was lowest, and espe- 
cially when, after having risen to an unusual height, it had rapidly fallen. 
Pettenkofer has repeated and extended the inquiry with the same results. 
The point has been also numerically investigated by Seidel? in Munich and 
Leipzig for the years 1856-64 and 1865-73, and from a mathematical 
consideration of the numbers he concludes that, according to the theory of 
probabilities, it is 36,000 to 1 that there is, in each period, a connection 
between the two occurrences.+ Other observations in Germany are con- 
firmatory,° but in this country the connection has not been traced. In 
some outbreaks of enteric fever the ground water has been rising and not 
falling. Fodor ® says that at Buda-Pesth the rise of enteric fever mortality 
accompanies the rising ground water, and the two fall together. In other 
instances the attacks have been traced to impure drinking water or milk, 
to sewer emanations, or to personal contagion, and the agency of the 
ground water has appeared to be quite negative. Dr Buchanan‘ has 
quoted a case in which the sinking of the ground water and the outbreak 
of fever were coincident, and yet the connection was, so to speak, accidental, 
for the efficient cause of the outbreak was the poisoning of the drinking 
water with enteric evacuations. And he also points out that when the 


1 Quoted by Kirchner, Lehrb. der Mil.-Hygiene, 1869, pp. 217, 218. 

2 Zeitschrift fiir Biologie, Band i. p. 1. 

3 Zeitsch. fiir Biologie, Band i. p. 221, and Band ii. p. 145. 

4 Ranke, however, pointed out that no enteric fever existed in the neighbourhood of Munich 
but what was imported from Munich, although soil and ground water were the same. Munich 
has a soil consisting of fine sand, with a peculiar power of holding nitrogenous substances ; it 
was provided with cesspools, from which more than 90 percent. of the contents soaked into 
the surrounding soil, and, as the streets were well paved, the houses were the only outlets for 
the foul soil-air. 

Virchow, in his Report on the Sewerage of Berlin, showed that the mortality was greatest in 
July and August, the curve corresponding accurately with the variation of the ground water, 
the death-rate being greatest at the lowest level; this was chiefly due to deaths under one year. 
At the lowest level there was every yeara little epidemic of entericfever. At Ztirich in 1872the 
results were directly opposed to Pettenkofer’s views (see Lectures on State Medicine, p. 101). 
Geissler considers the influence of the rise and fall of the ground water a local matter, and 
agrees with Rudolph Rath in attributing the enteric fever of Berlin to contaminated water. 
The case of water transmission (which he quotes from Hagler) in the village of Lausen is a very 
conclusive one. (Schmidfs Jalrbiich., 1874, No. 2,185; also Archiv fiir Klin. Medicin, 1873, 
p. 257 ; see also an abstract in the Report on Hygiene, Army Med. Reports, vol. xv. p. (197). 

Vogt of Bern (Lrinkwasser oder Bodengase) strongly supports Pettenkofer’s views, and 
considers the propagation by drinking water as illusory. 

° Buxbaum, ‘‘ Der Typhus in der Kaserne zu Neustift,” Zeitsch. fir Biologic, Band vi. p. 1. 
This seems strong evidence in favour of Pettenkofer’ 8 view. 

6 Op. cit. 7 Medical Times and Gazette, March 1870. 


GROUND WATER AND ENTERIC FEVER. 9 


ground water has actually been lowered in certain English towns by 
drainage operations, enteric fever has not increased as it should do, accord- 
ing to theory, but has diminished, owing to the introduction of pure water 
from a distance. He thus thinks that, while a connection between the 
prevalence of enteric fever and sinking of the ground water must be 
admitted to exist, it is indirect, and the true cause of the fever is impurity 
of the drinking water. Pettenkofer has replied to this view,' and denies, 
from actual analysis, the fact of the contamination of the drinking water in 
enteric outbreaks. 

At the present moment the observations of Pettenkofer, and the case of 
the barracks at Neustift, recorded by Buxbaum, are certainly in favour of the 
opinion that a direct connection may exist in some cases between the sinking 
of the ground water and outbreaks of enteric fever; but the frequency and 
extent of the connection remains to be determined, and in this country, at 
any rate, the other conditions of spread of enteric fever appear to be far more 
common. 

Assuming the truth of the connection, the other conditions which 
Pettenkofer considers necessary, besides a rapid sinking of ground water 
after an unusual rise, are impurity of the soil from animal impregnation, 
heat of soil, and the entrance of a specific germ.? 

A very similar view is held by Pettenkofer in respect of cholera, and he 
has advanced many striking arguments * to show that, while sporadic cases 
of cholera may occur, there will be no widespread epidemic unless certain 
conditions of soil are present, viz., an impure porous soil, which has recently 
been rendered moist by arise of ground water, and then has been penetrated 
by air during the fall of ground water, and into which the specific germ 
(Keim) of cholera has found its way.* 

In Germany Pettenkofer’s views on the spread of cholera have not met 
with universal acceptance,® though there are several instances in support. 
In India the weight of the evidence is at present against Pettenkofer’s view ;° 
but, as investigations are now going on which will in a few years settle the 
point, it is desirable at present to refrain from forming a decided opinion, 
except in so far that we may feel sure that the singularly localised out- 
breaks which sometimes occur in India are quite unconnected with any 
subsoil-water variations. 

In the report of MM. Lewis and Cunningham (op. cit.) it is shown that 
the cholera at Calcutta in 1873-4 followed the curve of the ground water- 
level inversely, exactly in accordance with Pettenkofer’s views. 

Baldwin Latham? endeavours to show that the healthiest periods (7.e., 
as regards immunity from enteric fever, &c.) are those where the ground 


1 Medical Times and Gazette, June 1870; and Vierteljahrschrift fur offentliche Gesundsheits- 
pflege, 1870, Band ii. pp. 176, 197. 

2 Vierteljahrschrift fir offentl. Ges., Band ii. p. 181. 

3 Among his many Essays, special reference may be made to his Analysis of the “ Reasons 
of the Immunity of Lyons from Cholera,” Zeitsch. fiir Biol., Band iv. p. 400. 

4 Tt is, of course, to be understood that the impurity which aids in producing cholera is 
derived from persons ill with the disease. For a discussion on Pettenkofer’s views on this 
point, see Report on Hygiene for 1872, in the Army Med. Department Report, vol. xiii. 
(1873) ; and for his latest views, vol. xxii. (1882) pp. 251 et seq. 

5 A careful analysis of this subject is contained in F. Ktichenmeister’s work (Verbreitung 
der Cholera, 1872), and the work by F. Sander (Unters iiber die Cholera, 1872). Dr Frank 
(health officer of Munich) believes that the cholera in 1873-4 was imported from Vienna, and 
points out that in 1873 the ground water and death-rate were not in accordance with Petten- 
kofer’s theory (see Report on Hygiene, Army Med. Report, vol. xv. p. 203). 

6 Townsend’s Reports on the Cholera in Central India contain so many cases where ground 
water could have had no influence that it appears impossible to accept Pettenkofer’s theory. 

7 Address to the Architectural and Engineering Section, York Congress of Sanitary Insti- 
tute of Great Britain, 1886 (see vol. viii. of Zransactions San. Inst.). 


10 SOILS. 


water is high; whereas low ground water periods, especially when an 
exceptionally low period occurs, are the most unhealthy. As a rule, 
however, he says that the state of the ground water is an indication of the — 
future health rather than of the present, the most unhealthy time being 
when percolation commences after the lowest ground water period. Thus 
enteric fever deaths at Croydon (1837-86) are fewest in June, and in- 
crease steadily to a maximum in January. This corresponds to the 
observations of M. Durand-Claye in Paris (1865-69 and 1872-81), who has 
shown that the deaths from enteric fever are at their lowest in June, and 
at their highest from August to November. These run in some measure 
contrary to Pettenkofer’s views. 

Baldwin Latham lays stress upon the uniformity of ground water as — 
necessary for health. On the whole, we may state the case thus: A 
uniformly low ground water is most healthy, but a uniformly high ground 
water is preferable to one that is fluctuating, especially if the limits be © 
wide. It must, however, be borne in mind that it is not the ground water 
itself that is the cause of disease, but the impurities in the soil which the 
varying level of the ground water helps to set in action. 

Dysentery and the so-called bilious remittent fevers, which occur in oul 
camps and on ground largely contaminated by animal impurities, may 
be conjectured to be also influenced by variations in the ground water, but 
satisfactory evidence has not yet been given. In the Calcutta Report, 
above cited, the maximum of fever corresponds with the maximum of CO, 
in the soil atmosphere, and with the highest ground-water level. Dysentery, 
on the other hand, showed two maxima, one at the rise of the water-level, 
and the other at the corresponding point of the fall. 

Fodor ! states that at Buda-Pesth cholera, enteritis, and intermittent fever 
appear to be connected with the processes which go on in the upper layer 
of the soil, and cholera mortality rises and falls inversely with the ground- 
water level, according to Pettenkofer’s view. Enteric fever, on the other 
hand, appears to be connected with the processes which go on in the lowest 
stratum of the soil, its mortality varying directly with the ground-water level. 
The lowest-lying parts of the city have the most impure soil, and are specially 
subject to cholera, enteritis, and enteric fever ; whilst measles, scarlet fever, 
croup, and diphtheria appear to invade all parts of the city indifferently. 

Measurement of the Ground Water.—The height at which water stands 
in wells is considered to give the best indication of the height of the ground 
water. Professor Pettenkofer uses a rod on which are fixed a number of — 
little cups, and, when let down into the well and drawn up again, the 
uppermost cup which contains water marks, of course, the height of the 
water ; the length of the cord or rod used for letting down the cups being 
known, the changing level of the well can be estimated to within half an 
inch. Some precautions are necessary in making these observations: if a 
rope is used it may stretch with use, or in a hot dry wind, or contract in 
wet weather, and thereby make the observation incorrect ; local conditions 
of wells, proximity to rivers, &c., must be learnt, else what may be termed 
local alterations in a well may be wrongly supposed to mean changes in 
the general level of the ground water. It is necessary, therefore, to make 
the observations simultaneously in many wells and over a considerable 
district. The observations should be made not less often than once a 
fortnight, and oftener if possible, and be carried on for a considerable time — 
before any conclusions are drawn. 


1 Op. cit. 


SOLID CONSTITUENTS OF THE SOIL. Vl 


Pettenkofer also uses a large float which is suspended by a chain travel- 
ling over a pulley : this supports an indicator at its other end, which marks 
the height on a fixed scale. 

Method of rendering Soil Drier.—There are two plans of doing this,— 
deep drainage and opening the outflow. The laying down of sewers often 
carries off water by leaving spaces along the course of the sewers, but this is 
a bad plan; it is much better to have special drains for ground water laid 
by the side of or under the sewers. Deep soil drainage (the drains being 
from 8 to 12 feet deep and 10 to 20 feet apart) is useful in all soils except 
the most impermeable, and in the tropics should be carried out even on 
what are apparently dry sandy plains. 

In some cases soil may be rendered drier by opening the outflow. This 
is an engineering problem which physicians can only suggest. The clearing 
of water-courses, removal of obstructions, and formation of fresh channels 
are measures which may have an effect over very large areas which could 
not be reached by ordinary drainage. 


Sus-Section II. 
Sontp CONSTITUENTS OF THE SOIL, 


There are certain general features which can be conveniently considered 
first. 

1. Conformation and Elevation.—The relative amounts of hill and plain; 
the elevation of the hills; their direction; the angle of slope; the kind, 
size, and depth of valleys; the chief watersheds, and the direction and 
discharge of the water-courses ; the amount of fall of plains, are the chief 
points to be considered. 

Among the hills the unhealthy spots are enclosed valleys, punch-bowls, 
any spot where the air must stagnate; ravines, or places at the head or 
entrance of ravines. 

In the tropics especially ravines and nullahs are to be avoided, as they 
are often filled with decaying vegetation, and currents of air frequently 
traverse them. During the heat of the day the current of air is up the 
ravine, at night down it. As the hills cool more rapidly than the surround- 
ing plains, the latter current is especially dangerous, as the air is at once 
impure and cold. The worst ravine is a long narrow valley, contracted at 
its outlet, so as to dam up the water behind it. A saddleback is usually 
healthy, if not too much exposed ; so are positions near the top of a slope. 
One of the most difficult points to determine in hilly regions is the probable 
direction of winds ; they are often deflected from their course, or the rapid 
cooling of the hills at night produces alteration. 

On plains the most dangerous points are generally at the foot of hills, 
especially in the tropics, where the water, stored up in the hills and flowing 
to the plain, causes an exuberant vegetation at the border of the hills. 

A plain at the foot of hills may be healthy, if a deep ravine cuts off com- 
pletely the drainage of the hill behind it. 

The next most dangerous spots are depressions below the level of the 
plain, and into which therefore there is drainage. Even gravelly soils may 
be damp from this cause, the water rising rapidly through the loose soil 
from the pressure of higher levels. 

Elevation acts chiefly by its effect in lessening the pressure of the air, 
and in increasing the rapidity of evaporation, It has a powerful effect on 


12 - SOILS. 


marshes, high elevations lessening the amount of malaria, partly from the 
rapid evaporation, partly from the greater production of cold at night. Yet 
malarious marshes may occur at great elevations, even 6000 feet (Erzeroum 
and Mexico). 

2. Vegetation.—The effect of vegetation on ground is very important. In 
cold climates the sun’s rays are obstructed, and evaporation from the 
ground is slow; the ground is therefore cold and moist, and the removal of 
wood renders the climate milder and drier. The extent to which trees 
impede the passage of water through the soil is considerable. 

In hot countries vegetation shades the ground and makes it cooler. The 
evaporation from the surface is lessened; but the evaporation from the 
vegetation is so great as to produce a perceptible lowering effect on the 
temperature of a place. Pettenkofer has calculated that an oak tree, which 
had 711,592 leaves, had during the summer months (May—October) an 
evaporation equal to 539°1 centimetres (=212 inches), while the rainfall 
was only 65 centimetres (=25°6 inches) ; so that the evaporation was 84 
times the rainfall; this shows how much water was abstracted from the 
soil, and how the air must have been moistened and cooled. Observations 
in Algeria (Gimbert) have shown that Hucalyptus globulus absorbs and 
evaporates 11 times the rainfall; extremely malarious places being rendered 
healthy in this way in four or five years. 

The hottest and driest places in the tropics are those divested of trees.? 

Vegetation produces also a great effect on the movement of air. Its 
velocity is checked ; and sometimes in thick clusters of trees or underwood 
the air is almost stagnant. If moist and decaying vegetation be a coincident 
condition of such stagnation, the most fatal forms of malarious disease are 
produced. 

Vegetation may thus do harm by obstructing the movement of air; on 
the other hand, it may guard from the currents of impure air. The pro- 
tective influence of a belt of trees against malaria is most striking. 

In a hygienic point of view, vegetation must be divided into herbage, 
brushwood, and trees; and these should be severally commented on in 
reports. 

Herbage is always healthy. In the tropics it cools the ground, both by 
obstructing the sun’s rays and by aiding evaporation; and nothing is more 
desirable than to cover, if it be possible, the hot sandy plains of the tropics 
with close-cut grass. 

Brushwood is frequently bad, and should often be removed. There is, 
however, evidence that the removal of brushwood from a marsh has 
increased the evolution of malaria, and that, like trees, brushwood may 
sometimes offer obstruction to the passage of malaria. It must also be 
remembered that its removal will sometimes, on account of the disturbance 
of the ground, increase malarious disease for the time; and therefore, in 
the case of a temporary camp in a hot malarious country, it is often 
desirable to avoid disturbing it. When removed, the work should be 
carried on in the heat of the day, z.e., not in the early morning or in the 
evening. 

Trees should be removed with judgment. In cold countries they shelter 


1Tt kas been proposed (by Mr Milne Home) to plant trees at Malta, } with the view of 
improving and regulating the water-supply. 

Mr Robert L. Stevenson has considered the thermal influence of forests, in a paper in the 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (19th May 1873). Single trees act as bad 
conductors; the air of forests is generally cooler than free air, and certainly cooler than 
cleared lands ; forests heat the air during the day and chill it at night. 


HEAT OF SOIL. 13 


from cold winds ; in hot they cool the ground; in both they may protect 
from malarious currents. A decided and pernicious interference with the 
movement of air should be almost the only reason for removing them. In 
some of the hottest countries of the world, as in Southern Burmah, the in- 
habitants place their houses under the trees with the best effects; and it 
was a rule with the Romans to encamp their men under trees in all hot 
countries. 

The kind of vegetation, except as being indicative of a damp or dry soil, 
does not appear to be of importance. 

Absorption of Heat.—The heat of the sun is absorbed in different amounts 
by different soils equally shielded or unshielded by vegetation. The colour 
of the soil and its aggregation seem chiefly to determine it. The dark, 
loose, incoherent sands are the hottest ; even in temperate climates Arago 
found the temperature of sand on the surface to be 122° Fahr., and at the 
Cape of Good Hope Herschel observed it to be no less than 159°.! The 
heating power of the sun’s rays is indeed excessive. In India the thermo- 
‘meter placed on the ground and exposed to the sun will mark 160° (Buist), 
while 2 feet from the ground it will only mark 120°. Buist thinks that if 
protected from currents of air it would mark 212° when placed on the 
ground. The absorbing and radiating powers of soil are not necessarily 
equal, though they may be so. Generally the radiating power is more 
rapid than the absorbing ; soils cool more rapidly than they heat. Some 
of the marshes in Mexico cool so rapidly at night that the evolution of 
malaria is stopped, and the marsh is not dangerous during the night. A 
thermometer marked 32° Fahr. on the ground, while 16 feet above the 
ground it marked 58° Fahr. (Jourdanet). 

In Calcutta Lewis and Cunningham? found that the temperature of the 
soil varied with the season. In hot weather the thermometer stood highest 
in the air, next highest in the upper stratum of the soil, and lowest in the 
lower stratum. In cold weather the conditions were exactly reversed, the 
air being coolest and the lowest stratum of soil the hottest. During rain, 
however, these relations were not constant. 

With regard to absorbing power, the following table by Schiibler contains 
the only good experiments at present known :— 


Power of retaining Heat, 100 being assumed as the standard. 


Sand with some lime, 100 Clayey earth, . : é 68-4 
Pure sand, . : : 95°6 | Pure clay, ; ; : 66°7 
Light clay, . . : 76°9 | Fine chalk, ; 3 ; 61:8 
Gypsum, : : : 72°2 | Humus, . : ‘ : 49 
Heavy clay, . allel 


The great absorbing power of the sands is thus evident, and the compara- 
tive coldness of the clays andhumus. Herbage lessens greatly the absorbing 
power of the soil, and radiation is more rapid. On the Orinoco a naked 
granite rock has been known to have a temperature of 118° Fahr., while an 
adjacent rock covered with grass had a temperature 32° lower. 

In cold countries, therefore, the clayey soils are cold, and as they are also 
damp, they favour the production of rheumatism and catarrhs; the sands 
are, therefore, the healthiest soils in this respect. In hot countries the 
sands are objectionable from their heat, unless they can be covered with 


1 Meteorology, p. 4. 2 Op. Cit. 


14 SOILS. 


grass. They sometimes radiate heat slowly, and therefore the air is hot 
over them day and night. 

The sun’s rays cause two currents of heat in soil: one wave diurnal, the 
heat passing down in temperate climates to about 4 feet in depth during 
the day, and receding during the night—the depth, however, varying with 
the nature of the soil and with the season; the other wave is annual, and 
in temperate climates the wave of summer heat reaches from 50 to 100 
feet. The line of uniform yearly temperature is from 57 to 99 feet below 
the surface (Forbes). 

Not only does the amount of radiation differ in different soils, but a 
change is produced in the heat by the kind of soil. The remarkable 
researches of Tyndall have shown that the heat radiated from granite passes 
through aqueous vapour much more readily than the heat radiated by water 
(though the passage ismuch more obstructed than in dry air). In other 
words, the luminous heat rays of the sun pass freely through aqueous vapours 
and fall on water and granite; but the absorption produces a change in the 
heat, so that it issues again from water and granite changed in quality ; 
it will be most important for physicians if other soils are found to 
produce analogous changes. 

With regard to the effect of temperature of the soil on disease, it can 
hardly be doubted that it powerfully influences malaria, and probably also 
aids the progress of cholera. 

Reflection of Light.—This is a matter of colon ; the white glaring soils 
reflect light, and such soils are generally also hot, as the rays of heat are 
also reflected. The effect of glare on the eyes is obvious, and in the 
tropics this becomes a very important point. Ifa spot bare of vegetation, 
and with a white surface, must be used for habitations, some good result 
might be obtained by colouring the houses pale blue or green. 


Chemical Composition of the Solid Parts of Soil. 


Vegetable Matters.—Almost all soils contain vegetable matter. It exists 
in three chief forms—deposits, vegetable débris, and incrustations. Deposits 
occur in tracts of land which have been covered by silt brought down by 
floods, or which have been submerged by subsidence ; forests have been 
thus buried, and again elevated. In the marshes of the Tuscan Maremma, 
and in many other cases, the vegetable forms can be traced without difficulty 
to a considerable depth, and the structure is even sometimes little changed, 
although so vast a period of time has elapsed. Vegetable débris produced 
by the decay of plants lies on, or is washed into, the soil, and in this way 
the ground may be penetrated to great depths. In some cases, especially 
in sandy plains at the foot of hills, the rain brings down very finely divided 
débris, and is filtered as it passes through the soil, so that each particle of 
sand becomes coated over or incrusted with a film of vegetable matter. If 
such a plain be subjected to alternate wettings and dryings, and to heat, 
the conditions of development of malaria may be present in great intensity ; 
although there is not only no marsh, but the sand is to all appearance dry 
and pure. 

Animal Matters.—The remains of animals are found in all but the oldest 
rocks ; generally the animal constituents have disappeared, but it is remark- 
able how in some cases, even in geological formations as old as the Tertiary 
strata, some animal matter may be found. On the surface there is perhaps 
no soil which does not contain some animal matters derived from dead 
animals or excreta, although, except in special cases, the amount is small. 


CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF THE SOIL. 15 


The soil of countries which have been long settled is, however, often highly 
impure in the neighbourhood of habitations from the refuse (animal and 
vegetable) which is thrown out. In some loose soils cess-pits used for fifty 
years have never been emptied, and are still not full, owing to soakage.! 
Pettenkofer conjectures that in Munich 90 per cent. of the excretions 
pass into the ground. In clayey soil there is, of course, much less infiltra- 
tion than in sandy, and often scarcely any. In India the nitrification of 
vast tracts of land is for the most part owing to the oxidation of animal 
refuse. 

A means of purification from animal impregnation has been, however, pro- 
vided by oxidation and the influence of growing vegetation. In all soils, 
except the hottest and driest, animal refuse, under the influence of minute 
fermenting organisms, passes into ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and fatty 
hydrocarbons rather rapidly, and these are eagerly absorbed by vegetation. 
A means is therefore pointed out which may keep the soil clear from 
dangerous animal impregnations, and this is no doubt one reason why 
improvement in public health follows improved cultivation. It has become 
quite clear that in the plans for the disposal of the human and animal 
excreta of towns, whether by wet or dry methods, an essential part of the 
plan is to submit these excreta to the influence of growing plants as soon 
as possible. 

Mineral Matters.—An immense number of mineral substances are scattered 
through the crust of the earth, but some few are in great preponderance, 
viz., compounds of silicium, aluminum, calcium, iron, carbon, chlorine, 
phosphorus, potassium, and sodium. 

In examining the constituents of the soil round any dwellings, the im- 
mediate local conditions are of more importance than the extended geolo- 
gical generalisations; it is, so to speak, the house and not the regional 
geology which is of use. Still the general geological conditions, as influenc- 
ing conformation and the movement of water and air through and over the 
country, are of great importance. 

l. The Granitic, Metamorphic, and Trap Rocks.—Sites on these formations 
are usually healthy ; the slope is great, water runs off readily ; the air is 
comparatively dry ; vegetation is not excessive ; marshes and malaria are 
comparatively infrequent, and few impurities pass into the drinking water. 

When these rocks have been weathered and disintegrated, they are 
supposed to be unhealthy. Such soil is absorbent of water; and the 
disintegrated granite of Hong-Kong is said to be rapidly permeated by a 
Jungus ;? but evidence as to the effect of disintegrated granite or trap is 
really wanting. 

In Brazil? the syenite becomes coated with a dark substance, and looks 
like plumbago, and the Indians believe this gives rise to “calentura,” or 
fever. The dark granitoid or metamorphic trap or hornblendic rocks in 
Mysore are also said to cause periodic fevers; and iron hornblende 
especially was affirmed by Dr Heyne of Madras to be dangerous in this 
respect. But the observations of Richter‘ on similar rocks in Saxony,. and 
the fact that stations on the lower spurs of the Himalayas on such rocks 
are quite healthy, negative Heyne’s opinion. 

2. The Clay Slate.—These rocks precisely resemble the granite and 
granitoid formations in their effect on health. They have usually much 


i Gottisheim in Basel (Das wnterirdische Basel, 1868). 
2 Ost. Asiens, von C. Friedel, 1863. 

® M‘Williams on Yellow Fever in Brazil, p. 7. 

4 Schmidt’s Jahrbucher, 1864, No. 5, p. 240, 


16 SOILS. 


slope ; are very impermeable ; vegetation is scanty ; and nothing is added 
to air or to drinking water. 

They are consequently healthy. Water, however, is often scarce; and, 
as in the granite districts, there are swollen brooks during rain, and dry 
water-courses at other times swelling rapidly after rains. 

3. The Limestone and Magnesian Limestone Rocks. —These so far resemble 
the former that there is a good deal of slope and rapid passing off of water. 
Marshes, however, are more common, and may exist at great heights. In 
that case the marsh is probably fed with water from some of the large 
cavities, which, in the course of ages, become hollowed out in the limestone 
rocks by the carbonic acid of the rain, and form reservoirs of water. 

The drinking water is hard, sparkling, and clear. Of the various kinds 
of limestone, the hard oolite is the best, and magnesian is the worst ; and 
it is desirable not to put stations on magnesian limestone if it can be 
avoided. 

4. The Chalk.—The chalk, when unmixed with clay and permeable, forms 
a very healthy soil. The air is pure, and the water, though charged with 
calcium carbonate, is clear, sparkling, and pleasant. Goitre is not nearly 
so common, nor apparently calculus, as in the limestone districts. 

If the chalk be marly, it becomes impermeable, and is then often damp 
and cold. The lower parts of the chalk, which are underlaid by gault clay, 
and which also receive the drainage of the parts above, are often very 
malarious ; and in America some of the most marshy districts are on the 
chalk. 

5. The Sandstones.—The permeable sandstones are very healthy ; both 
soil and air are dry; the drinking water is, however, sometimes impure, 
and may contain large quantities of chlorides, especially in the New Red 
Sandstone when rock salt abounds. If the sand be mixed with much clay, 
or if clay underlies a shallow sand-rock, the site is sometimes damp. 

6. Carboniferous Formations.—The hard millstone grit formations are very 
healthy, and their conditions resemble those of granite. The drinking water 
is generally pure and fairly soft. 

7. Gravels of any depth are always healthy, except when they are much 
below the general surface, and water rises through them. Gravel hillocks 
are the healthiest of all sites, and the water, which often flows out in 
cae near the base, being held up by underlying clay, is very pure. 

8. Sands.—There are both healthy and unhealthy sands. The healthy 
are the pure sands, which contain no organic matter and are of considerable 
depth. The air is pure, and so is often the drinking water. Sometimes 
the drinking water contains enough iron to become hard, and even chaly- 
beate. The unhealthy sands are those which, like the subsoil of the 
Landes, in south-west France, are composed of siliceous particles (and some 
iron) held together by a vegetable sediment. 

In other cases sand is unhealthy, from underlying clay or laterite near 
the surface, or from being so placed that water rises through its permeable 
soil from higher levels. Water may then be found within 3 or 4 feet of 
the surface ; and in this case the sand is unhealthy and often malarious. 
Impurities are retained in it, and effluvia traverse it. 

In a third class of cases the sands are unhealthy because they contain 
soluble mineral matter. Many sands (as, for example, in the Punjab) con- 
tain much magnesium carbonate and lime salts, as well as salts of the 
alkalies. The drinking water may thus contain large quantities of sodium 
chloride, sodium carbonate, and even lime and magnesian salts and iron, 
Without examination of the water it is impossible to detect these points. 


CLAY, ETC.—MALARIOUS SOILS. 1 


9. Clay, Dense Marls, and Alluvial Soils generally.—These are always 
to be regarded with suspicion. Water neither runs off nor runs through ; 
the air is moist ; marshes are common; the composition of the water varies, 
but it is often impure with lime and soda salts. In alluvial soils there are 
often alternations of thin strata of sand and sandy impermeable clay ; 
much vegetable matter is often mixed with this, and air and water are 
both impure. Vast tracts of ground in Bengal and in the other parts of 
India, along the course of the great rivers (the Ganges, Brahmaputra, 
Indus, Nerbudda, Krishna, &c.), are made up of soils of this description, 
and some of the most important stations even up country, such as Cawn- 
pore, are placed on such sites. 

The deltas of great rivers present these alluvial characters in 7 ike highest 
degree, and should not be chosen for sites. If they must be taken, only 
the most thorough drainage can make them healthy. It is astonishing, 
however, what good can be effected by the drainage of even a small area, 
quite insufficient to affect the general atmosphere of the place; this shows 
that it is the local dampness and the effluvia which are the most hurtful. 

10. Cultivated Soils.—Well-cultivated soils are often healthy, nor at 
present has it proved that the use of manure is hurtful. Irrigated lands, 
and especially rice fields, which not only give a great surface for evapora- 
tion, but also send up organic matter into the air, are hurtful. In Northern 
Italy, where there is a very perfect system of irrigation, the rice grounds 
are ordered to be kept 14 kilometres (=8°7 miles) from the chief cities, 9 
kilometres (= 5-6 miles) from the lesser cities and the forts, and 1 kilometre 
(=1094 yards) from the small towns. In the rice countries of India this 
point should not be overlooked. 

ll. Made Sorls.—The inequalities of ground which is to be built upon 
are filled up with whatever happens to be available. Very often the refuse 
of a town, the cinders or dust-heaps, after being raked over, and any 
saleable part being removed, are used for this purpose. In other cases 
chemical or factory refuse of some kind is employed. The soil under a 
house is thus often extremely impure. It appears, however,! that the 
organic matters in soil gradually disappear by oxidation and removal by 
rain, and thus a soil in time purifies itself. 'The length of time in which 
this occurs will necessarily depend on the amount of impurity, the freedom 
of access of air, and the ease with which water passes through the soil. 
In the soil at Liverpool, made from cinder refuse, vegetable matters 
disappeared in about three years; textile fabrics were, however, much 
more permanent; wood, straw, and cloth were rotten and partially decayed 
in three years, but had not entirely disappeared. In any made soil, it 
should be a condition that the transit of water through its outlet from the 
soil shall be unimpeded. The practice of filling up inequalities is certainly, 
in many cases, very objectionable, and should only be done under strict 
supervision. 


Sus-Section ITI. 


Malarious Soils—Doubts have been expressed whether those paroxysmal 
fevers, which are curable by quinine, are produced either by telluric effluvia, 
or by substances passing from the soil into the drinking water.? The 


1See Report on the Health of Liverpool, by Dr Burdon Sanderson and the late Dr 
Parkes, p. 9 et seq. 

2 On these Giestions see North, ‘‘ Lectures cn Malarial Fevers,” Brit. Med. Jour., April 
23, 30, and May 7, 1887. 


B 


18 SOILS. 


evidence, however, appears conclusive in favour of both these modes of — 


entrance into the body. 

If it be asked, What exact chemical conditions of soil favour the produc- 
tion of the malaria which causes periodical fevers? the answer cannot be 
given, because no great chemist has ever systematically prosecuted this 
inquiry, and, in fact, it may be said that, singularly enough, there are few 
good analyses of malarious soils, although no problem is perhaps more 


important to the human race. It seems pretty clear that the mineral — 


constituents of the soil are of little or no consequence. Malaria will 
prevail on chalk, limestone, sand, and even, under special conditions, on 
_ granite soils. In all likelihood the agent will prove to be an organism, 
although up to the present time no decisive evidence has been obtained 
that would satisfactorily discriminate the organism. 


The following soils have been known to cause the evolution of the agent — 


causing periodical fevers in the malarious zone :— 


1. Marshes.—Except those with peaty soils, those which are regularly — 
overflowed by the sea (and not occasionally inundated), and the marshes in 


the southern hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia), and — 
some American marshes, which, from some as yet melenowa condition, do 
not produce malaria. 


The chemical characters of well-marked marshes are a large percentage of | 


water, but no flooding ; 
with variable mineral constituents ; silicates of aluminum ; calcium, mag- 
nesium, and alkaline sulphates; calcium carbonate, &c. The surface is 


flat, with a slight drainage ; vegetation is generally abundant. 


The analyses of the worst malarious marshes show a large amount of | 


vegetable organic matter. A marsh in Trinidad gave 35 per cent.; the 
middle layer in the Tuscan Maremma 30 per cent. The organic matter is 
made up of humic, ulmic, crenic, and apocrenic acids—all substances which 


require renewed investigation at the hands of chemists. Vegetable matter 


embedded in the soil decomposes very slowly ; in the Tuscan Maremma, 


which must have existed many centuries, if not thousands of years, many — 


of the plants are still undestroyed. The slow decomposition is much aided 
by heat, which makes the soil alkaline from ammonia (Angus Smith), and 


retarded by cold, which makes the ground acid, especially in the case of — 


peaty soils. 

It would now seem tolerably certain that the growing vegetation cover- 
ing marshes has nothing to do with the development of malaria. 

2. Alluvial Soils.—Many alluvial soils, especially, as poimted out by 
Wenzel,! those most recently formed, give out malaria, although they are 


not marshy. It is to be presumed that the newest alluvium contains more — 
organic matters and salts than the older formations. Many alluvial soils — 


have a flat surface, a bad outfall, and are in the vicinity of streams which 
may cause great variations in the level of the ground water. Mud banks 
also, on the side of large streams, especially if only occasionally covered 


with water, may be highly malarious ; and this is the case also with deltas _ 


and old estuaries. 

3. The soils of Tropical Valleys, Ravines, Nullahs.—In many cases large 
quantities of vegetable matter collect in valleys, and, if there is any narrow- 
ing at the outlet of the valley, the overflow of the rains may be impeded. 
Such valleys are often very malarious, and the air may drift up to the 
height of several hundred feet. 


1 Quoted by Hirsch, Jahresb. fiir die Ges. Med., 1870, Band ii. p. 209. 


a large amount of organic matter (10 to 45 per cent.) — 


MALARIOUS SOILS. 19 


4. Sandy plains, especially when situated at the foot of tropical hills, and 

covered with vegetation, as in the case of the “Terai” at the base of some 
parts of the Himalayan range. In other cases, the sandy plains are at a 
distance from hills, and are apparently dry, and not much subjected to the 
influence of variations in the ground water. The analysis of such sand has 
not yet been properly made, but two conditions seem of importance. Some 
sands, which to the eye appear quite free from organic admixture, contain 
much organic matter. Fauré has pointed out that the sandy soil of the 
Landes in south-west France contains a large amount of organic matter, 
which is slowly decomposing, and passes into both air and water, causing 
periodical fevers. This may reasonably be conjectured to be the case with 
other malarious sands. Then, under some sands, a few feet from the surface, 
there is clay, and the sand is moist from evaporation. Under a great heat 
a small quantity of organic matter may thus be kept in a state of change. 
This is especially the case along the dried beds of watercourses and torrents ; 
there is always a subterranean stream, and the soil is impregnated with 
vegetable matter. In other cases the sands may be only malarious during 
rains, when the upper stratum is moist. 
_ 5. Certain hard rocks (granitic and metamorphic) have been already 
noticed (p. 15), especially when weathered, to have the reputation of being 
malarious ; more evidence is required on this point. As Friedel justly 
remarks of Hong-Kong, it is not the disintegrated granite, per se, which 
causes the fever, but the soil of the woods and dells, and the clefts in the 
rocks, which were derived from the granite, and are soon filled with a 
cryptogamic vegetation. 

The magnesian limestone rocks which have been subjected to volcanic 
action have also been supposed to be especially malarious (Kirk, who 
instances the rocks at Sukkar), but the evidence has not been yet corro- 
borated. 

6. Iron Soils.—Sir Ranald Martin has directed attention to the fact 
that many reputed malarious soils contain a large proportion of iron. No 
good evidence has been adduced that this is connected with malaria, but 
the point requires further examination. The red soil from Sierra Leone, 
which contains more than 30 per cent. of oxides of iron, shows nothing 
which appears likely to cause malaria! The peroxide of iron is a strong 
oxidising agent, readily yielding oxygen to any oxidisable substance, and 
regaining oxygen from the air. It may, therefore, assist in the oxidation 
of vegetable matter in an iron soil,? 

7. In certain cases attacks of paroxysmal fever have arisen from quite 
localised conditions unconnected with soil, which seem, however, to give 
some clue to the nature of the process which may go on in malarious 
ground. 

Friedel? mentions that in the Marine Hospital at Swinemiinde, near 
Stettin, a large day-ward was used for convalescents. As soon as any man 
had been in this ward for two or three days, he got a bad attack of tertian 
ague. In no other ward did this occur, and the origin of the fever was a 


1 Analysis of the Red Earth of Sierra Leone, by Assistant-Surgeon J. A. B. Horten, M.D., 
Army Medical Reports, vol. viii. p. 333. 

* The surface soil of the Gold Coast (Connor’s Hill, Cape Coast Castle) has also been 
analysed by Mr J. H. Warden, F.C.S. (Indian Medical Service). It contained only 3°28 per 
cent. of ferric oxide and a trace of ferrous oxide; the organic matter was only 4°4 per cent. 
The surface soil is only eight inches thick, and below this is a stratum of a dark red colour, 
like burnt bricks, probably containing more iron. The sample above mentioned was brought 
home by Surgeon-Major J. Fleming, A.M.D.—Army Medical Reports, vol. xiv. p. 264. 

® Ost. Asiens, Berlin, 1863, p. 388. 


20 SOILS. 


mystery, until, on close inspection, a large rain cask full of rotten leaves 
and brushwood was found; this had overflowed, and formed a stagnant 
marsh of 4 to 6 square feet close to the doors and windows of the room, 
which on account of the hot weather were kept open at night. The nature 
of the effluvium was not determined. 

Dr Holden! relates an instance in which, on board a ship at sea, eight 
cases of ague occurred from the emanations of a large quantity of mould 
which had formed in some closed store-rooms, which were exposed to the 
bilge water.? 


SECTION II. 
EXAMINATION OF SOIL. 


Mechanical Condition of Soil.—The degree of density, friability, and 
penetration by water should be determined both in the surface and subsoil. 
Deep holes, 6 to 12 feet, should be dug, and water poured on portions of the 
soil. Holes should be dug after rain, and the depth to which the rain has 
penetrated observed. In this way the amount of dryness, the water-level, 
and the permeability can be easily ascertained. 

The surface or subsoil can also be mechanically analysed by taking a 
weighed quantity (100 grammes), drying it, and then picking out all the 
large stones and weighing them, passing through a sieve the fine particles, 
and finally separating the finest particles from the coarser by mixing with 
water, allowing the denser particles to subside, and pouring off the finer 
suspended particles. The weight of the large stones, plus the weight of the 
stones in the sieve and of the dried coarser particles, deducted from the 
total weight, gives the amount of the finely divided substance, which is 
probably silicate of aluminum. 

Temperature.—The temperature at a depth of 2 or 3 feet, at two to four 
o'clock in the afternoon, would be an important point to determine in the 
tropics, and also the temperature in early morning. At present such 
observations, though very easily taken, and obviously very instructive, are 
seldom made, although a commencement in that direction was made in the 
investigations of Messrs Lewis and Cunningham at Calcutta.? It might 
also be useful to take a certain depth of soil, say 6 inches, and, placing « 
thermometer in it, determine the height of the thermometer on exposure to 
the sun’s rays for a given time at a certain hour. 

Chemical Examination.—The chemical constituents of soil are, of course, 
as numerous as the elements; more than 500 minerals have been actually 
named. But certain substances are very rare, and, for the physician, the 
chief constituents of soils are the following substances or combinations :— 
Silica, alumina, lime, iron, magnesia, chlorine, carbonic acid, phosphoric 
acid, sulphuric acid, nitric acid. A few simple tests are often very useful, 
if we are uncertain what kind of rock we have to deal with. Few persons 
could mistake granite, trap, gneiss, or rocks of that class, or clay-slate or 
crystalline limestone. But fine white sandstones, or freestone, or even fine 
millstone grit, might be confounded with lime rocks, or magnesian lime- 


1 American Journal of Med. Science, January 1866. 

2 Staff-Surgeon P. Mansfield, R.N., recounts an outbreak of yellow remittent fever on board 
ship at Rio, coincident with the growth of an enormous quantity of gigantic fungus in the hold. 
It seems unlikely, however, that this was more than a coincidence. 

3 Op. cit. 


EXAMINATION OF SOIL. 21 


stone. A few drops of hydrochloric acid will often settle the question, as it 
causes effervescence in the calcium carbonate and magnesian rocks.! 

A more complete examination should include the following points :— 

1. Percentage of Water.—Take 10 grammes of a fair sample of soil, and 
dry at a heat of 220° F. (104°:5 C.); weigh again ; the difference is water 
or volatile substance. 

2. Percentage of Volatile Matters (including Water), destroyed by Incinera- 
tion.—Take another weighed portion of soil, and incinerate at a full red 
heat ; recarbonate with carbonic acid solution, or with ammonium carbonate ; 
heat to expel excess of ammonia ; dry and weigh. 

3. Absorption of Water.—Place the dried soil in a still atmosphere, on a 
plate in a thin layer, and reweigh in twenty-four hours; the increase is the 


1 Tt may be useful to give (from Page’s Handbook of Geological Terms) a few compositions, 

and to define a few of the common mineralogical words used in geology :— 

Quartz.—Crystallised silica. 

Felspar.—Silica, alumina (aluminum trisilicate), potash, or soda, and a little lime, 
magnesia, and ferric oxide, crystallised or amorphous. 

Mica.—Silica, alumina, ferric oxide, and potash, or magnesia, or lime, or lithia. 

Chlorite.—Mica, but with less silica and more magnesia and iron. 

Granite.—Composed of quartz, felspar, and mica. 

Syenite.—Same as granite, but with hornblende instead of mica. 

Syenitic Granite.—Quartz, felspar, mica, and hornblende. 

Gneiss.—Same elements as granite, but the crystals of quartz and felspar are broken and 
indistinct. 

Hornblende.— A mineral entering largely into granite and trappean rocks, composed of silica 
(47 to 60), magnesia (14 to 28), lime (7 to 14), with a little alumina, fluorine, and ferrous 
oxide. 

Augite.—Like hornblende, only less silica (does not resist acids). 

Hypersthene.—Like augite, only with very little lime ; it contains silica, magnesia, and 
iron; resists acids. 

Greenstone.— Hard granular crystalline varieties of trap, felspar, and hornblende, or felspar 
and augite. 

Basalt.—Augite and felspar, olivine, iron pyrites, Xe. 

Trap.—Tabular greenstone and basalt. 

Schist.—A term applied to the rocks mentioned above, when they are foliated or split up 
into irregular plates. 

Clay-Slate.—Argillaceous arenaceous rocks, with more or less marked cleavage. 

Limestone.—All varieties of hard rocks, consisting chiefly of calcium carbonate. 

Oolite.—Limestone made up of small rounded grains, compact or crystalline, like the roe of 
a fish. 

Chalk.—Soft calcium carbonate. 

Magnesian Limestone.—Any limestone containing 20 per cent. of a salt of magnesia, fre- 
quently not crystallised. 

Dolomite.—Crystallised magnesian limestone. 

Kunkar.—A term used in India to denote nodular masses of impure calcium carbonate. 

Gypsum—Selenite.—Calcium sulphate. 

Gravel.—Water-worn and rounded fragments of any rock, chiefly quartz ; size, from a pea 
to a hen’s egg. 

Sand.—Same, only particles less than a pea. 

Sandstone.—Consolidated sand; the particles held together often by lime, clay, and ferric 
oxide. 

Freestone.—Any rock which can be cut readily by the builder ; usually applied to sandstone. 

Millstone Grit.—Hard gritty sandstone of the carboniferous series, used for millstones. 
Grit is the term generally used when the particles are larger and sharper than in 
ordinary sandstone. 

Clay.—Aluminum silicate. 

Greensand.—Lower portion of the chalk system in England; sand coloured by chloritous 
iron silicate. 

Marl.—Linie and clay. 

Laterite.—A term much used in India to denote a more or less clayey stratum which 
underlies much of the sand in Bengal, some parts of Burmah, Bombay presidency, Xc. 

Conglomerate.—Rocks composed of consolidated gravels (i.e., the fragments water-worn 
and rounded). 

Breccia.—Rocks composed of angular (not water-worn) fragments (voleanic kreccia, osseous 
breccia, calcareous breccia). 

Shale. —A term applied to all clayey or sandy formations with lamination; it is often con- 
solidated and hardened mud. 


29 SOILS. 


absorbed water. An equal portion of pure sand should be treated in the 
Same way as a standard. It would be well to note the humidity of the 
air at the time. 

4, Power of holding Water.—Thoroughly wet 100 grammes, drain off water 
as far as possible, and weigh ; the experiment is, however, not precise. 

5. Substances taken up by Water.—This is important, as indicating whether 
drinking water is likely to become contaminated. Rub thoroughly 10 
grammes in pure cold water, filter, and test for organic matter by chloride 
of gold, or by evaporation and careful incineration ; test also for chlorine, 
sulphuric acid, lime, alumina, iron, nitric acid. 

6. Substances taken up by Hydrochloric Acid.—While water takes up 
alkaline chlorides and sulphates, nitrates, &c., the greater part of the lime, 
magnesia, and alumina is left undissolved. The quantity can be best 
determined by solution in pure hydrochloric acid. 

(a) To 40 grammes of the soil add 30 c.c. of pure hydrochloric acid, 
and heat; note effervescence. Add about 100 c.c. of water. Digest for 
twelve hours. Dry and weigh the undissolved portion. 

(6) To the acid solution add ammonia. Alumina and oxide of iron are 
thrown down. Dry and weigh precipitate. 

(c) To the solution filtered from (>) add ammonium oxalate. Dry ; wash 
and burn the calcium oxalate. Weigh as carbonate. 

(d) To the solution filtered from (c) add sodium phosphate. Collect. ; dry 
and weigh (100 parts of the precipitate = 79 parts of magnesium carbonate) ; 
or determine as pyrophosphate. 

The portion insoluble in hydrochloric acid consists of quartz, clay, and 
silicates of aluminum, iron, calcium, and magnesium. If it is wished to 
examine it further, it should be fused with three times its weight of sodium 
carbonate, then heated with dilute hydrochloric acid. The residue is silica. 
The solution may contain iron, lime, magnesia, and alumina. Test as above. 

7. Iron.—Iron can be determined by the potassium dichromate, or by 
the permanganate. As the latter solution is used for other purposes, it is 
convenient to employ it in this case. 

Dissolve 10 grammes of the soil in pure hydrochloric acid free from iron 
by aid of heat. 

Add a little pure zinc, and heat to convert ferric into ferrous salts. Pour 
off the solution from the zinc that is stili undissolved, and determine iron 
by potassium permanganate ; 7.e., heat to 140° F. (60° C.) and then drop in 
the solution of permanganate till a permanent but slightly pink colour is 
given. 1 c.c.=0-7 milligramme of pure iron! Or the colour test may be 
used, as explained under Aum IN BreaD. 

Microscopic Exanination.—Attention must now be paid to this, although 
it has not hitherto been much studied. Bacterta of various kinds have 
been found, and they have been observed to be more numerous in the most 
impure and unhealthy soils, as might have been anticipated. Some forms, 
however, are beneficial, as it is under their influence that the oxidation 
(nitrification) of nitrogenous organic matter is carried on. Hither samples 
of the soil itself may be examined, or the air may be drawn out of the soil 
at different depths, by means of an aspirator, and passed over nutrient 
media for cultivations. 


1 See Appendix A. 


EXAMINING A LOCALITY FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 23 


SECTION III. 
METHOD OF EXAMINING A LOCALITY FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 


A place should be seen at all times of the year, in the wet as well as in 
the dry seasons, in the autumn and winter as well as in the spring, and at 
night as well as by day. The following order will be found a convenient 
one :— 

1. Conformation.—Height above sea-level and elevation of hills above 
the plain. (Determine by mercurial barometer or aneroid, or, if possible, 
get the heights from an engineer.) Angle of declivity of hills; amount of 
hill and plain; number, course, and characters of valleys and ravines in 
hills ; dip of strata; geological formation; watersheds and courses; exposure 
to winds ; situation, amount and character of winds; sunlight, amount and 
duration; rain, amount and frequency ; dust. 

2. Composition.—Mineralogical characters. Presence of animal or vege- 
table substances; amount and characters. 

3. Covering of soil by trees, brushwood, grass, &e. 
| 4, Points for special Hxamination.—Amount of air; of moisture. Height 
| of subsoil water, at the wettest and driest seasons. Changes in level, and 
rapidity of change of subsoil or ground water. Direction of subsoil current. 
_ Condition of vegetable constituents ; examination of substances taken up 
by water, &c. 

Such a complete examination demands time and apparatus, but it is 
| quite necessary. 

A fair opinion can then be formed; but if a large permanent station is 
to be erected, it is always desirable to recommend that a temporary station 
should be put up for a year, and an intelligent officer should be selected. to 
observe the effect on health, to take meteorological observations, and to 
examine the water at different times of the year. Sometimes a spot more 
eligible than that originally chosen may be found within a short distance, 
and the officer should be instructed to keep this point in view. 

The medical officer has nothing to do with military considerations or 
questions of supply, but, if he is able to suggest anything for the informa- 
tion of the authorities, he should of course do so. 

The opinion of Lind, whose large experience probably surpassed that of 
his contemporaries, and of our own time, should be remembered :—‘ The 
most healthy countries in the world contain spots of ground where strangers 
are subject to sickness. There is hardly to be found any large extent of 
continent, or even any island, that does not contain some places where 
Europeans may enjoy an uninterrupted state of health during all seasons 
of the year.” 

In choosing a site for a temporary camp, so elaborate an examination is 
not possible. But as far as possible the same rules should be attended to. 
There is, however, one difference—in a permanent station water can be 
brought from some distance ; in a temporary station the water-supply must 
be near at hand, and something must be given up for this.2 The banks of 
rivers, if not marshy, may be chosen, care being taken to assign proper 
spots for watering, washing, &c. <A river with marshy banks must never 
be chosen in any climate, except for the most imperative military reasons; 
it is better to have the extra labour of carrying water from a distance. 

A site under trees is good in hot countries, but brushwood must be avoided. 


1 Lind, Diseases of Europeans in Hot Climates, 4th edition, p. 200. 
2 See remarks on this point, in the Regulations and Instructions for Encampments, p. 2. 


24 SOILS. 


SECTION IV. 
PREPARATION OF SITE FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 


In any locality intended to be permanently used, the ground should be 
drained with pipe drains. Even in the driest of the loose soils this is desir- 
able, especially in hot climates, where the rainfall is heavy. In imperme- 
able rocky districts it is less necessary. The size, depth, and distance of 
the drains will be for the engineer to determine ; but generally deep drains 
(4 to 8 feet in depth, and 12 to 18 feet apart) are the best. If there is no 
good fall, it has been proposed to drain into deep pits; but usually an 
engineer will get a fall without such an expedient. A good outfall, how- 
ever, should be a point always looked to in choosing a station. These 
drains are intended to carry off subsoil water, and not surface water. This 
latter should be provided for by shallow drains along the natural outfalls 
and valleys. As far as drainage is concerned, we have then to provide for 
mere surface water, and for the water which passes below the surface into 
the soil and subsoil. 

Brushwood should usually be cleared away, but trees left until time is 
given for consideration. In clearing away brushwood, the ground in the 
tropics should be disturbed as little as possible ; and if it can be done, all 
cleared spots should be soon sown with grass. Brushwood should not be 
removed from a marsh. 

In erecting the buildings, the ground should be excavated as little as 
possible ; in the tropics especially hills should never be cut away. The 
surface should be levelled, holes filled in, and those portions of the surface, 
on which rain can fall from buildings, well paved, with good side gutters. 
This is especially necessary in the tropics, where it is of importance to 
prevent the ground under buildings from becoming damp; but the same 
principles apply everywhere. 

In a temporary camp so much cannot be done; but even here it is desir- 
able to trench and drain as much as possible. It not unfrequently happens 
in war that a camp intended to stand for two or three days is kept up for 
two or three weeks, or even months. As soon as it is clear that the occupa- 
tion is to be at all prolonged, the same plans should be adopted as in 
permanent stations. 

The great point is to carry off water rapidly, and it is astonishing what 
a few well-planned surface drains will do. 

The rules for improving the healthiness of a site may be thus sum- 
marised :— 

1. Drain subsoil and lower the level of the ground water. 

2. Pave under houses, so as to prevent the air from rising from the 
ground. 

3. Pave or cover with short grass all ground near buildings in malarious 
districts. 

4. Keep the soil from the penetration of impurities of all kinds by proper 
arrangements for carrying away rain, surface, and house water and house 
impurities. 


CHAPTER II. 
WATER. 


THE supply of wholesome water in sufficient quantity is a fundamental 
sanitary necessity. Without it injury to health inevitably arises, either 
simply from deficiency of quantity, or more frequently from the presence 
of impurities. In all sanitary investigations, the question of the water- 
supply is one of the first points of inquiry, and of late years much 
evidence has been obtained of the frequency with which diseases are 
introduced by the agency of water. In such an investigation, if the headings 
of the sub-sections of this chapter are followed, and the facts are noted under 
each heading in order, it will be hardly possible to overlook any condition 
which may have affected health. The order of investigation would be as 
follows :—Quantity of water per head ; how it is collected, stored, distri- 
buted ; what is its composition; is it wholesome water at its source and 
throughout, or has it been contaminated at any point of its distribution; 
what are the effects presumed to arise from it?! 


SECTION I. 
ON THE QUANTITY AND SUPPLY OF WATER. 
Sus-Section [.—1. Quantity or Water FoR HeatrHy MEN. 


In estimating the quantity of water required daily for each person, it is 
necessary to allow a liberal supply. There should be economy and avoidance 


1 Army Regulations on the subject of Water.—The ‘‘ Regulations for the Medical Department 
of Her Majesty’s Army ” (Army Regulations, vol. vi., 1885), frequently refer to the supply of 
water. In Part I. Section iii. paragraph 33 (d), the Surgeons-General and Deputy Surgeons- 
General are directed to ‘‘ ascertain that the water-supply is good and abundant, and perfectly 
protected from pollution.” Also paragraph 33 (c), “that the means of ablution and cleanli- 
ness are sufficient and made use of by the men.” As regards hospitals they are also to 
ascertain (paragraph 39), ‘‘that the water-supply is pure and abundant and sufficient for 
all the requirements of a hospital,..... and that the lavatories, bath-rooms, and water- 
closets are kept in proper order.” In the Sanitary Regulations, Part VI. Section ii. paragraph 
1048, the medical officer in charge of troops is ordered to examine, from time to time, “the 
quality and amount of drinking-water,” and to ascertain “whether wells and other supplies 
of water are protected from soakage from latrines, cesspools, drains, or other sources of im- 
purity.” He is also ordered to inspect the lavatories and baths. In Sections iv., vi., and 
vil., paragraphs 1068, 1104, 1114, the same supervision over the water-supply of hospitals, 
camps, garrisons, and transport ships is enjoined 

When an army takes the field a Sanitary Officer is appointed, and he examines into all 
sanitary points, including the water-supply (Section viii. paragraphs 1126, 1134, 1138). 
Filters are also to be inspected (Part VI. Section iv. paragraphs 1075, 1076.) 

In the quarterly and annual reports the water-supply has to be considered, in common 
with other sanitary conditions, including “the sources, quality, and quantity of the water- 
supply, and whether it is wholesome, and what means of purification are in use, if such be 
necessary.” Also, ‘‘ Baths and lavatories, their condition, and if sufficient for cleanliness of 
troops and sick ; whether there are bathing parades, and how oftena week.” Also to report 
on “ Bad water, especially if any organic impurity exists ” (Appendix No. 6). 

In the “ Instructions in case of an Invasion of Cholera” (Appendix No. 5, paragraph 11), 
special attention is directed to the water-supply. Provision is also made for the chemical 
a of water when required (Part VI. Section vi. paragraph 1107, and Appendix 

0, 8). 


26 WATER, 


of waste; but still, any error in supply had far better be on the side of excess. 
In England many poor families, either from the difficulty of obtaining water 
or of getting rid of it, or from the habits of uncleanliness thus handed down 
from. father to son, use an extremely small amount. It would be quite 
incorrect to take this amount as the standard for the community at large, or 
even to fix the smallest quantity which will just suffice for moderate cleanli- 
ness. It is almost impossible to give a definition of cleanliness, nor perhaps 
is it necessary, since there is a general understanding of what is meant. 

It must be clearly understood for what purposes water is supplied. It may 
be required for drinking, cooking, and ablution of persons, clothes, utensils, 
sand houses; for cleansing of closets, sewers, and streets; for the drinking 
and washing of animals, washing of carriages and stables; for trade purposes; 
for extinguishing fires ; for public fountains or baths, &c. 

‘In towns supplied by water companies, the usual mode of reckoning is 
to divide the total daily supply in gallons by the total population, and to 
express the amount per head per diem. 

Thus in 1884 the total population of the metropolis and suburbs was 
reckoned at 4,944,553, and the water supplied daily by all the eight 
companies was 139,805,082 gallons, or 22,433,516 cubic feet. This gives 
28-3 gallons or 43 cubic feet per head. Of the total amount, 110,000,000 
gallons are from the Thames (restricted to that amount) ; the rest, that is, 
the New River, East London, and Kent, are from the River Lea and from 
wells, the quantity being unrestricted. 

The following are some of the gross amounts used at the present time for 


all the above purposes, as judged of in this way :— 
Gallons per head 
of population daily. 


New River Company in London, 1884,! . ; 25°0 
East London Water-Work Company, ,, 

Kent ms s a 

Chelsea 


West Middlesex ,, * 
Grand Junction ,, ie - 
Southwark and Vauxhall 


bS bo GO bo GO bo LO 
DDS OD = Oe 
Cu Gr Go SIS Sp) Sr 


Lambeth 4s aa . 
Average of London Districts, . 28°3 
Southampton, : : : 4 : 35 
Glasgow, 5 : : ‘ : 50 
Edinburgh, . : , : : 35 
Liverpool, . : : : : 30 
Sheffield, : : : : ; : 20 
Paris, : : : , : : 31 
Calcutta (for Europeans),? amount originally intended, 30? 
ss (for Natives), at ss a 152 
New York,’ . : ; : : ; 83 


1 These and other London amounts are taken from Colonel Sir Francis Bolton’s Handbook 
on London Water Supply, International Health Exhibition, 1884. See for former amounts 
the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on London Water Supply, 1880. 

2 The daily supply in Calcutta was, in 1871, 5,000,000 gallons of filtered water ; in 1879 it 
was 7} millions and 1 million gallons unfiltered for watering roads. This, however, after all 
deductions, only left 3 gallons per head for domestic purposes. A new scheme is in progress 
which will provide 8,000,009 more daily, thus securing 12 gallons per head. 

3 In former editions this was stated at 300, but it is given as 100 (?) in Buck’s Hygiene and 
Public Health. These are, however, U.S. gallons, equal to 83 imperial gallons. 


QUANTITY OF WATER REQUIRED. Tl 


In 1857 the average supply to fourteen English towns, of second-rate 
magnitude, was 24 gallons. The average of 72 English and Scotch towns, 
supplied on the constant system, is 134-4 gallons per house (but this includes 
the supply to factories, of which there were 16,087 to 889,028 houses), or 
(at 5 persons to each house), 26-7 per head ; of 23 towns, supplied on the 
intermittent system, 127 per house, 25-4 per head, including 1367 factories 
to 137,414 houses; and of London, also on the intermittent system, 204, or 
41 per head, including 5340 factories to 499,582 houses! The range in 
individual cases is, however, very great, from 25 gallons per house (5 per 
head) in one small town to 700 at Middlesborough (140 per head). Mr 
Bateman has stated that in the manufacturing towns of Lancashire and 
Yorkshire the amount was from 16 to 21 gallons, in some cases less.” 

At Norwich about 144 gallons daily per head are supplied on the constant 
system, of which 10°5 are taken for domestic purposes, 3 for trade, and °7 
gallons for public and sanitary purposes.? In Manchester the supply is 
also constant, and is 14 gallons per head for domestic, and 7 for trade 
purposes. In 1878 in 15 American cities the supply was on the average 
55 gallons per head.* 

By decision of the Secretary of State for War, a soldier receives 15 


_ gallons daily ; no extra allowance is made for the wives and children in a 


regiment. 
The gross amount thus taken is used for different purposes, which must 


- now be considered. 


Amount for Domestic Purposes, excluding Water-Closets. 


This item includes drinking, cooking, washing the person, the clothes, 


_ the house utensils, and the house. 


An adult requires daily about 70 to 100 ounces (34 to 5 pints) of water 


_ for nutrition; but about 20 to 30 ounces of this are contained in the 


bread, meat, &c., of his food, and the remainder is taken in some form of 
liquid. There are, however, wide ranges from the average. Women drink 
rather less than men; children drink, of course, absolutely less, but more 
in proportion to their bulk than adults. The rules for transport vessels 
allow 8 pints in, and 6 out of the tropics for cooking and drinking. 
During hot weather and great exertion a man will, of course, drink much 
more. 

In some experiments made for the War Office in 1866, at the Richmond 
Barracks in Dublin and the Anglesea Barracks in Portsmouth, the amount 


_ of the different items of the domestic supply (excluding latrines, which take 


5 gallons per head) is thus given :— 
Gallons per 
soldier daily. 


Cook-house, : : 


Ablution rooms and baths, 4 

Cleaning barracks, i ; ; ' 2°25 

Wash-house and married people, . 2°5 
9°75 


1 Sixth Report of the Rivers Pollution Commissioners, pp. 232, 233. 

2 See table in the Sixth Report of the Rivers Pollution Commissioners. 

® Report by Dr Pole, F.R.S. Enormous saving was accomplished by taking steps to pre- 
vent waste. 

“ Dr F. H. Brown, in Buck’s Hygiene, vol. i. p. 180. A table is also given by Prof. W. R. 
Nichols (p. 212) showing the supply to 18 cities, ranging fromm 20 imperial gallons in Louisville 
to 116 in Washington. 


28 WATER. 


Dr Parkes measured the water expended in several cases ; the following 


was the amount used by a man in the middle class, who may be taken as 


a fair type of a cleanly man belonging to a fairly clean household :— 


Gallons daily 
per one person. 
Cooking, : : : : 3 15 
Fluids as drink (water, tea, coffee), : : 33 
Ablution, including a daily sponge-bath, which took 24 to 3 gals., 5 
Share of ‘utensil and house- washing, . : : 3 
Share of clothes (laundry) washing, estimated, 3 
12 


These results are tolerably accordant with the Dublin experiments, if we 
remember that with a large household there is economy of water in wash- 
ing utensils and clothes, and that the number of wives and children in a 
regiment is not great. In poor families, who draw water from wells, the 
amount has been found to vary from 2 to 4 gallons per head, but then 
there was certainly not perfect cleanliness. 

Mr Bateman! states that, in a group of cottages with 82 inmates, the 
daily average amount was 7} gallons per head, and in another group 5 
gallons per head. Dr Letheby found in the poor houses in the city of 
London the amount to be 5 gallons.2 In experiments in model lodging- 
houses, Mr Muir states that 7 gallons daily were used. Mr Easton, in his 
own house in London, found he used about 12 gallons per head, of which 
about 5 were for closets, leaving 7 for other uses; but probably the 
laundry washing was not included. In the convict prison at Portsmouth, 
where there are water-closets, and each prisoner has a general bath once a 
week, the amount is 11 gallons (Wilson). 

In several of the instances just referred to, it may be questioned whether 
the amount of cleanliness was equal to what would be expected in the 
higher ranks. In most instances quoted no general baths were used; but 
it is now becoming so common in England to have bath-rooms that they 
are often put even in eight-roomed houses. A general bath for an adult 
requires, with the smallest adult bath (7.e., only 4 feet long and 1 foot 
9 inches wide), 38 gallons, and many baths will contain 50 to 60 gallons. 
A good shower-bath will deliver 3 to 6 gallons. General baths used only 
once a week will add 5 or 6 gallons per head to the daily consumption. 

We may safely estimate that for personal and domestic use, without 
baths, 12 gallons per head daily should be given as a usual minimum 
supply ; and with baths and perfect cleanliness, 16 gallons should be 
allowed. This makes no allowance for water-closets or for unavoidable 
waste. If from want of supply the amount of water must be limited, 
4 gallons daily per head for adults is probably the least amount which 
ought to be used, and in this case there could not be daily washing of the 
whole body, and there must be insufficient change of underclothing. 

If public baths are used the amount must be greatly increased. The 
largest baths the world has seen, those of Ancient Rome, demanded a 
supply of water so great as, according to Leslie’s calculations, to raise the 
daily average per head to at least 300 gallons. 


1 On Constant Water Supply, by Messrs Bateman, Beggs, and Rendle. 1867. 
2 Report of the East London Water Bill Committee, 1867, ‘Questions 2346 and 234 
3 T[hid., p. 5. 


AMOUNT OF WATER REQUIRED FOR CLOSETS—FOR ANIMALS, 29 - 


Amount for Water-Closets. 


The common arrangements with cisterns allow any quantity of water to 
be poured down, and many engineers consider that the chief waste of water 
is owing to water-closets. In some districts, by attention to this point, the 
consumption has been greatly reduced; in one case from 30 to 18, and in 
another from 20 to 12 gallons per head. It has not yet been precisely 
determined what quantity should be allowed for water-closets. Small 
cisterns, termed water-waste preventers, are usually put up in towns with 
constant water-supply, which give only a certain limited amount each 
time the closet is used. The usual size now in use holds about 2 gallons ; 
but even 2 gallons are often insufficient to keep the pan and soil-pipe 
perfectly clean. This depends a good deal upon the kind of closet used. 
The water-waste preventer must be sometimes allowed to fill again, and be 
again emptied. Considering also that some persons will use the closet 
twice daily and sometimes oftener, and that occasionally more water must 
be used for thoroughly flushing the pan and soil-pipe, 6 gallons a day per 
head should probably be allowed for closets. In this particular instance a 
false economy in the use of water is most undesirable. Water latrines 
require less; the amount is not precisely known ; the experiments of the 
Royal Engineers at Dublin give an average of 5 gallons per head, but it is 
considered this might be reduced. 

In fixing the above quantities, viz., 12 gallons per head for all domestic 
purposes except general baths and closets, 4 gallons additional for general 
baths, and 6 for water-closets, endeavours have been made to base them upon 
facts, and they are probably not much in error. It is, however, necessary to 
make some allowance for unavoidable waste within the premises, and for 
extra supply to closets, and it will be a moderate estimate to allow 3 gallons 
daily per head for this purpose. This will make 25 gallons. 

There is another reason for believing that an amount of about 25 gallons 
per head should pass from every house daily into sewers, if sewers are used. 
It is that in most cases this quantity seems necessary to keep the sewers 
perfectly clear, though in some cases, no doubt, with a well-arranged and con- 
structed sewerage, a less amount may suffice. But the complete clearage of 
sewers is a matter of such fundamental importance that it is necessary to 


take the safest course. Hitherto much water has run merely to waste. 
6 


Amount for Animals. 


From experiments conducted in some cavalry stables in 1866, by the Royal 
Engineers, the War Office authorities have fixed the daily supply for cavalry 
horses at 8 gallons, and for artillery horses at 10 gallons per horse. This is 
to include washing horses and carriages. The amount seems rather small. 
Of course the amount that horses drink varies as much as in the case of men, 
and depends on food, weather, and exertion; but if a horse is allowed free 
access to water at all times, and this should be the case, he will drink on an 
average 6 to 10 gallons, andat times more. Inthe month of October, with 
cool weather, a horse 16 hands high, doing 8 miles a day carriage work, and 
fed on corn and hay, was found to drink 74 gallons. Another carriage horse 
drank nearly the same amount. Ina stable of cavalry horses doing very 
little work, and at a cool time of the year, the amount per horse was found 
to be 64 gallons. Taking a horse as weighing 1000 fb avoir., this is just 
an ounce of water per tb weight of horse. The amount used for wash- 
ing was 3 gallons daily. In hot and dirty weather the quantity for both 


| 


30 WATER. 


purposes would be larger. For washing a horse requires at least 14 
gallons, and twice this amount if he is washed twice a day. There is a 
saving, however, if grooms wash several horses in the same water. It is 
dificult to say how much is used for carriage washing. On the whole, 
including carriage washing, &c., 16 gallons per horse is not an excessive 
amount. A cow or an ox, on dry food, will drink 6 or 8 gallons; a sheep © 
or pig, } to 1 gallon. In the Abyssinian expedition, the following was the 
calculation for the daily expenditure of water per head on shipboard :— 


Elephants, : : : : : 25 gallons. 
Camels, : ; : 10 5 
Oxen (larg ge draught), 

Oxen (small ee animals), 
Horses, ; 
Mules and ponies, 


OS Ot 


For 20 elephants and 100 men, 50,000 gallons were put on board for a 
voyage of 60 days.1 F. Smith found, from experiments in India, that a — 
horse in the month of February consumed on an average 83 gallons daily; 
this accords with Dr Parkes’s experiments at home; of course, in hot 
weather the amount would be greater.” 


Amounts required for Municipal and Trade Purposes. 


For municipal purposes water is taken for washing and watering streets, for 
fountains, for extinguishing fires, &c. The amount for these and for trade 
purposes will vary greatly. Professor Rankine,? who gives an average 
allowance of 10 gallons per head for domestic purposes, proposes 10 more for 
trade and town use in non-manufacturing towns, and another 10 gallons 
in manufacturing towns. Considering, however, the comparatively small 
number of horses and cows in towns as compared with the human popula- 
tion, and the frequent rains in this country, which lessen watering of streets, 
the two latter quantities might, perhaps, in most cases be halved. 

If, now, the total daily amount for all purposes be stated per head of 
population, it will be as follows :— 


Gallons. 
Domestic supply (without baths or closets), : ; 12 
Add for general baths, , . , : : , 4 
Water-closets, . ; : ; : é 6 
Unavoidable waste, , 3* 
Total house supply, . : : 25 
Town and trade purposes, animals in non- -manufacturing 55 
towns, . : 
Add for exceptional manufacturing tow ns, . 5 5 
35 


1 This information was derived from Major Holland, Assistant Quartermaster-General, 
Abyssinian army. 

2 A Manual of Veterinary Hygiene, by Fred Smith, M.R.C.V.S., p. 2, London, Baillieére, 

1887. : 

3 (ivil Engineering, 1862, p. 731. 

4 Most engineers reckon the waste much higher than this; there is no doubt much room 
for economy in this matter. The greatest waste appears to be in transit before reaching the 
houses. 

® This allowance will vary in every case. and must be very uncertain. In the London 
district 18 per cent. is reckoned for trade purposes. 


AMOUNT OF WATER REQUIRED FOR THE SICK. 31 


In India and hot countries generally, the amounts now laid down would 
have to be altered. Much more must be allowed for bathing and for wash- 
ing generally, while a fresh demand would arise for water! to cool mats, 
punkahs, or air-passages by evaporation. In Calcutta it was intended to 
supply to Europeans 30 gallons per head and to natives 15 gallons daily,1 
but the amount has been really much less up to the present time. 

In Madras it was assumed that the ultimate amount used would be 20 

gallons per head, ee all residents.?, At present (in 1879) the total 
supply i is about 2$ millions daily; this in a population of about 400,000 
would give 64 gallons per head. As yet, however, all the population do not 
use it. 


2. AMOUNT REQUIRED FOR Sick MEN. 


In hospitals a much larger quantity must be provided, as there is so 
much more washing and bathing. From 40 to 50 gallons per head are 
often used. There are no good experiments as to the items of the con- 
sumption, but the following is probably near the truth :— 

Gallons daily. 
For drinking and cooking, washing kitchen and 


2to 4 

utensils, F 
For personal washing and general baths, . , 18 to 20 
For laundry washing ; : : : 1 om 
Washing hospital, utensils, &e., : ; 3 to 6 
Water-closets, 3 : : : 10 to 15 
38 to 51 


It would be very desirable to have more precise data; possibly the 
amount for closets is put too high, but not greatly so when all cases are 
taken into account. 

At Netley the amount per head per diem is put approximatively at 
56 gallons (Major Nixon, R.E.). At Haslar (R.N.) the quantity is the same. 
At the Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot, the average is 160; Herbert 
Hospital, Woolwich, 89. In some of the Metropolitan hospitals there is 
singular diversity in the quantities. The London Hospital expends 62 
gallons per head per diem, but they have a laundry on the premises ; St 
Thomas’s (no laundry), no less than 99; St Bartholomew’s (no laundry), 
40 gallons; whereas at Guy’s, where there is a laundry, but where special 
care is taken to check unnecessary waste, only 20 are used. In Glasgow the 
amounts are: Royal Infirmary, 147 gallons; Western Infirmary, 119; Sick 
Children’s, 55 ; Belvidere (infectious diseases), 97, daily. At the Edinburgh 
Royal Infirmary water is supplied free by Act of Parliament, and no note is 
taken of delivery or consumption. 


Sus-Section I].—Co ection, STORAGE, AND DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. 
The daily necessary quantity of water per head being determined, the 
next points are to collect, store, and distribute it. 
1. CoLLEcTIon. 


In many cases collections of water. occur naturally in the depressions 
of the surface, or the commingling of small streams forms rivers. The 


1 Gordon’s Army Hygiene, p. 426. 
2 Captain Tulloch’s Report on the Drainage of Madras, 1865, p. 93. 


32 WATER. 


collection by men consists almost entirely in imitating these natural pro- 
cesses, and in directing to, and finally arresting at some point, the rain or 
the streamlets formed by the rain. The arrangements necessarily differ in 
each case. Rain-water is collected from roofs, or occasionally from pave- 
ments and flags, or cemented ground; in hilly countries, with deep ravines, 
a reservoir is sometimes formed by carrying a wall across a valley which is 
well placed for receiving the tributary waters of the adjacent hills, or on a 
flatter surface trenches may be arranged, leading finally to an excavated 
tank. 

The collection of the surface water which has not penetrated is usually 
aimed at, but it has been proposed by Mr Bailey-Denton! to collect the 
‘subsoil water by drainage pipes, and thus to accomplish two objects—to 
dry the land, and to use the water taken out of it. Below the surface the 
water is collected by wells—shallow, deep, and Artesian,—or by boring. 

With respect to wells, if they are situated near a river, and do not pro- 
duce sufficient water, it has been recommended to lay perforated earthen- 
ware pipes parallel to the river, and below its fine-weather level, in trenches 
not less than 6 feet deep, and filled up above the pipes with fine gravel. 
The pipes end in the well, and water passing from the river and filtered 
through the gravel passes into them. The American tube-well (Norton’s 
patent) is a very useful invention. It is merely a small iron pipe driven 
into the ground in lengths by means of a “monkey”; the water passes 
through small holes in the lowest part of the pipe, and is drawn up by a 
common or double action pump according to the depth.” 

All these matters fall within the province of the engineer, and the 
medical part of the question is chiefly restricted to the consideration of the 
purity of the water. The cleanliness and nature of the surface (lead, zinc, 
copper, &c.) on which rain falls; the kind of ground and of cultivation ; 
the amount of manuring; the nature of the subsoil if drainage water is 
used, and points of the like kind, have to be considered and supplemented 
by a chemical examination. 

Rain.—The amount of water given by rain can be easily calculated, if 
two points are known, viz., the amount of rainfall and the area of the re- 
ceiving surface. The rainfall can only be determined by a rain-gauge 
(the mode of constructing which is given in the chapter on PRacrTicaL 
Meteoroocy) ; the area of the receiving surface must be measured. 

Supposing that it be known that the rainfall amounts to 24 inches per 
annum, and the area of the receiving surface (say the roof of a house) is 
500 square feet ;— 

Multiply the area by 144 (number of square inches in 1 square foot) to 
bring it into square inches, and multiply this by the rainfall. The product 
gives the number of cubic inches of rain which fall on the house-top in a 
year, or in any time the rainfall of which is known. This number, if 
divided by 277-274, or multiplied by 003607, will give the number of 
gallons which the roof of the house will receive in a year (viz., in this case 
6232 gallons) ; or, if it is wished to express it in cubic feet, the number of 
cubic inches must be divided by 1728 (number of cubic inches in a cubic 
foot) or multiplied by 00058. The calculation may be much simplified 
by multiplying the area of receiving surface by the rainfall in inches, and 
then by 0°52, thus: 500 x 24 x 52=6240 gallons, or, still more simply, 


1 On the Supply of Water to Villages and Farms, by Mr Bailey-Denton, C.E., 
2 In the Ashantee Expedition the tube-well did not succeed, as it got clogged with sand 
(see Sir A. D. Home’s Report, Army Medical Reports, vol. xv. p. 247). 


SOURCES OF WATER. 33 


multiply the area by half the rainfall, thus: 500 x 12=6000 gallons ; here 
the error is only about 4 per cent. 

To calculate the receiving surface of the roof of a house, we must not 
take into account the slope of the roof, but merely ascertain the area of the 
flat space actually covered by the roof. The joint areas of the ground-floor 
rooms will be something less than the area of the roof, which also covers 
the thickness of the walls and the eaves. 

In most English towns the amount of roof space for each person cannot 
be estimated higher than 60 square feet, and in some poor districts is much 
less. Taking the rainfall in all England at 30 inches, and assuming that 
all is saved, and that there is no loss from evaporation, the receiving 
surface for each person would give 935 gallons, or 23 gallons a day. But 
as few town houses have any reservoirs, “this quantity runs in great part to 
waste in urban districts, In the country it is an important source of 
supply, being stored in cisterns or water butts. . If, instead of the roof of a 
house, the receiving surface be a piece of land, the amount may be calcu- 
lated in the same way. It must be understood, however, that this is the 
total amount reaching the ground; all of this will not be available; some 
will sink into the ground, and some will evaporate ; the quantity lost in 
this way will vary with the soil and the season from the one-half to 
seven-eighths. To facilitate these calculations, tables have been constructed 
by engineers. 

One inch of rain delivers 4-673 gallons on every square yard, or 22,617 
gallons (101 tons by weight) on each square acre.” 

In estimating the annual yield of water from rainfall, and the yield at 
any one time, we ought to know the greatest annual rainfall, the least, the 
average, the period of the year when it falls, and the length of the rainless 
season. The greatest fall is generally about one-third more, and the least 
one-third less than the average. The average of the three driest years is a 
safe basis. It must also be remembered that the amount of rainfall differs 
yery greatly even in places near together. 

Springs, Rivers.—It will often be a matter of great importance to determine 
the yield of springs and small rivers, as a body of men may have to be placed 
for some time in a particular spot, and no engineering opinion, perhaps, can 
be obtained. 

A spring is measured most easily by receiving the water into a vessel of 
known capacity, and timing the rate of filling. The spring should be opened 
up if necessary, and the vessel should be of large size. The vessel may be 
measured either by filling it first by means of a known (pint or gallon) 
measure, or by gauging it. If it be round or square, its capacity can be at 
once iowa, by measuring it, and using the rules laid down in the chapter 
for measuring the cubic amount of air in rooms. The capacity of the vessel 
in cubic feet may be brought into gallons, if desirable, by multiplying by 
6:23. Ifa tub or cask only be procurable, and if there is no pint or gallon 
measure at hand, the following rule may be useful :— 

Take the bung diameter in inches, by measuring the circumference at 
the bung, dividing by 3:1416, and making an allowance for the thickness 
of the staves ; square the bung diameter, “and multiply by 39. Take the 
head diameter i in inches by direct measurement, and square it, and multiply 
by 25. Multiply one diameter by the other, and the product by 26. Add 


1 Beardmore’s Manual of Hydrology, p. 61; see also table in Appendix E. 
2 To bring cubic inches into gallons, inultiply by 40 and divide by 11,091, or multiply at 
once by 003607. 
C 


oo 


34 WATER. 


the sums, and multiply by the length of the cask in inches; then multiply 
by 00003147 3, and the result is given in gallons.! 

When it is required to ascertain the yield of any small water-course with | 
some nicety, it is the practice of engineers to dam up the whole stream, and 
convey the water by some artificial channel of known dimensions. 

1. A wooden trough of a certain length, in which the depth of water and 
the time which a float takes to pass from one end to the other is measured. | 

2. A sluice of known size, in which the difference of level of the water 
above and below the sluice is measured.? 

3. A weir formed by a plank set on edge in which a rectangular notch is | | 
cut, usually one foot in width; over this the water flows in a thin sheet, 
and the difference of level is measured by the depth of the water as it flows 
over the notch. Then by means of a table the amount of water delivered 
per minute is read off. The weir must be formed of very thin board and 
be perfectly level ; a plumb-line has generally to be used.? This plan of 
measuring the yield of water-courses is the one now most generally adopted 
by engineers. 

The same object may, however, be attained with sufficient accuracy 
for the purposes of the medical officer by selecting a portion of the stream 
where the channel is pretty uniform, for the length of, say not less than 
12 or 15 yards, and in the course of which there are no eddies. Take the 
breadth and the average depth in three or four places, to obtain the 
sectional area. Then, dropping in a chip of wood, or other light object, 
notice how long it takes to float a certain distance over the portion of 
channel chosen. From this can be got the surface velocity per second, — 
which is greater of course than the bottom or the mean velocity. Take 
four-fifths of the surface velocity (being nearly the proportion of mean to 
surface velocity), and multiply by the sectional area. The result will be 
the yield of the stream per second. 

It may sometimes be worth while, if labour be at hand, to remove some 
of the irregularities of the channel, or even to dig a new one across the 
neck of a bend in the course of the stream. 


——— 


1 Nesbit’s Practical Mensuration, 1859, p. 309. Another rule, applicable to common forms 
of casks, is to multiply the cube of the Hisonal by 0°002255 or by z000; the cube of the 
diagonal i is got by adding the square of half the sum of the diameters in inches to the square 
of half the length ;—then this sum multiplied by its square root gives the cube of the 
diagonal. Another is the following :—Find the middle diameter, that is the diameter mid- 
way between the bung and the head, and callit M; head diameter H; bung diameter B; © 
length of cask L; then (H?+B?+4 M?) x Lx 0:0004721 will give the content in gallons. These — 
and many other useful calculations can be very conveniently done by means of the common — 
or carpenter's slide-rule. | 

2 Discharge of water through a sluice.—Multiply breadth of opening by the height ; this — 
gives the area of the sluice. 

Discharge=area multiplied by five times the square root of head of water in feet.—The head © 
of water is the difference of level of the water above and below the dam if the sluice be 
entirely under the lower level; or the height of the upper level above the centre of the 
opening if the sluice be above the lower level. 

3 Discharge of water over a weir one foot in length.—If the weir is more or less than a foot, 
multiply the quantity in the table opposite the given depth by the length of the weir in feet, 
or decimals of a foot. 


| 


Depth falling Discharge per Depth falling Discharge per 
over, inches. minute. over, inches, minute. 
0} 1:70 cubic feet. 23 ‘ <) WY; 70 cubic feet. 
1 4°82 2? oP) : 2 26°62 ” 2? 
1} 8°84 ,, 0 BPs : ay SOD S27 ee. ay 
2 13°63 ,, is 4 . 5 COPA oe 35 


Thus if the weir measure 1 foot, and the depth of water falling over be 2 inches, the delivery 
is read at once, viz., 13°63 cubic feet, or 84°9 gallons per minute. 


STORAGE OF WATER. 315) 


The yield of a spring or small river should be determined several times, 
and at different periods of the day. 

Wells.—The yields of wells can only be known by pumping out the 
water to a certain level and noticing the length of time required for refill- 
ing. In cases of copious flow of water a steam-engine is necessary to make 
any impression ; but, in other cases, pumping by hand or horse labour may 
be suflicient perceptibly to depress the water, and then, if the quantity 
taken out be measured, and the time taken for refilling the well be noted, 
an approximate estimate can be formed of the yield. 

Permanence of Supply.—It is obvious that the permanence of the supply 
of a spring or small stream may often be of the greatest moment in the 
case of an encampment, or in the establishment of a permanent station. 

In the first place, evidence should, when available, be obtained. If no 
evidence can be got, and if the amount and period of rain be not known, 
it is almost impossible to arrive at any safe conclusion. The country which 
forms the gathering ground for the springs or rivers should be considered. 
If there be an extensive background of hills, the springs towards the foot 
of the hills will probably be permanent. In a flat country the permanency 
is doubtful, unless there be some evidence from the temperature of the 
spring that the water comes from some depth. In limestone regions springs 
are often fed from subterranean reservoirs, caused by the gradual solution 
of the rocks by the water charged with carbonic acid ; and such springs are 
very permanent. In the chalk districts there are few springs or streams, 
on account of the porosity of the soil, unless at the point the level be con- 
siderably below that of the country generally. The same may be said of 
the sandstone formations, both old and new; but deep wells in the sand- 
stone often yield largely, as the permeable rocks form a vast reservoir. In 
the granitic and trap districts small streams are liable to great variations, 
unless fed from lakes ; springs are more permanent when they exist, being 
perhaps fed from large collections or lochs. 


2. STORAGE. 


The amount of storage required will depend on circumstances, viz., the 
amount used and the ease of replenishing. It is, of course, easy to calcu- 
late the space required when these conditions are known, in this way :— 
the number of gallons required daily for the whole population must be 
divided by 6:23 to bring into cubic feet, and multiplied by the number of 
days which the storage must last ; the product is the necessary size of the 
reservoir in cubic feet. Hawksley’s formula for storage is as follows :— 


1000 
ik where F equals the annual rainfall in inches; the resulting number 


is the number of days’ storage required. Thus, with a rainfall of 25 inches, 
ee 200 days. 
/25 9 

Many waters, particularly rain water, must be filtered through sand 
before they pass into small cisterns, and the filter should be cleaned every 
three or four months. Fig. 1 is a single filter recommended by the Barrack 
Commission.! 

A double filter can be made by having a second chamber. 

Whatever be the size of the reservoir, it should be kept carefully clean, 
and no possible source of contamination should be permitted. In the large 


we have 


1 Report on the Mediterrancan Stations, 1863. 


36 WATER. 


reservoirs for town supply the water is sometimes rendered impure by 
floods washing surface refuse into them, or by substances being thrown in. 
In fact, in some cases, water pure at its source becomes impure in the | 
reservoirs. 

Some large cities are still supplied principally by rain-water, as Con-_ 
stantinople—where under the houses are enormous cisterns,—Venice, and — 
other places. Gibraltar and Malta are in part supplied in this way. 

As far as possible, all reservoirs, tanks, &c., should be covered in and 
ventilated; in form they should be deep rather than extended, so as to lessen 
evaporation and secure coolness. Though they should be periodically and _ 
» carefully cleaned, it would appear that it is not always wise to disturb water 
plants which may be growing in them; some plants, as Protococcus, Chara, 
and others, give out a very large amount of oxygen, and thus oxidise and 
render innocuous the organic matter which may be dissolved in the water 
or volatilised from the surface! Dr Chevers mentions that the water of 
some tanks which were ordered to be cleared of water plants by Sir Charles 


moveable covering stone 


Fig. 1. 


Napier deteriorated in quality. Other plants, however, as some species of 
duckweed (Lemna at home, Pistia in the tropics), are said to contain an acrid 
matter which they give off to the water. It would be well to remove some 
of the plant, place it in pure water in a glass vessel, and try by experiment 
whether the amount of organic matter in the water is increased, or whether 
any taste is given to the water. The presence of some of the Wostoc family 
gives rise to an offensive pig-pen odour when decaying.? Dead vegetable 
matter should never find its way into, or at any rate remain in, the reservoir. 

Whenever a reservoir is so large that it cannot be covered in, a second 
smaller covered tank, capable of holding a few days’ supply, might be pro- 
vided, and this might be fitted with a filter, through which the water of the 
large reservoir might be led as required. 

When tanks are large they are made of earth, stones, or masonry; if mortar 
be used it should, as in the case of the smaller reservoirs, be hydraulic, so 
that it may not be acted on by the water. 


1 Clemens, in Archiv fiir Phusiol. Heilk., 1853. 
2 Farlow, Supplement to First Annual Report of State Board of Health, &c., of Massa- 
chusetts, 1877, p. 143. 


STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. ; 37 


The materials of small reservoirs and cisterns are stone, cement, brick, 
slate, tiles, lead, zinc, and iron. Glass-lined wooden cisterns have also been 
proposed. Of these slate is the best, but it is rather liable to leakage, and 
must be set in good cement or in Spence’s metal; common mortar must not 
be used for stone or cement, as lime is taken up and the water becomes 
hard. Leaden cisterns, as in the case of leaden pipes, often yield lead to 
water, and should be’ used as little as possible, or should be protected. 
Leaden cisterns are corroded by mud or mortar, even when no lead is dis- 
‘solved in the water. Iron cisterns and pipes are often rapidly eaten away ; 
they are now sometimes protected by being covered inside with Portland 
cement or with a vitreous glaze. Crease’s patent cement is a very useful 
covering. JBarff’s process of producing the magnetic oxide on the surface 
of iron has been tried, but seems hardly so successful as it promised. 
Galvanised iron tanks are also very much used. They must be covered, 
and in India be protected from the sun. Zinc has been recommended, but 

water passing through zinc pipes, or kept in zinc pails, or in so-called 
galvanised iron vessels, may produce symptoms of metallic poisoning,? and 
even taste strongly of zinc salts, especially if the water is rich in nitrates. 
It would certainly be best to abandon lead, zinc, and galvanised iron as 
materials for cisterns, as much as possible, unless we are sure that the 
water contains no substance likely to act upon the metal. 
_ Cisterns should always be well covered, protected as much as -possible 
from both heat and light, and thoroughly ventilated if they are of any 
size. Care should always be taken that there is no chance of leakage of 
‘pipes into them. A common source of contamination is an overflow pipe 
passing direct into a sewer, so that the sewer gases pass up, and, being 
confined by the cover of the cistern, are absorbed by the water ; to prevent 
this, the overflow pipe is curved so as to retain a little water and form a 
trap, but the water often evaporates, or the gases force their way through 
it ; no overflow pipe should therefore open into a sewer, but should end 
above ground over a trapped grating.’ <A cistern supplying a water-closet 
should not be used to supply cooking and drinking water, as the pipes lead- 
ing to the closet often conduct closet air to the cistern. Hence, a small 
cistern (water-waste preventer) should be used for each closet. Cisterns 
should be periodically and carefully inspected ; and in every new building, 
if they are placed at the top of the house, convenient means of access should 
be provided. m 

Tanks to hold rain-water require constant inspection. 

- Wells (which are really reservoirs) are very liable to contamination from 
surface washings during rains. A good coping will often prevent this ; but, 
if there is much subsoil soaking, lining with iron to a certain depth, or 
covering with brickwork set in cement for a sufficient depth to arrest the 
flow, is desirable. 


3. DISTRIBUTION. 


When houses are removed from sources of water the supply should be by 
aqueducts and pipes. The distribution by hand is rude and objectionable, 


1 Tn two cases in Ireland (at Belturbet and Monaghan) so much lime was taken up from 
the lining of the tanks that the water was strongly alkaline and tasted caustic. See Report 
on Hygiene, Army Medical Reports, vol. xix. p. 170. 

2 Dr Orsborn, formerly of Bitterne, saw several cases of this kind. See also Downes, 
Sanitary Record, vol. ix. p. 333. 

* For an instance of enteric fever produced by this cause, see Lectures on State Medicine, 
a de Chaumont, pp. 76,77. See also Dr Blaxall’s Report on Enteric Fever at Ilkeston in 


38 WATER. : 


for it is impossible to supply the proper quantity, and the risks of contami- 
nation are increased. Some of the most extraordinary of the Roman works 
in both the Eastern and Western Empires were undertaken for the supply 

» of water—works whose ruins excite the astonishment and should rouse the 
emulation of modern nations. 

The plans for the distribution of water should include arrangements for 
the easy and immediate removal of dirty water. This is an essential point, 
for in many towns where houses are not properly arranged for small families, 
there are no means of getting rid of water from the upper rooms, and this 
inconvenience actually limits the use of water, even when its supply is ample. 

The supply of water to houses may be on one of two systems, intermittent 
or constant. The difference between the two plans is, that in the first case 
there is storage in the houses for from one to three days; while in the latter 
case there is either no storage, or it is only on a very small scale for two 
purposes, viz., for water-closets and for the supply of kitchen boilers. It 
should, however, be understood that the constant supply has not always 
meant in practice an unlimited supply, nor has it been the case that the 
water in the house-pipes was always in direct communication with the 
water in the reservoirs. On the contrary, the water to the houses has often 
been cut off, particularly in places where the supply was limited, and the 
fittings not good, and where there was great waste. 

The great arguments against storage on the premises (except on a limited 
scale for closets and boilers) are the chances of contamination in cisterns, 
and the very imperfect means of storage. In poor houses wooden casks or 
barrels are often used, and may be placed in the worst situations. Although 
the arguments against the storage system are directed in part against re- 
movable failures, it must, however, be admitted that, especially in poor 
houses, the inspection and cleansing even of a well-placed cistern will 
never be properly done, and that with all precautions the chances of con- 
tamination of the water during storage are very great. As regards this 
point, the constant system has a very great superiority, for there is no 
chance of contamination except in the reservoir or in the pipes. So great an’ 
advantage is this in a sanitary point of view, that almost all those who have 
paid most attention to sanitary affairs have advocated the constant system. 
It is, however, quite necessary that it should be understood what the con- 
stant system sometimes has been in practice. When there is an abundance 
of water, as at Glasgow, the stoppages of water may have been few, but, 
when water has had to be economised, the water has been from time to time 
shut off from the house-pipes, and then no water has been procurable for 
hours. This, however, is avoided as much as possible in the day time, so 
that the inconvenience is reduced to a minimum. In some cases, again, 
in order to economise water, a throttle or ferule has been introduced into 
the communication or house pipe,” lessening the diameter to 4th or even 
to ;',;th of an inch, or smaller, so that if the head of pressure be small the 
water flows very slowly, and sometimes merely dribbles. In other cases a 
meter is put on a pipe communicating with several houses, and the owner 
of the houses is charged for the water, and this leads him to enforce a very 


1 Much valuable evidence on the constant supply may be found in the Report of the House 
of Commons Committee on the East London Water Bills, 1867. 

2 The terms used to describe the pipes differ alittle apparently ; the mains and district or 
sub-mains are the large pipes, which are always full of water, the latter being of course the 
smaller ; the service-pipe is another term for a district main. The communication-pipe is 
that which runs from the service-pipe to the house, and in the house it takes the name of 
house-pipe. 


DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. 39 


_ sparing use of it. In all these ways the constant system may tell against 
the consumer, while, on the other hand, great waste, leaking fittings, and 
fraudulent abstraction of water (to avoid which there are several ingenious 
contrivances) tell against the company, and lead to a depreciation of their 
property. 

In spite of all these difficulties the system of constant supply, in some 
shape or other, has been carried out in a large number of towns in England ;1 
and the Metropolis Water Act of 1871 ordered constant supply for London, 
if demanded by the ratepayers, and if proper fittings are provided. 

In providing a constant supply, certain precautions are necessary. The 
fittings must be as perfect as possible. In some cases, when the system has 
been changed from the intermittent to the constant system, as in Chester, 
the waste of water was so great that the old plan was recurred to. But 
when the fittings are good there is real economy in the constant system,—as 
shown in the comparison between Lincoln and Oxford, and by Hawksley’s 
evidence with reference to Norwich.?, Common taps do not answer, and the 
best screw taps and fittings must be used.? To prevent theft, it has been 
proposed to make the removal of fittings a specific offence, punished sum- 
marily by imprisonment, and to place the sale of such property under the 
same restrictions as in the case of Crown property. 

One important sanitary advantage of the constant system is that, in order 
to facilitate inspection and detection of waste, no waste pipe is allowed to 
open into a sewer, but it is always so placed that any escape of water can 
be easily seen (the so-called warning pipe). The great evil of sewer gases 
being conducted back into houses through overflow pipes is thus avoided. 
Careful inspection and good fittings so far lessen the waste of the constant 
system, that in some cases less water is used than under the intermittent 
plan.* 

Mr G. Deacon, in a very interesting and instructive paper,’ has shown 
that the loss on the constant system is due to causes over which the con- 
sumer has generally little or no control, and that it occurs for the most part 
before the water reaches him. It arises chiefly from leaks in pipes, drawn 
joints, and so on, and up to lately there were no means of detecting this in 
away practically useful. By the introduction of his water-waste meter this 
is now done with the utmost precision and accuracy, so that now in Liverpool 
the expenditure of water has been reduced from 33°5 gallons per head per 
diem to 13°3. This does not mean any restriction to the consumer; the 
supply is now absolutely constant, and the use unlimited. But it means 
that formerly the consumer used only 13 gallons at the outside, whilst 20 
gallons went to pure waste. Mr Louttit® stated that the Lambeth Water 
Company was able by this means to reduce their expenditure from 35:09 to 
15-28 per head. The general waste in London appears to be about 15 
gallons per head out of a total of about 35. With such a system of check- 
ing, the main difficulties of a constant supply seem to be solved, even if 
every consumer used the full 25 gallons laid down in this work. Further 


1 Mr Beggs’ Pamphlet, op. cit., page 20. 

2 See Report of Rivers Pollution Commission, vol. vi. p. 233. 

* A bad ball-cock has been known to drop 12 gallons a day. 

4 Evidence of Mr Easton in the Report of Committee on the East London Water Bills, 1867. 

5 <The Constant Supply and Waste of Water,’ by George F. Deacon, M. Inst. C.E., 
Journal of the Society of Arts, vol. xxx. p. 738, 1882. ‘ 

6 Discussion on Mr Deacon’s paper. According to Sir F. Bolton, in the Lambeth district 
in six years ending March 31st 1883, the delivery was on the average 33°6; in the year 
ending March 31st 1884 it was only 29°85; and later in 1884, on the constant system, it was 
only 20°51, but required constant inspection. 


40 WATER. 


improvements in the direction of detecting leakage have been made in 
Germany, where the microphone was brought usefully into play. 

Some engineers have proposed what may be called a compromise between 
sthe intermittent and constant systems. The objection to this plan is that 
cisterns are reintroduced, and their lessened size does not remove the objec- 
tions to them. 

If the constant system is used, a good screw stop-cock, available to the 
tenant, should be placed at the point of the entrance of the pipe into the 
house, so that the water may be turned off if pipes burst, or to allow the pipes 
to be empty, as during frost. Every precaution must be taken that impure 
water is not drawn into the pipes by a pipe being emptied and sucking up 
water from a distance.! 

For the supply of a very large city, it might be desirable to divide the 
city into sections, and to establish a reservoir for each district, holding 
three or four days’ supply. In this way the waste of one section would 
not take away the water from another. In some instances, people in one 
part of a town, supplied on the constant system, have used so much water 
for gardens that other parts have been altogether deprived of supply. The 
system of secondary reservoirs would not only lessen this chance, but 
would make it possible to ascertain that every part of the town was getting 
its supply. The number of water companies in London has in fact some- 
what this effect, but the subdivision is not carried far enough. 

There is no doubt that the constant system is the safer, especially for 
poor houses, as it leaves no loophole for inattention in the cleansing of 
cisterns. Only, it requires that the constant system should really fulfil 
the conditions laid down for it, viz., it should deliver sufficient water at all 
times, and not merely delude us with a phrase. 

In both plans the water is conducted from the reservoirs in pipes. The 
pipes are composed of iron, masonry, or earthenware, for the larger pipes 
or mains, the iron being sometimes tinned or galvanised, or lined with 
concrete, or pitched, or covered with a vitreous glaze, such as that patented 
by De Lavenant ; for the smaller pipes, iron, lead, tin, zinc, tinned copper, 
earthenware, gutta percha, &c., are used. 

Pipes of artificial stone are now made. Iron is the best material for the 
larger pipes, and it is also necessary (steam-piping) for the smaller pipes 
under the pressure of the constant service system. 


1 The Board of Trade issued a Minute in 1872, laying down regulations and defining the 
kind of fittings and arrangements for London. The following are the principal points. Lead 
pipes to be of certain strength (if internal diameter is 2in., 4in., £ in., 2in., 1in., 14 in., 
the respective weights per lineal yard are to be 5 th, 6 th, 74 Th, 9 Th, 12 Tb, 16 fb.). 
Every pipe in contact with the ground to be of lead; each house to have a communication pipe, 
but only one, unless an owner has it for a block of houses ; connection of every communication 
pipe to be by a brass screwed ferule or stop-cock with a clear area of water-way equal to 4 
inch ; every joint to be a “‘ plumbing ” or “‘ wipe” joint. No pipe to pass through an ash-pit, 
manure heap, drain, unless it cannot be avoided, and then the pipe is to be laid in an exterior 
cast-iron pipe or jacket ; each pipe in the ground to be 30 inches below surface ; each com- 
munication pipe to have near the entrance into the house a screwdown stop-valve ; if in the 
ground such valve to be protected by proper cover and guard-box ; every cistern to be water- 
tight, to have a good “ ball-tap”’ ; no waste-pipe except a “ warning pipe,” and such warning 
pipe to be so placed as to be easily inspected. No cistern buried in ground to be used ; 
wooden cisterns to have metallic linings ; every water-closet, urinal, or boiler shall be served 
only from a cistern, and shall not be in direct communication with the water-pipes ; closets 
and urinals to have water-waste preventers ; every ‘‘ down-pipe” into a water-closet to have 
an internal diameter of not less than 1} inch, and to weigh not less than 9 tb per lineal yard. 
No bath to have an overflow-pipe except of the “ warning” kind ; the outlet must be distinct 
from the inlet, and the inlet shall be higher than the highest stand of the water. Lead warn- 
ing pipes of which the ends are open, and which cannot remain charged with water, may 
have the following minimum weight : 4 inch in diameter to havea weight 3 tb per yard; 3 in., 
5 Ib; 1in., 7 tb. 


4 


4 


| 


" 


ACTION OF WATER ON LEAD PIPES. 41 


Water should be distributed not only to every house, but to every floor 
ina house. If this is not done, if labour is scarce in the houses of poor 
people, the water is used several times; it becomes a question of labour 
and trouble versus cleanliness and health, and the latter too often give way. 
Means must also be devised for the speedy removal of dirty water from 
houses for the same reasons. In fact, houses let out in lodgings should be 
looked upon, not as single houses, but as a collection of dwellings, as they 
really are. 


ACTION OF WATER ON LEAD PIPES. 


There are more discrepancies of opinion on this subject than might have 
been anticipated. 

From an analysis of most of the works, the following points appear to be 
the most certain :— 

1. The waters which act most on lead are the purest and most highly 
oxygenated ; also those containing organic matter, nitrites (Medlock),’ 
nitrates,” and, according to several observers, chlorides.? Besides the portion 
dissolved, a film or crust is often formed, especially at the line of contact 
of water and air; this crust consists usually of two parts of lead carbonate 
and one part of hydrated oxide. The mud of several rivers, even the 
Thames, will corrode lead, probably from the organic matter it contains, 
but it does not necessarily follow that any lead has been dissolved in the 
water. Bits of mortar will also corrode lead. 

2. The waters which act least on lead are those containing carbonic acid,* 
ealcium carbonate, calcium phosphate (which has been found by Frankland 
to have a great protective power), and in a less degree calcium sulphate, 
and perhaps, in a still less degree, magnesian salts, and the alkaline phos- 
phates ;° but it has been said that perfectiy pure water, containing no 
gases, has no action on lead. This, however, is not strictly correct, as 
pure distilled water has been known at Netley to take up lead from a 
leaden pipe. The deposit which frequently coats the lead consists of 
carbonate, phosphate, and sulphate of lead, calcium, and magnesium, if 
the water have contained these salts, and lead chloride.® 

3. From the observations of Graham, Hofmann, and Miller, the protective 
influence of carbonic acid gas appears to be very great; a difficultly soluble 
lead carbonate is formed. However, a very great excess of free carbonic 
acid may dissolve this. This has perhaps led to the statement that carbonic 
acid counteracts the preservative effects of the salts. Water charged with 
carbonic acid under pressure has a very marked solvent action on lead 
(Pattison Muir). 

Other substances may find their way into water which may act on lead—— 
as vegetable and fatty acids, arising from fruits, vegetables, &c., or sour 
milk or cider, &e. 


¥ 


1 Medlock attributes the greatest influence to ammonium nitrite formed from organic 
matter ; lead nitrite is rapidly formed, and carbonate is then produced; the nitrous acid 
being set free to act on another portion of lead. Ammonium nitrite exists in most 
distilled water. 

* Pattison Muir attributes very powerful action to nitrates, but says that it is modified or 
even arrested by the presence of carbonates, sulphates, and chlorides, but there is some dis- 
crepancy of opinion as to the action of the chlorides. 

* Pattison Muir found that a solution of sulphate or chloride of ammonium of 0°04 per 
cent. took up 2°2 grains per gallon after exposure to lead for 505 hours. 

4M. Langlois (Rec. de Mém. de Med. Mil., 1865, p. 412) attributes a great action on lead 
to the carbonic acid, but states that the carbonate of lime entirely protects lead, apparently 
by rendering the carbonic acid inactive. 

° Report of the Government Commission, 1851, p. 7. 

§ Lauder Lindsay, Action of Hard Water on Lead, p. 7. 


42 WATER. 


Humus acids are met with in well waters, and these are known to corrode 
iron, and would in all probability affect lead also.? 

4. The lead itself is more easily acted upon if other metals, as iron, zine, 
or tin, are in juxtaposition; galvanic action is produced. Bending lead 
pipes against the grain, and thus exposing the structure of the metal, also 
increases the risk of solution; zine pipes, into the composition of which 
lead often enters, yield lead in large quantities to water, and this has been 
especially the case with the distilled water on board ships. 


AMOUNT OF DISSOLVED LEAD WHICH WILL PRODUCE SYMPTOMS OF POISONING. 


Dr Angus Smith refers to cases of lead paralysis in which as little as 
qéath of a grain per gallon was in the water. Adams? also speaks of ;35th of 
a grain causing poisoning. Graham speaks of th of a grain per gallon as 
being innocuous. Angus Smith says that ,,th of a grain per gallon may 
affect some persons, while jjth of a grain per gallon may be required for 
others.’ But it is difficult to prove it may not at some time have been 
more than this. Calvert found that water which had been decidedly 
injurious in Manchester contained from jth to ths of a grain per 
gallon. 

In the celebrated case of the poisoning of Louis Philippe’s family at 
Claremont, the amount of lead was {ths of a grain per gallon ; this quantity 
affected 34 per cent. of those who drank the water. 

The water of Edinburgh is said to contain only ;} 5th of a grain per 
gallon, which is not hurtful.4 

On the whole, it seems probable that any quantity over =,th of a grain 
per gallon (=; per 100,000) should be considered dangerous, and that some 
persons may even be affected by less quantities.? 


PROTECTION OF LEAD PIPES. 


The chief means which have been proposed are :— 

(a) Lining with tin. - Calvert’s experiments ® show that extra tinned and 
ordinary tinned lead piping both gave up lead to the pure water now used 
at Manchester. 

(b) A much better plan is by having a good block-tin pipe enclosed in a 
lead pipe, as in Haines’ patent. If the tin is good it is little acted on, and 
the strength of the pipe is increased, while bends and junctions can be made 
without destroying the continuity of the tin. The composite pipes of this 


1 Rey. A. Irving, on well at Wellington College, also at Castle Malwood in the New 
Forest (Sir W. VY. Harcourt’s). Loch Katrine water is also said to corrode boilers (Geological 
Magazine, Sept. 1883 and June 1885; also Decade iii. vol. ii. p. 21; see also Alexis A. 
Julien, “ On the Geological Action of the Humus Acids,” in Proc. of American Assoc. for 
Advancement of Science, 1879, p. 311). 

2 Trans. of the American Medical Society, 1852, p. 163. 

8 Wanklyn adopts ysth of a grain per gallon as justifying rejection of a water ;—ssth 
would probably be a safer limit. These quantities, reduced to parts per 100,000, would be as 
follows :— 


Per gallon. Per 100,000. 
Th5 = ay 
tn = , 
io = 4 
ts = 1 
140 = ot 
vn = wy 
? = tos 


Chemical News, September 28, 1861. i 
See also Taylor’s Med. Jurisp., 1865, p. 242 ; and opinions of Penny, did., p. 241. 
Chemical News, September 28, 1861. 


a uw 


QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER. . 43 


kind made by Messrs Walker, Parker, & Co. are said to withstand any 
amount of torsion. Lead alloyed with 3 per cent. of tin is said not to be 
acted upon by water (Cameron) ;! pipes of this kind appear to be used in 
Dublin and in Glasgow. Later experience with this alloy, however, seems to 
have modified the good opinion first held of it; it is certainly applicable 
to cisterns, or for any purpose where it is more or less exposed to the air. 

(c) Fusible metal, viz., lead, bismuth, and tin. This is certainly 
objectionable. 

_ (d) Bituminous coating (M‘Dougall’s patent). This is said to be effectual, 
but no exact experiments have been recorded. 

(e) Various gums, resins, gutta percha, and india-rubber. These would 
probably be efficacious, but there does not seem to be any evidence to show 
how long they will adhere. ; 

(f) Coating interior of pipes with lead sulphide by boiling the pipes in 
sodium sulphide for fifteen minutes. The sodium sulphide may be made by 
boiling sulphur in liquor sodze (Schwartz’s patent). 

(g) Varnish of coal tar.? 


SUBSTITUTES FOR LEAD PIPES. 


Cast and wrought iron pipes can be used, and Mr Rawlinson now orders 
no others. The iron can be glazed internally. Iron pipes coated inside 
with Angus Smith’s bituminous varnish are now used a good deal, but the 
tarry taste lingers in the water a long time. Copper tinned and block-tin 
are also employed, and both are excellent, but are rather expensive. In 
some cases the tin is eaten through, but this is not common,’ except with 
well waters containing nitrates. 


SECTION II. 
QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER. 
Sus-SEcTION [.—CoMPOSITION. 


The composition of water is of importance for several economic purposes ; 
for certain trades which require careful processes of washing and dyeing ; for 
the supply of engines, &c. But these subjects are too technical to be dis- 
cussed here, and this chapter is therefore restricted to the quality of water 
as used for drinking purposes. The only domestic matter of importance con- 
nected with quality, apart from drinking and cooking, is the relative amount 
of soap used by hard and soft water in washing. But this is so obvious a 
matter that it only requires to be alluded to. 

Owing to many of the domestic uses of water, such as the washing of 
utensils, the supply for closets, &c., not requiring a very pure water, it has 
been proposed in some cases to supply water from two sources—one pure 
for drinking and cooking, and the other impure. This requires, however, two 
sets of pipes, and involves the chance of mistake between two waters ; and 
it is only likely to be of use underexceptional circumstances. 


1 Manual of Hygiene for Ireland, p. 218. 

* Lauder Lindsay, Action of Hard Water on Lead, p. 21. 

® T have seen block-tin pipes eaten through by water at Woolston, apparently in conse- 
quence of the presence of nitrates. Zine pipes, which have been recommended, are 
objectionable as likely to yield poisonous salts to such waters.—[F. de C.] 


44 WATER. 


Drinking water is supplied from shallow, deep, and Artesian well sources : 
rain, rivers, wells, springs, &c. 

fain- Water.—As it falls through the air, rain becomes highly aérated 

average, 25 cubic centimetres per litre), the oxygen being in larger propor- 

tion than in atmospheric air (32 per cent., or a little more) ; carbon dioxide 
constitutes 2} or 3 per cent. of the gas. It carries down from the air ammonia- 
cal salts (carbonate, nitrite, and nitrate), and nitrous and nitric acids in small 
amount. The total quantity of nitrogen in ammoniacal salts, nitrous and 
nitric acid, is ‘0985 parts per 100,000. Frankland puts the average at ‘032. 
At Montsouris,! mean of seven years, the ammonia amounted to -193 per 
100,000 ; mean of all Paris (1881-82), 0-287 per 100,000; the nitric acid 
(NO,), mean of six years, to °354 per 100,000. This gives a total nitrogen, 
from ammonia and nitric acid, of -239 per 100,000. In towns with coal- 
fires it takes up sulphurous and sulphuric acids, and sometimes hydrogen 
sulphide. The sulphates in rain increase, according to Dr Angus Smith,? 
as we pass inland, and before large towns are reached ; they are, according 
to this author, “the measure of the sewage in air” when the sulphur derived 
from the combustion of coal can be excluded, but in this country the 
exclusion could never be made. Free acids are not found with certainty, 
according to Smith, when combustion and manufactures are not the cause. 
The acidity taken as sulphuric anhydride (SO) was equal to ‘014 grains per 
100,000 of rain in a country place in Scotland, and 1°513 in Glasgow; in 
Manchester in 1870 it was 1°202; and in London °387. The nitric acid in 
Glasgow was as much as ‘244 parts per 100,000, and in London only ‘0884. 
Albuminoid ammonia was no less than ‘0326 parts per 100,000 in London 
rain.? Rain also carries down many solid substances, as sodium chloride, 
in sea air; calcium carbonate, sulphate, and phosphate; ferric oxide; 
carbon.* It almost always contains also a little nitrogenous organic matter, 
amounting in extreme cases to as much as ‘35 grains per gallon. The total 
amount of solids from five analyses quoted by Moleschott was 3:2 parts 
per 100,000, and from 63 samples by Frankland 3-86 per 100,000.° 

Occasionally microscopic plants of the lowest order (as Protococcus pluvialis 
and others) are present, and in towns the débris arising from street dust. 

With regard to Rain as a source of supply.—The uncertainty of the rain- 
fall from year to year, the length of the dry season in many countries, and the 
large size of the reservoirs which are then required, are disadvantages. On 
the other hand, its general purity and its great aération make it both healthy 
and pleasant. The greatest benefits have resulted in many cases (especially 
in some of the West Indian Islands) from the use of rain instead of spring 
or well water, which is often largely impregnated with earthy salts. In all 
places where the spring or well water is thus bad, as in the neutral ground 


1 Annuaire de V Observatoire de Montsouris. 
2 Air and Rain, 1872, p. 245. 

® Angus Smith, op. cit., p. 363. 

4 An ingenious plan for removing suspended matter from rain-water is supplied by Roberts’ 
(formerly Buck’s) “ Patent Percolator,” which may be attached to the pipe supplying a rain- 
water tank. It works automatically and produces good results, although at the expense of 
considerable waste of the water. 

5 In rain-water collected at St Albans, in the middle of an arable field, two feet from the 
ground, Frankland found as much as 8°58 parts in 100,000 ; from the roof of the Land’s End 
Hotel (Cornwall) 42°8 per 100,000, of which one-half was chlorides. 

In a sample from supply tank in officers’ quarters at Portland I found 68°5 per 100,000 of 
solids, of which about 14 were chlorides ; the organic constituents were also very large. In 
another sample, gathered as collected, 46°5 total solids and 20 chlorides ; and in one from a 
pipe leading to the cookhouse, 84°6 total solids and 20°2 chlorides. In a sample collected 
through funnels direct into glass bottles, the solids were 9°5, of which 7'0 were volatile, 
chiefly ammonium chloride, &e.—[F. de C.] 


QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER. 45 


at Gibraltar, rain-water should be substituted. So also it has been suggested 
that in outbreaks of cholera anywhere, the rain-water is less likely to become 
contaminated with sewage matters than wells or springs, into which organic 
matters often find their way in an unaccountable manner. 

Ice and Snow Water.—In freezing, water becomes purer, losing a large 
portion of its saline contents. Even calcium carbonate and sulphate are 
partially got rid of. The air is at the same time expelled. Ice-water may 
thus be tolerably pure, but heavy and non-aérated. Snow-water contains 
the salts of rain-water, with the exception of rather less ammonia. The 
amounts of carbonic acid and air are very small. 

There has long been an opinion that snow-water is unwholesome, but this, 
if it be true, is probably due to impurities. Ice and snow often contain a 
good deal of suspended organic matter. Dr Baker Edwards, of Montreal, 
found three parts per 100,000 in the shore ice and in the river ice! In 
Northern Europe the poorer classes have the habit of taking the snow lying 
about their dwellings, and as this is often highly impure with substances 
thrown out from the house, this water may be unwholesome. It has been 
conjectured that the spread of the cholera in the Russian winter in 1832 
was owing to the use of such snow-water contaminated by excretions. Ice 
and snow may also be the means of conveying malarious poison to places at 
a distance.” 

Dew has occasionally been a source of supply to travellers in sterile 
regions in South Africa and Australia, and on board ship.® 

Spring, Well, and River Water.—The rain falling on the ground partly 
evaporates, partly runs off, and partly sinks in. The relative amounts vary 
with configuration and density of the ground, and with the circumstances 
impeding or favouring evaporation, such as temperature, movement of air, 
&e. In the magnesian limestone districts, about 20 per cent. penetrates ; 
in the New Red Sandstone (Triassic) 25 per cent.; in the chalk 42; in the 
loose Tertiary sand, 90 to 96.4 

Penetrating into the ground, the water absorbs a large proportion of 
carbonic acid from the air in the interstices of the soil, which is much 
richer (250 times) in CO, than the air above. It then passes more or less 
deeply into the earth, and dissolves everything it meets with which can be 
taken up in the time, at the temperature, and by the aid of carbonic acid. 
Tn some sandy soils there is a deficiency of CO,, and then the water is also 
wanting in this gas, and is not fresh and sparkling. 

The chemical changes and decompositions which occur in the soil by the 
action of carbonic acid, and which are probably influenced by diffusion, and 
perhaps by pressure, as well as by temperature, are extremely curious,® but 
cannot be entered upon here. The most common and simple are the 
solution of calcium carbonate, and the decomposition of calcium and sodium 
Silicate by carbonic acid, or alkaline carbonates. Salts of ammonia, also, 


1 Further evidence of the impurity to be sometimes met with in ice will be found in the 
Reports of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts, vols. vii. and x. 

* See paper by C. Smart, M.B., C.M., Captain and Assistant Surgeon, United States Army, 
“On Mountain Fever and Malarious Water,” American Journal of Medical Science, Jan. 
1878. See also Report on Hygiene, A.M.D. Reports, vol. xix. See also Report by C. Smart, 
Major and Surgeon, U.S.A., ‘* Public Health in Minnesota.” vol. ii. No. 12, 1887. 

% Dew-ponds are also resorted to as a supply for cattle in Hampshire and elsewhere. 

4 For tables of percolation see Owr Homes (Cassell, 1883), pp. 807, 809. Evans, from 
twenty-nine years’ observations in the chalk of Hemel-Hempstead, gives the summer 
average at 61 per cent., the winter at 154, and the whole year at 373. 

° These are given in detail by G. Bischof, Chemical and Physical Geology (Cavendish 
Society’s edit.), 1854, vol. i. p. 2 et seq. ; and in Watts’s Dictionary of Chemistry, Article 
“Chemistry of Geology,” by Dr Paul. 


46 WATER. 


when they exist, appear from Dietrich’s observations to have a considerable 
dissolving effect on the silicates. 

, Fed from a variety of sources, river water is even more complex in its 
constitution than spring water; it is also more influenced by the season, 
and by circumstances connected with season, such as the melting of snow 
or ice, rains and floods, &c. The water taken on opposite sides of the same 
river has been found to differ slightly in composition. 

The general result of solution and decomposition is, that the water of 
springs and rivers often contains a great number of constituents—some in 
very small, others in great amount. Some waters are so highly charged 
as to be termed mineral waters, and to be unfit for drinking, except as 
medicines. The impurities of water are not so much influenced by the 
depth of the spring as by the strata it passes through. The water of a 
surface spring, or of the deepest Artesian well, may be pure or impure. 
The temperature of the water also varies, and is chiefly regulated by the 
depth. The temperature of shallow springs alters with the season; that 
of deeper springs is often that of the yearly mean. In very deep springs, 
or in some Artesian wells, the temperature of the water is high. 

The substances which are contained in spring, river, and well waters are 
noted more fully under the head of “EXAMINATION OF WATER.” There may 
be suspended matters, mineral, vegetable, or animal; dissolved gases, viz., 
nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and in some cases hydrogen sulphide, 
and carburetted hydrogen ; and dissolved solid matters, consisting of lime, 
magnesia, soda, potassa, ammonia, iron, alumina, combined with chlorine, 
and sulphuric, carbonic, phosphoric, nitric, nitrous, and silicic acids. More 
infrequently, or in special cases, certain metals, as arsenic, manganese, lead, 
zinc, and copper, may be present. 

The mode of combination of these substances is as yet uncertain ; it may 
be that the acids and bases are equally distributed among each other, or some 
other modes of combination may be in play. The mode of combination 
may usually be assumed to be as follows. Each separate substance being 
determined the chlorine is combined with sodium ; if there is an excess it 
is combined with potassium or calcium ; if there is an excess of sodium, it is 
combined with sulphuric acid, or if still in excess, with carbonic acid. 
Lime is combined with excess of chlorine, or sulphuric acid, or if there be 
no sulphuric acid, or an excess of lime, with carbonic acid. Magnesia is 
combined with carbonic acid. So that the most usual combinations are 
sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate 
(held in solution by carbonic acid), calcium sulphate, calcium chloride and 
silicate, and magnesium carbonate; but the results of the analysis may 
render other combinations necessary. 

Distilled Water.—Distillation is now very largely used at sea, and affords 
an easy way of getting good water from sea or brackish water. Almost 
any form of apparatus will suffice, if fuel can be procured, to obtain enough 
water to support life; and if even the simplest appliances are not attain- 
able, the mere suspension of clean woollen clothing over boiling water will 
enable a large quantity to be collected. At sea, salt water is sometimes 
mixed with it from the priming of the boilers, and occasionally, from decom- 
position of magnesium chloride (probably), a little free hydrochloric acid 
passes off. This can, if necessary, be neutralised by sodium carbonate. 

As distilled’ water is nearly free from air, and is therefore unpalatable to 
some persons, and is supposed to be indigestible,! it may be aérated by 


1 By some even dangerous (Gerardin). 


COMPARATIVE VALUE OF VARIOUS KINDS OF DRINKING WATER. 47 


allowing it to run through a cask, the bottom of which is pierced with fine 
holes, so as to expose the water to the air. Plans for aérating the water 
distilled from sea-water have been proposed by Normandy and others, and 
are used in most steamers. 

Care should be taken that no lead, zinc, or copper finds its way into the 
distilled water. Many cases of lead poisoning have occurred on board ships, 
partly from the use of mnium in the apparatus, and partly from the use 
of zine pipes containing lead in their composition. If possible, block tin 
should always be used. 


Comparative Value of Spring, River, and Well Water as Sources of Supply. 


This depends on many circumstances. Spring water is both pure and 
impure in different cases; and the mere fact of its being a spring is not, as 
sometimes imagined, a test of goodness. Frequently, indeed, river water 
is purer than spring water, especially from the deposit of calcium carbonate ; 
organic matter is, however, generally in greater quantity, as so much more 
vegetable matter and animal excreta find their way into it. The water of 
a river may have a very different constitution from that of the springs near 
its banks. A good example is given by the Ouse, at York: the water of 
this river is derived chiefly from the millstone grit, which feeds the Swale, 
‘the Ure, and the Nid, tributaries of the Ouse; the water contains only 
13 parts per 100,000 of salts of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and a little 
iron. The wells in the neighbourhood pass down into the soft red sand- 
stone (Yoredale series) which lies below the millstone grit; the water 
contains as much as 92°8 parts, and even, in one case, 137 parts per 100,000; 
in addition to the usual salts there is much calcium chloride, and calcium, 
sodium, and magnesium nitrates. Shallow-well water is always to be viewed 
with suspicion ; it is the natural point to which the drainage of a good deal of 
surrounding land tends, and heavy rains will often wash many substances 
into it.1 The question may arise as to what should be considered a shallow, 
and what a deep well. In the Rivers Pollution Commissioners’ Sixth Report 
all the shallow wells examined are less than 50 feet deep; most of the deep 
wells more than 100 feet deep. Any well less than 50 feet deep that does 
not pass through an impermeable stratum, such as stiff clay or hard rock, 
must be classed as a shallow well. The following table is given by the 
Rivers Pollution Commissioners :?— 

1. Spring water, 5 3 

Deep-well water, ; \ very palatable. 


Upland surface water, | 


Wholesome 9, 
a 
4, Stored rain-water, if moderately palatable. 
5, 
6. 
ile 


Suspicious : 

P Surface water from cultivated land, . ; 

River water, to which sewage gains access, ; palatable. 

Dangerous 
Shallow-well water, 


Sus-Section IJ],—CHARACTERS AND CLASSIFICATION OF DRINKING WATERS. 


The general characters of good water are easily enumerated. Perfect 
clearness ; freedom from odour or taste; coolness; good aération; and a 


1 Dr (now Sir Charles) Cameron (Dublin Journal of Medical Science) cites a case where 
good and bad water were obtained from different levels in the same well. Similar results 
have been observed elsewhere; see analysis of water from a well at Fareham, Report on 
Hygiene, A.M.D. Reports, vol. xxi. In these cases both samples were impure, but the 
water from the bottom of the well contained a great excess of salts, due probably to 
infiltration from the tidal waters of the neighbouring river. 2 Sixth Report, p. 129. 


| 


48 WATER. 


certain degree of softness, so that cooking operations, and especially of 
vegetables, can be properly performed, are obvious properties. But when 
swe attempt a more complete description, and assign the amounts of the 
dissolved matters which it is desirable should not be exceeded, we find con- 
siderable difference of opinion, and also a real want of evidence on which to 
base a satisfactory judgment. 

Still an hygienic classification or enumeration of potable waters, based on 
such facts as are generally admitted, will be useful. A division of waters 
used for drinking into four classes has been adopted in this work :— 


1. Pure and wholesome water. 
2. Usable i 
3. Suspicious - 
4, Impure - 


The waters belonging to the first and second class may be used; those of 
the third, or suspicious class, should be well filtered before distribution, and, 
if possible, should be again filtered in the house. A purer source should 
also be obtained if possible, and sources of sewage contamination ascertained 
and prevented. 

The waters of the fourth class should be entirely disused, or only be used 
when a better source is not procurable, and means of purification should 
then be systematically resorted to. 


Sup-SectTion IIJ.—Oricin or tHE ImpuRITIES IN DRINKING WATER. 


The origin of the impurities in water may be conveniently referred to four 
heads, viz.:—(1) substances derived from the source ; (2) substances added 
during the flow of the water in rivers, canals, aqueducts, or other conduits ; 
(3) impurities caused by storage in reservoirs or tanks ; and (4) substances 
added during distribution from reservoirs either in pipes or water barrels, or 
in house cisterns. 


1. Impurities of Source. 


The geological formation of a district necessarily influences the composi- 
tion of the water running through it, though it is impossible to tell with 
absolute certainty what the constituents of the water may be. Formations 
vary greatly, and the broad features laid down by geologists do not always 
suffice for our purpose. In the middle of a sandy district, yielding usually 
a soft water, a hard selenitic water may be found; and, instead of the pure 


calcium carbonate water, a chalk well may yield a water hard from calcium — 


sulphate and iron. Still it may be useful to give a short summary of the 
best-known facts. 

1. The Granitic, Metamorphic, Trap Rock, and Clay-Slate Waters. — 
Generally the granitic water is very pure, often not containing more than 
3 to 9 parts per 100,000 of solids, viz., sodium carbonate and chloride, and 
a little lime and magnesia. The organic matter is in very small amount. 
The clay-slate water is generally very pure, often not containing more than 
from 4 to 5 parts per 100,000. The water from hard trap rocks is pure, but 
if the trap be disintegrated the shallow wells sunk in it are of course liable 
to be fouled by surface washings or soakage. 

2. The Water from Millstone Grit and Hard Oolite.—Like the granitic 
water this is very pure, often not containing more than 6 to 11 parts per 
100,000 of mineral matters, which consist of a little calcium and magnesium 
sulphate and carbonate ; a trace of iron. 


IMPURITIES OF SOURCE. 49 


3. Sand-Stone Waters.—These are of variable composition, but as a 
rule are impure, containing much sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium 
sulphate, iron, and a little lime and magnesia, amounting altogether to from 
43 to 114 parts per 100,000. The organic matter may be in large amount, 
—6 to 11 parts per 100,000, or even more. Sometimes these waters are 
pure and soft, but i other cases wells or springs, within a short distance, 
may vary considerably in composition. 

4. The Loose Sand and Gravel Waters.—In this case there is also a great 
variety of composition. Sometimes the water is very pure, as in the case of 
the Farnham waters, and in some of the waters from the green sand, where 
the total solids are not more than from 6 to 11 parts per 100,000, and 
consist of a little calcium carbonate, sulphate, and silicate; magnesium 
carbonate ; sodium and potassium chloride; sodium and potassium sul- 
phate; iron, and organic matter. The last is sometimes considerable, 
viz., 1 to 1} parts per 100,000. In tolerably pure gravels, not near towns, 
the water is often very free from impurity. In the case of many sands, 
however, which are rich in salts, the water is impure, the solid contents 
amounting sometimes to from 70 to 100 parts per 100,000, or more, and 
consisting of sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, with 
calcium and magnesium salts.! These waters are often alkaline, and con- 
tain a good deal of organic matter. The water from the sands in 
the “Landes” (Southern France) contains enough organic matter to give 
ague. 

5. Waters from the Iias Clays vary in composition, but are often impure ; 
even 310 parts per 100,000 of mineral matters have been found. No less a 
quantity than 126 parts of calcium sulphate, and 60 of magnesium sulphate, 
existed in a water examined by Voelcker.? 

6. The Chalk Waters.—The pure, typical, calcium carbonate water from 
the chalk is very sparkling and clear, highly charged with carbonic acid, 
and contains from 10 to 30 parts per 100,000 of calcium carbonate, a little 
magnesium carbonate and sodium chloride—small and immaterial quan- 
tities of iron, silica, potassa, nitric, and phosphoric acids. Sulphuric acid in 
combination is sometimes present in variable amount; organic matter is 
usually in small amount. ‘This is a good, wholesome, and pleasant water. 
It is hard, but softens greatly by boiling.? 

7. The Limestone and Magnesian Limestone Waters.—These are also clear 
sparkling waters of agreeable taste. They differ from the chalk in contain- 
ing usually more calcium sulphate (6 to 17 parts, or even more) and less 
carbonate, and, in the case of the dolomitic districts, much magnesium sul- 
phate and carbonate. Organic matter is usually in smallamount. They are 
not so wholesome as the chalk waters. They are hard, and soften less on 
boiling. 

8. The Selenitie Waters.—Water charged with calcium sulphate (9 to 30 
parts, or even more) may occur in a variety of cases, but it may sometimes 
come from selenitic rocks. It is an unwholesome water, and in many 
persons produces dyspepsia and constipation, alternating with diarrhoea. 


1 In a shallow well (20 feet deep) in the gravel, near Netley Abbey, the water yielded total 
solids 212°5, of which were chlorides 124 parts per 100,000; after deepening it to 30 feet, 
and passing through a stratum of stiff blue clay, it gave only 24 total solids, and 9°3 of 
chlorides —[F. de C.] 

2 Ina well from Weedon Barracks, 109 feet deep, sunk in blue lias, I found 130 parts per 
100,000 of solids, but very little organic matter.—|’. de C.] 

* Sometimes the water drawn from the upper part of the chalk is really derived from Ter- 
tiary sand lying above the chalk. The water contains less calcium carbonate, and more 
sodium carbonate and chloride, and may be alkaline. 


D 


wt 


50 WATER. 


It is hard, softens little on boiling, and is not good for cooking or 
washing. 

9. Clay Waters.—Very few springs exist in the stiff clay; the water is 
chiefly surface, and falls soon into rivers; it varies greatly in composition, 
and it often contains much suspended matter, but few dissolved constituents, 
chiefly calcium and sodium salts. 

10. Alluvial Waters.—(Alluvium is usually a mixture of sand and clay.) 
Generally impure, with calcium carbonate and sulphate, magnesium 
sulphate, sodium chloride and carbonate, iron, silica, and often much or- 
ganic matter. Occasionally the organic matter oxidises rapidly into 
nitrites, and if the amount of sodium chloride is large, it might be supposed 
that the water had been contaminated with sewage. The amount of solids 
per 100,000 varies from 30 to 170 parts or even more. 

11. Surface and Subsoil Water.—Very variable in composition, but often 


‘very impure, and always to be regarded with suspicion. Heaths and 


moors, on primitive rocks, or on hard millstone grit, may supply a pure water, 
which may, however, be sometimes slightly coloured with vegetable matter. 
Cultivated lands, with rich manured soils, give a water containing often 
both organic matter and salts in large quantity. Some soils contain 
potassium, sodium, and magnesium nitrates, and give up these salts in 
large quantity to water. This is the case in several parts of India, at Aden, — 
and at Nassick in the Deccan (Haines). In towns and among the habita-_ 
tions of men, the surface water and the shallow well water often contain 
large quantities of calcium and sodium nitrites, nitrates, sulphates, 
phosphates, and chlorides. The nitrates in this case probably arise from 
ammonia, ammonium nitrite being first formed, which dissolves large 
quantities of lime. Organic matter exists often in large amount, and slowly — 
oxidises, forming ammonia and nitric acid. In some cases butyric acid, 
which often unites with lime, is also formed. 

12. Marsh Water.—This always contains a large amount of vegetable 
organic matter ; it is not unusual to find from 17 to 57 parts per 100,000, 
and in some cases even more. Suspended organic matter is also common. 
The salts are variable. A little calcium and sodium in combination with 
carbonic and sulphuric acids and chlorine are the most usual. Of course, if 
the marsh is a salt one, the mineral constituents of sea-water are present 
in varying proportions. | 

13. Water from Graveyards—Ammonium and calcium nitrites and 
nitrates, and sometimes fatty acids, and much organic matter. Lefort found | 
a well of water at St Didier, more than 330 feet from a cemetery, to be | 
largely contaminated with ammoniacal salts and an organic matter which | 
was left on evaporation. The water was clear at first, but had a vapid taste, - 
and speedily became putrid. The water from old graveyards (disused) may 
show less organic matter, but it will contain large quantities of nitrates, — 
chlorides, &e. | 

14. Artesian Well Water.—The composition varies greatly. In some 

cases the water is so highly charged with saline matter as to be undrinkable: | 
the water of the Artesian w ell at Grenelle contains enough sodium and | 
potassium carbonates to make it alkaline; there is also often a considerable | 
amount of free (or saline) ammonia. In some cases the water contains an | 
appreciable amount of iron; in other cases, especially when drawn from the 
lower part of the chalk, or the green sand below it, it is tolerably pure. Its’ 
temperature is usually high in proportion to the depth of the well. The 
aération of the water is often moder: ate, sometimes nel. These last two points _ 
sometimes militate against the employ ment of water from very deep wells. 


) 


raed 


! 
| 
| 


IMPURITIES OF TRANSIT. ay | 


15. Waters from Wells near the Sea,1—This frequently contains so much 
saline matter as to taste quite brackish, although the organic matter may 
not be very large. In some samples from Shoeburyness (analysed at Netley) 
the total solids ranged from 148 to 312 parts per 100,000 of total solids, 
the chlorides being from 31 to 93: mean of six samples—236 total solids and 
50 of chlorides. In one sample, however, the albuminoid ammonia was 
only 0:007 per 100,000, and in five the oxygen required for organic matter 
was under 0:075 per 100,000. Samples from wells at Gibraltar yield in 
some cases large quantities of solids ; in one instance as much as 338 parts 
of total solids and 244 of chlorides in 100,000.2 At Landguard Fort, 
water from a boring 150 feet deep yielded more than 700 parts of solids 
and 540 parts of chlorides. 

16. Rain-Water may be contaminated by washing the air it falls through, 
but more by matters on the surface on which it falls, such as decaying 
leaves, bird droppings, soot, or other matter on the roofs of houses; it also 
takes lead from lead coatings and pipes, and zine from zinc roofs. If stored 
in underground tanks it may also receive soakings from the soil through 
leakage. 


2. Impurities of Transit from Source to Reservoirs. 


Open conduits are liable to be contaminated by surface washings carrying 
in finely divided clay, sand, chalk, and animal matters from cultivated land; 
and the leaves and branches of trees add their contingent of vegetable 
matters. These impurities may occur in most cases, but in addition the 
refuse of houses, trades, and factories is often poured into rivers, and all 
sorts of matters are thus added. 

These impurities are broadly divided by the Rivers Pollution Commis- 
sioners into “sewage” and “manufacturing”: under the former term all 
solid and liquid excreta, house and waste water, and in fact all impurities 
coming from dwellings, are included; under the latter term are placed all 
manufacturing refuse, such as from dye and bleach works, tanneries, paper- 
making, woollen, silk, and metal works, &c.* 

The very numerous animal and vegetable substances derived from habita- 
tions are usually classed under the vague, but convenient term of “ organic 
matter,” as the separation of the individual substances is impossible. The 
organic matter is usually nitrogenous, and Frankland has proposed to 
express its amount in terms of its nitrogen (organic nitrogen), but this view 
is not yet generally received on account of the difficulty of estimating the 
very small quantity of nitrogen. The nitrogenous organic matter undergoes 
gradual transformation, and forms ammonia, and nitrous and nitric acids. 
The exact steps of this process are perhaps complicated. On keeping the 
water the nitrites disappear, and in some cases the nitrates also gradually 
diminish, probably from the action of bacteria. A. Miiller* found the 
residue of well water gave with sodium hydrate a herring-like odour, 
which seemed like a trimethylamine. 

Many of the “organic matters” in water are not actually dissolved, but 
are so finely suspended that they pass through filtering paper. There is 


1 For a good example of the influence of a tidal river on neighbouring wells, see my 
Lectures on State Medicine, Table x. p. 91._[F. de C.] On the other hand, springs situated 
near the sea have been found very pure. 

2 See tables of water analyses in Reports on Hygiene, Army Medical Reports, vol. xix., 
Xx., and xxi. 

{ 8 For a full account of all these impurities, and the best mode of dealing with them, the 
six Reports of the Pollution Commissioners must be referred to. 

4 Roth and Lex, Wilitdér-Gesundheitspfl., p. 16. 


a2 WATER. 


no doubt that among this “suspended organic matter” many small plants 
and animals (including bacteria and their spores), are always included. It | 
is probably owing to the variation in the quantity of suspended organic | 
matter (living and dead) that water from the same source sometimes gives — 
different results on analysis, even though the water be taken at the same _ 
time. During its flow in open conduits, however, a species of purification | 
goes on, by means of subsidence, the action of water-plants, and to some | 
moderate extent by oxidation. On the whole these processes appear im | 
India to render river-water, in BPat of all the contaminations it receives, 
purer than tank and well water.!_ The freedom from noxious substances is 
also apparently greater in India in the quick-running streams, which may — 
also depend upon purification taking place in them.? 


3. Impurities of Storage. 


The chance of substances getting into the water of wells, and tanks,? and — 
even of cisterns in houses, is very great. Surface washings and soakage | 
contaminate wells and tanks, and leakages from pipes, passage of foul air 
through pipes, or direct absorption of air by an uncovered surface of water, | 
introduce impurities into cisterns. It is singular in how many ways . 
cisterns and tank waters get foul, and what care is necessary not only to | 
place the cistern under safe conditions at fir st, but to examine it from time | 
to time to detect contamination of the water. In India, especially, the tank — 
water is often contaminated by clothes washed near, or actually in, the | 
tank ; by the passage even of excrement directly into it, as well as by sur-- 
face washings, so that in fact in some cases the village tank is one of the 
chief causes of the sickness of the people. There is, perhaps, no point on~ 
which the attention of the sanitary officer should be more constantly fixed | 
than that of the storage of water, either on the large or small scale. 

In shallow wells (4 to 30 feet deep) the soakage water from the ground | 
in loose soils of chalk and sand is often very impure. Thus in a town” 
the well-water often shows evidence of nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, and 
chlorine far in excess of river-water in the neighbourhood, though the strata 
are the same.® Occasionally, by constant passage of the water, a channel | 
is formed, which may suddenly discharge into the well; and probably some 
of the cases of sudden poisoning from water have thus arisen. 

A well drains an extent of ground about it nearly in the shape of an 
inverted cone. The area must depend on the soil; but the experiments at | 
Grenelle and Passy show that the radius of the area drained is equal to four 
times the depth at least, and that it often exceeds this. Dupuit shows that 


1 Palmer shows this clearly in a very interesting paper in the Indian Medical Gazette for 
December 1870. 

2 Much influence has been ascribed to oxidation, and doubtless in part correctly ; but Dr | 
Frankland has shown its effect to be limited. The Irwell river, after passing Manchester, | 
runs 11 miles to its junction with the Mersey without further material pollution, and falls { 
over 6 weirs; yet the purification by oxidation is trifling. By siphoning water from one | 
vessel to another so as to represent a run of 96 miles, the organic carbon was only reduced | 
6-4 per cent. and the organic nitrogen 28°4 per cent. This, however, is widely different from | 
running in an open river bed. Tidy’ s statements attribute more power to oxidation: see — 
his pamphlet On River Water, also his evidence before the Royal Commission on | 
Metropolitan Sewage Discharge. 

3 In two examples of (so-called) rain-water collected in the tanks in the marsh near | 
Tilbury Fort for the use of the troops, the solids were found to be respectively 59 and 207 © 
p: arp per 100,000 (Army Medical Reports, vol. xvii. p. 214). { 

4 A good case of absorption by an open cistern of gases from water-closets and urinals is | 
recorded by Druitt (Medical Times and Gazette, September 1869). The water as supplied i 
contained ‘008 parts per 100,000 of albuminoid ammonia; after absorption, 1°7 parts. 

> Roth and Lex, op. cit., p. 45. 


IMPURITIES OF DISTRIBUTION—INSUFFICIENT SUPPLY. 593 


the curve of the subterranean water level rises suddenly near the well, and 
becomes flatter and flatter as it extends under the ground surface, the dis- 
tance to which it reaches depending upon the lowering of the level of water 
in the well. Thus a shallow well heavily pumped may drain an area wider 
than a deeper well under moderate pumping. The distance of drainage 
area is very variable, ranging from 15 to 160 times the depression of the 
water in the well.t Professor Ansted states that the deepest (non-Artesian) 
well will not drain a cone which is more than half a mile in radius. 

In some cases a well at lower level may receive the drainage of surround- 
ing hills flowing down to it from great distances. Good coping stones, so 
as to protect from surface washings; good masonry for several feet below 
the surface of wells in very loose soils, so as to prevent superficial soakage, 
are necessary in all shallow wells. 


4. Impurities of Distribution. 


If water is distributed by hand, 7.2, by water-carts, barrels, or skins, 
there is necessarily a great chance of its being fouled. In India, where the 
water is generally carried by water-carriers (Bhisties), inspection of the 
carts or skins should be systematically made, and whenever it be possible, 
pipes should be substituted for the rude method of hand conveyance. But 
even pipes may contaminate water; metals (lead, zinc, and iron) may be 
partly dissolved ; wood rots, and if the pipes are occasionally empty, impure 
air may be drawn into them, and be afterwards absorbed by the water.? 
In towns supplied on the constant system, when the pipes are becoming 
empty the flow of water from a tap has drawn foul water or air through a 
pipe at some distance, and in this way even the water of the mains has been 
befouled. 

Coal gas passing into the ground from leaking of gas pipes sometimes 
finds its way into wells, or even into water pipes. In Berlin, in 1864, out 
of 940 public wells, 39 were contaminated by admixture with coal gas. A 
good instance is related by Mr Harvey,® where the main pipes were often 
empty and gas penetrated into them. Having regard to the cases in which 
gases from the soil (from leaking gas pipes, sewers, &c.), find their way into 
water pipes, it would seem important not to lay down water pipes near 
any other, or, what is better, have all pipes in sub-ways where they can be 
inspected. 


SECTION ITI. 


EFFECTS OF AN INSUFFICIENT OR IMPURE SUPPLY. OF 
WATER. 


SuB-SectTion I.—INsuFFICIENT SUPPLY. 
The consequences either of a short supply of water for domestic purposes, 


or of difficulty in removing water which has been used, are very similar. 
On this point much valuable information was collected by the Health of 


eae ese le mouvement des Eaux, par J. Dupuit; see also Our Homes (Cassell & Co.), 
wv, p. OLY. 
__? Cases of this sort are given in the Reports of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, No. 
ii. new series. See Dr Blaxall on Fever at Sherborne, Dorset, and Dr Buchanan on the Fever 
at Caius College, Cambridge. In the latter case fowl trap-water was sucked in from the closets. 
At Croydon, blood was sucked in this way from a butcher’s shop. 

® Food, Water, and Air, February 1872, p. 68. 


by 


Towns Commission in their invaluable Reports. It was then shown that 
want of water leads to impurities of all kinds: the person and clothes are 
not washed, or are washed repeatedly in the same water ; cooking water is 
used scantily, or more than once; habitations become dirty, streets are not 
cleaned, sewers become clogged; and in these various ways a want of water 
produces uncleanliness of the very air itself. 

The result of such a state of things is a general lowered state of health 
“among the population; it has been thought also that some skin diseases— _ 
scabies, and the epiphytic affections especially—and ophthalmia in some 
cases, are thus propagated. It also appears likely that the remarkable — 
cessation of spotted typhus among the civilised and cleanly nations is in © 
part owing, not merely to better ventilation, but to more frequent and 
thorough washing of clothes. 

The deficiency of water leading to insufficient cleansing of sewers has a 
great effect on the spread of enteric fever and of choleraic diarrhea; 
and cases have been known in which outbreaks of the latter disease have 
been arrested by a heavy fall of rain. 

Little is known with certainty of the effects produced on men by deficiency 
in the supply of water. Under ordinary circumstances, the sensation of 
thirst, the most delicate and imperative of all our feelings, never permits 
any great deficiency for a long time, and the water-removing organs eliminate 
with wonderful rapidity any excess that may be taken, so as to keep the 
amount in the body within certain limits. But when circumstances prevent 
the supply of water, it is well known that the wish to drink becomes so 
great, that men will run any danger, or undergo any pain, in order to satisfy — 
it. The exact bodily condition thus produced is not precisely known, but 
from experiments on animals and men, it would appear that a lessened 
amount of water in the body diminishes? the elimination of the pulmonary 
carbonic acid, the intestinal excreta, and all the important urinary 
excreta. 

The more obvious effects produced on men who are deprived for some time 
of water, is besides the feeling of the most painful thirst, a great lowering 
of muscular strength and mental vigour. After a time exertion becomes — 
almost impossible, and’it is wonderful to see what an extraordinary change 
is produced in an amazingly short time if water can be then procured. The 
supply of water becomes, then, a matter of the most urgent necessity when 
men are undergoing great muscular efforts, and it is very important that 
the supply should be by small quantities of water being frequently taken, ~ 
and not by a large amount at any one time. The restriction of water by — 
trainers is based on a misapprehension : a little water, and often, should be — 
the rule. 


54 WATER. 


SuB-SectTion I].—Iupure SUPPLY. 


At, present, owing probably to the difficulty of making analyses of waters, 
the exact connection between impure water and disease does not stand on so 
precise an experimental basis as might be wished. There are some persons 
who have denied that even considerable organic or mineral impurity can be | 
proved to produce any bad effect; while others have believed that some 
mineral ingredients, such as calcium carbonate, are useful. 


a First and Second Reports (with evidence) of the Health of Towns Commission, 1844 and } 
345, 


* The experiments of Falck and Scheffer on animals, and of Mosler on men and women, are 
here referred to. 


IMPURE SUPPLY. 5d 


It may be true that water containing a large quantity of organic matter, 
er much calcium and magnesium sulphate, has been used for long periods 
without any ill effects. The water of the Canal de l)Ourcq, which contains 
much calcium bicarbonate and some calcium and magnesium sulphate, was 
found by Parent-Duchatelet to produce no bad effect, and Boudet more 
recently asserted the same thing. 

In some of these cases, however, very little careful inquiry has been 
made into the state of health of those using the water, and that most fal- 
lacious of all evidence, a general impression, without a careful collection of 
facts, has often been the only ground on which the opinion has been come 
to. As well observed by Sir J. Simon, in one of his philosophical Reports,” 
we cannot expect to find the effect of impure water always sudden and violent ; 
its results are indeed often gradual, and may elude ordinary observation, 
yet be not the less real and appreciable by a close inquiry. In fact, it is 
only when striking and violent effects are produced that public attention is 
arrested; the minor and more insidious, but not less certain, evils are borne 
with the indifference and apathy of custom. In some casesit is by no means 
improbable that the use of the impure water, which is supposed to be inno- 
cuous, has been really restricted, or that experience has shown the necessity 
of purification in some way. This much seems to be certain, that as precise 
investigations proceed, and, indeed, in proportion to the care of the inquiry 
and the accuracy of the examination, a continually increasing class of cases 
is found to be connected with the use of impure water, and it seems only 
reasonable to infer that a still more rigid inquiry will further prove the 
frequency and importance of this mode of origin of some diseases. 

Animal organic matter, especially when of fecal origin; vegetable organic 
matter, when derived from marshes; and some salts and metals are the 
principal noxious ingredients. 

Of the hurtful substances the suspended animal, and especially fecal 
matters, are probably the worst. At least, it is remarkable how frequently, 
both in outbreaks of diarrhoea and enteric fever, the reports notice turbidity, 
discoloration, and smell of the water. It is this fact which makes the examina- 
tion of colour and turbidity important. The thoroughly dissolved organic 
matter appears less hurtful; at least there is some evidence that perfectly 
clear waters, though containing much matter dissipated by heat, and con- 
sisting of dissolved organic matter or its derivatives, are often taken without 
injury. Probably, also, the more recent the feecal contamination, the more 
injurious, since the most poisonous attacks on record have been in cases of 
wells into which, after slow percolation for some time, a sudden gush of 
Sewage water has taken place. 

It has been frequently stated that the readily oxidisable organic matters 
in water are the most dangerous. This opinion has probably arisen from 
the idea that a substance in rapid chemical change is more likely to excite 
some corresponding and hurtful action in the body ; and it may be true, but 
there is no existing evidence which can be trusted on the point. There is, 
on the other hand, some evidence that animal matters forming fatty acids 
give rise to salts which, though not oxidising into nitrous and nitric acid, 
are as hurtful as the more oxidisable substances. 

Of late years, too, an opinion has been expressed that the amount of the 
mineral substances is of little consequence. This can be true only in a 


1 The Canal de ’Oureq (which has a boat population of about 40,000) is to a large extent 
abandoned as a source of drinking water, and the greater part of Paris is supplied from the 
rivers Vanne and Seine. 2 Second Annual Report to the City of London, p. 121. 


56 WATER. 


limited sense ; there are some mineral substances, such as sodium chloride 
or carbonate, or calcium carbonate, which, within certain limits, appear to 
do no harm. But in the case of other minerals, such as calcium and mag- 
nesium sulphates and chlorides, and calcium nitrate, there can be little 
doubt that their use is injurious to many persons. It seems also probable 
that a combination of impurities, and especially the coexistence of organic 
matter and calcium sulphate, is hurtful; at least the analysis of waters 
wwhich have decidedly produced injury often shows that the impurities have 
been numerous. 

As far as at present known, the existence of infusorza of different kinds 
is not hurtful, though they may indicate by their abundance the presence 
of organic impurity, which they are probably useful in getting rid of. The 
effect of microzymes, alge, or fungi, in drinking water is also a matter of 
which little or nothing is known, though it is very probable that future 
research may bring out something important in this direction, research 
which is now only in the initial stage. 

The most practical way of stating the facts connected with the pro- 
duction of disease by water will be to enumerate the diseases which have 
been traced to the use of impure water, and to state the nature of the im- 
purities. 


1. AFFECTIONS OF THE ALIMENTARY MUCOUS MEMBRANE. 


It is reasonable to suppose that the impurities of water would be likely 
to produce their greatest effect upon the membrane with which they come 
first in contact. This is in fact found to be the case. 


Affections of the Stomach— Dyspepsia. 


Symptoms which may be referred to the convenient term dyspepsia, and 
which consist 1 some loss of appetite, vague uneasiness or actual pain at 
the epigastrium, and slight nausea and constipation, with occasional 
diarrheea, are caused by water containing a large quantity of calcium 
sulphate and chloride, and the magnesian salts. Dr Sutherland found the 
hard water of the red sandstone rocks, which was formerly much used in 
Liverpool, to have a decided effect in producing constipation, lessening the 
secretions, and causing visceral obstructions ; and in Glasgow, the substitu- 
tion of soft for hard water lessened, according to Dr Leech, the prevalence 
of dyspeptic complaints. It is a well- known fact that grooms object to 
give hard water to their horses, on the ground that it makes the coat 
staring and rough—a result which has been ‘attributed to some derangement 
of digestion. The exact amount which will produce these symptoms has 
not been determined, but water containing more than 11 parts per 100,000 
of each substance individually or collectively appears to be injurious to 
many persons. A much less degree than this will affect some persons. 
In a well water at Chatham, which was found to disagree with so many 
persons that no one would use the water, the main ingredients were 27 
parts of calcium carbonate, 16 parts of calcium sulphate, and 18°5 parts 
of sodium chloride in 100,000. The total solids were 71-4 parts in 100,000. 
In another case of the same kind, the total solids were 83 parts in 100,000 ; 
the calcium carbonate was 31, the calcium sulphate 16, and the sodium 


Ballon 2 20 Os ieee 100,000. 


1 See G. Bischof, ‘‘On Dr R. Koch’s ee Water Test,” Lancet, April 9, 1887. 


WATER CAUSING DIARRHGA. 57 


Iron, in quantities sufficient to give a slight chalybeate taste, often pro- 
duces slight dyspepsia, constipation, headache, and general malaise. 
Custom sometimes partly removes these effects. 


Diarrhea. 


Many conditions produce diarrhea. 

(a) Suspended Mineral Substances.—Clay, Marl—as in the cases of the 
water of the Maas, the Mississippi, the Missouri, Rio Grande, Kansas,’ of 
the Ganges, and many other rivers—will at certain times of the year pro- 
duce diarrhoea, especially in persons unaccustomed to the water. The hill 
diarrhea at Dhurmsala is produced, apparently, by suspended very fine 
scales of mica.” 

(6) Suspended Animal, and especially Focal Matters, have produced 


_diarrhcea in many cases; such water always contains dissolved organic 


matters, to which the effect may be partly owing. The case of Croydon in 
1854 (Carpenter) is one of the most striking on record. In cases in which 
the water is largely contaminated with suspended sewage, it is important 
to observe that the symptoms are often markedly choleraic (purging, 
yomiting, cramps, and even some loss of heat). This point has been again 
noticed by Oldekop of Astrachan,? who found marked choleraic symptoms 


to be produced by the water of the Volga, which is impregnated with 
“sewage. Seven cases in one house of violent gastro-intestinal derangement 


(vomiting, diarrhoea, colic, and fever), produced by water contaminated by 
sewage which had passed into the cistern, are recorded by Dr Gibb.* In 
the prison at Halle an outbreak of diarrhcea was traced by Dolbruck to the 
contamination of water with putrid substances. In St Petersburg the 
water of the Neva, which is rich in organic substances, gives diarrhoea to 
strangers.° 

Suspended animal and vegetable substances, washed off the ground by 
heayy rain into shallow wells, have often produced diarrheea, as at Prague 
in 1860, when an endemic of “catarrh of the alimentary canal” was caused 
by heavy floods washing impurities into wells.® 

(c) Suspended Vegetable Substances.—In this country, and also in the late 
American civil war, several instances have occurred of diarrhoea arising 
from the use of surface and ditch water, which ceased when wells were 
sunk; possibly there might be also animal contamination. It is not, 
therefore, quite certain that suspended vegetable matter was the vera causa. 
Surgeon-Major Gore has recorded a violent outbreak of diarrhoea at Bulama, 
on the west coast of Africa,’ produced by the water of a well; the water 
was itself pure, but was milky from suspended matters, consisting of debris 


of plants, chlorophyll, minute cellular and branched alge, monads, polygas- 


trica, and minute particles of sand and clay. When filtered the water was 
quite harmless. 

(d) Dissolved Animal Organic Matter.—The opinion is very widely 
diffused that dissolved and putrescent animal organic matter, to the amount 
of 4 to 14 parts per 100,000, may produce diarrhea. This is possibly 


1 Hammond’s Hygiene, p. 218. 
vide Dr Macnamara’s Eighth Report on Potable Waters in Bengal, Appendix, 
p. 44. 
® Virchow’s Archiv, band xxvi. p. 117. 
4 British Medical Journal, Oct. 1870. 
© Tlisch, quoted by Roth and Lex, Mil.-Gesundheitspfl., p. 24. 
6 Canstatt’s Jahresb., 1862, vol. ii. p. 31. 
7 Report on Hygiene by Dr Parkes, Army Medical Report, vol. v. p. 428. 


58 WATER. 


correct, but two points must be conceded—lsé, that there are usually — 
other impurities which aid the action of the organic matter; and 2nd, that _ 
organic matter, even to the amount of 14 to 21 parts per 100,000, may 
exist without bad effects, if it be perfectly dissolved. In the latter case _ 
the water is, however, always clear and sparkling, never tainted or dis- — 
coloured. The frequent presence of other impurities renders it difficult to 
assign its exact influence to dissolved organic matters. 

In the case of a well-ventilated court in Coventry,! where diarrhcea was 

“constantly present, the water contained 8-1 parts per 100,000 of volatile 
and combustible matter, but then it contained also no less than 150 parts 
of fixed salts, which, as the water hada permanent hardness of 74 (metrical 
scale) after boiling, must have consisted .of calcium and magnesium 
sulphates and chlorides. . It also contained alkaline salts, nitrates, and 
ammonia. The composition was therefore so complex, that it is difficult to 
assign to the organic matter its share in the effects. 

The animal organic matter derived from graveyards appears to be 
especially hurtful; here also ammonium and calcium nitrites and nitrates 
may be present. 

(ce) Dissolved Vegetable Matter.—There is some evidence to show that — 
this produces diarrhcea. Wanklyn cites the case of the Leek workhouse | 
and also that of Biddulph Moor, in both of which vegetable matter in 
solution appeared to produce diarrhea. 

(f) Foetid Gases—Water containing much hydrogen sulphide will give 
rise to diarrhoea, especially if organic matter be also present. In the 
Mexican War (1861-62), the French troops suffered at Orizaba from a 
peculiar dyspepsia and diarrhcea, attended with immense disengagement of 
gas and enormous eructations after meals. The eructed gas had a strong 
smell of hydrogen sulphide.? This was traced to the use of water from 
sulphurous and alkaline springs; even the best waters of Orizaba contained 
organic matter and ammonia in some quantity. The experiments of 
Professor Weber have shown what marked effects are produced by the 
injection of hydrogen sulphide in solution in water into the blood; is it 
possible that water containing animal organic matter may occasionally 
form SH, after absorption into the blood, and that the poisonous effect of 
some water may be owing to this? The symptoms of poisoning by water 
contaminated by sewage are sometimes very like those noted by Weber in 
his experiments, viz., diarrhoea and even choleraic symptoms (lowering of 
temperature), and irritation of the lungs, spine, liver, and kidneys. 

The absorption of sewer gases, as when the overflow-pipe of a cistern 
opens into the sewers, will cause diarrhoea. This seems perfectly proved 
by the case recorded by Dr Greenhow, in Sir J. Simon’s second report.? 

(g) Dissolved Mineral Matters, if passing a certain point, produce 
diarrhea. Boudin re:ers to an outbreak of diarrhoea at Oran, in Algiers, 
which was distinctly traced to bad water, and ceased on the cause being 
removed ; the composition of the water is not explicitly given, but it 
contained lime, magnesia, and carbonate of soda. Sulphates of lime and 
magnesia also cause diarrhoea, following sometimes constipation. The 
selenitic well waters of Paris used to have this effect on strangers. Parent- 
Duchatelet* noticed the constant excess of patients furnished by the prison 


1 Greenhow, Second Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 1860, p. 75. 

2 Poncet, in Rec. de Mém. de Méd. Mil., 1863, p. 218. The exact words are “une odeur 
Wacid sulfurique,” but ‘‘sulfhydrique ” must be meant. 

3 Second Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, Parl. Paper, 1860, p. 153. 

4 Hygiene Publique, t. i. p. 236. 


DYSENTERY FROM IMPURE WATER. 59 


of St Lazare, in consequence of diarrhoea, and he traced this to the water, 
which “contained a very large proportion of sulphate of lime and other 
purgative salts”; and he tells us that Pinel had noticed the same fact 
twenty years before in a particular section of the Salpétriere. In some of 
the West Indian stations, the water drawn from the calcareous formation 
has been long abandoned, in consequence of the tendency to diarrhoea which 
it caused. 

Calcium nitrate waters also produce diarrhoea. A case is on record, in 
which a well water was obliged to be disused, in consequence of its impreg- 
nation with butyrate of calcium (150 parts per 100,000), which was derived 
from a trench filled with decomposing animal and vegetable matters.! 

Brackish water (whether rendered so by the sea, or derived from loose 
sands) produces diarrhoea in a large percentage of persons, and at some of 
the Cape frontier stations water of this character formerly caused much 
disease of this kind. In a water examined at Netley, which became 
brackish from sea water and produced diarrheea in almost all persons, the 
amount of chloride of sodium was found to be 361 parts per 100,000. But, 
doubtless, a much less quantity than this, especially if chloride of mag- 
nesium be present, will act in this way. 

(h) Metallic Impregnation.—Occasionally animal organic matter acts in an 
indirect way, by producing nitrites and nitrates, which act on metals. 

Dr Beedeker,? a physician in Witten, was called to some cases of sickness 
produced apparently by water. On examining the point, he found the 
water was drawn from a pump, with a copper cylinder, and contained a 
considerable quantity of copper, which seemed to be in combination with 
some organic matter.? Lead (as might have been anticipated) was also 
largely present in this water, as leaden pumps were used; iron, on the 
contrary, was not dissolved. 


Dysentery. 


Dysentery also is decidedly produced by impure water, and this cause 
ranks high in the etiology of dysentery, though perhaps it is not the first. 

Several of the older army-surgeons refer to this cause. Pringle does so 
several times, and also Donald Munro.t In the West Indies, Lempriére,? 
in 1799, noticed the increase of bowel complaints in Jamaica in May, when, 
after floods, the water was bad and turbid, “and loaded with dirt and 
filth.” He also mentions, that at Kingston and Port Royal the dysentery 
was owing to brackish water. It was not, however, for many years after 
this that fresh sources of water were sought for in the West Indies, and 
that rain-water began to be used when good spring or river water could not 
be got. 

Davis® mentions as a curious fact, in reference to the West Indies, that 
ship’s crews, when ordered to Tortola, were “invariably seized with fluxes,” 
which were caused by the water. But the inhabitants who used tank (7.e., 


1 Zeitschrift fur Hygiene, vol. i. p. 166. See also a remark on the effect of calcium and 
potassium nitrate in causing a tendency to diarrhcea in the Report on the Drainage of Berlin 
(Die Kanalisation von Berlin, 1868, pp. 27, 28). 

* Pappenheim’s Beitrdge, Heft iv. p. 49. 

® The amount of copper required to produce poisonous symptoms appears to be doubtful. 
It is said that the miners in the desert of Attacama, in South America, prefer to use water 
containing so much copper as to have a distinct green colour, rather than the water brought 
up from the wells near the shore in skins, which give it an unpleasant taste. It is true that 
it is used for making coffee, and may thus be to a certain extent purified. 

4 Campaigns in Flanders and Germany. 

> Vol. i. p. 25. 

8 On the Walcheren Fever, p. 10. 


60 WATER. 


rain) water were free ; and so well known was this, that when any resident 
at Tortola was invited to dinner on board a man-of-war, it was no unusual 
thing for him to carry his drinking water with him 

The dysentery at Walcheren, in 1809, was in no small degree owing to 
the bad water, which was almost everywhere brackish. 

The epidemic of Guadaloupe, in 1847, recorded by Cornuel, seems also 
quite conclusive as to the effect of impure water in causing not merely | 

» isolated cases, but a widespread outbreak.1 

In 1860, at Prague, there were many cases of dysentery, clearly traced to _ 
the use of water of wells and springs rendered foul by substances washed | 
into the water by heavy floods. Exact analyses were not made. 

On the west coast of Africa (Cape Coast Castle), an attack of dysentery 
was traced by Surgeon-Major Oakes to the passage of sewage from a cess- 
pool into one of the tanks. “This was remedied, and the result was the 
almost total disappearance of the disease.” 

That in the East Indies a great deal of dysentery has been produced by 
impure water, is a matter too familiar almost to be mentioned (Annesley ; 
Twining). Its constant prevalence at Secunderabad, in the Deccan, appears 
to have been partly owing to the water which percolated through a large 
graveyard. One of the sources of water contained 170 parts per 100,000 
of solids, and in some instances there were 11, 16, and even 43 parts per 
100,000 of organic matter.? 

Champouillon®? has recorded a case in which two regiments used the 
impure water from the Canal de l’Ourcq, near Paris. One regiment mixed 
the water with coffee or red wine, the tannin of which united with the 
organic matter; this regiment had no dysentery. The second regiment 
used brandy, which precipitated the organic matter on the side of the 
vessel, where it putrefied. This regiment suffered from dysentery ; the 
substitution of red wine for brandy stopped the disease. 

The great effect produced by the impure water of Calcutta in this way 
has been pointed out by Chevers.* 

In time of war this cause has often been present; and the great loss by 
dysentery in the Peninsula, at Ciudad Rodrigo, was partly attributed by 
Sir J. M‘Grigor to the use of water passing through a cemetery where 
nearly 20,000 bodies had been hastily interred. 

The impurities which thus produce dysentery appear to be of the same 
kind as those which cause the allied condition, diarrhoea. Suspended 
earthy matters, suspended animal organic matter, calclum and magnesium 
sulphates and chlorides, calcium and ammonium nitrates, large quantities 
of sodium and magnesium chlorides in solution, appear to be the usual 
ingredients ; but there are few perfect analyses yet known.° 

“The observations which prove so satisfactorily that the dysenteric stools 
can propagate the disease, make it probable that, as in the case of enteric 
fever and cholera, the accidental passage of dysenteric evacuations into 
drinking water may have some share in spreading the disease. 


1 eke a review i athe late Dr Parkes on Dysentery, in the British and Foreign Medical and 
Chirurgical Review for 1847, for fuller details of this epidemic. 

2 Indian Report, p. 44. 

3 Rec. de Mém. de Med. Mil., 1872, Sept., p. 230. 

4 Lydian Amnals, No. 17, p. 70, 1864. 

5 A localised epidemic of dysentery occurred in some barracks at Niirnberg in the summer 
of 1872, 30 cases and 4 deaths taking place among the soldiers. The absorption of putrefaction 
gases from the cloaca in the wings of the building by the drinking water, was considered to 
be the cause ; the water contained nitrates and free ammonia. An individual predisposition 
to the disease appeared, however, to be also necessary (Schmidt’s Jahrbticher, 1874, vol. i. 
p. 29). 


SPECIFIC DISEASES—-MALARIOUS FEVERS. 61 


2. AFFECTION OF OTHER MUCOUS MEMBRANES BESIDES THE ALIMENTARY. 


Little has yet been done to trace out this point. At Prague, after the 
severe flood of 1860, bronchial catarrh was frequent, probably caused 
chiefly by the chills arising from the great evaporation; but it was noticed 
that bronchial catarrh was most common when the drinking water was 
foulest and produced dysentery. Possibly the bronchial and the urinary 
mucous membranes may also suffer from foul water; the point is well 
worthy of close investigation. 


3. SPECIFIC DISEASES. 


That some of the specific diseases are disseminated by drinking water is 
a fact which has only attracted its due share of attention of late years. 
Tt is certainly one of the most important steps in etiology which has been 
made in this century, and the chief merit of its discovery is due to the late 
Dr Snow. 
Malarious Fevers. 


Hippocrates states that the spleens of those who drink the water of marshes 
become enlarged and hard ; and Rhazes not only asserted this, but affirmed 
that it generated fevers. Little attention seems to have been paid to this 
remark, and in modern times the opinions of Lancisi, that the air of marshes 
is the sole cause of intermittents, has been so generally adopted, that the 
possibility of the introduction of the cause by means of water, as well as of 
air, was overlooked. Still, it has been a very general belief among the in- 
habitants of marshy countries that the water could produce fever. Henry 
Marshall! says that the Singhalese attribute fevers to impure water, 
“especially if elephants or buffaloes have been washing in it,” and it is to 
be presumed that he referred to periodical fevers. On making some inquiries 
of the inhabitants of the highly malarious plains of Troy during the Crimean 
war, Dr Parkes found the villagers universally stated, that those who drank 
marsh water had fever at all times of the year, while those who drank pure 
water only got ague during the late summer and autumnal months. The 
same belief is prevalent in the south of India; and in Western Candeish, 
Canara, Balaghut, and Mysore, and in the deadly Wynaad district, it is stated 
by Mr Bettington, of the Madras Civil Service, that it “is notorious that 
the water produces fever and affections of the spleen.” The essay by this 
gentleman? gives, indeed, some extremely strong evidence on this point. 
He refers to villages placed under the same conditions as to marsh air, but 
in some of which fevers are prevalent, in others not ; the only difference is, 
that the latter are supplied with pure water, the former with marsh or nullah 
water full of vegetable débris. In one village there were two sources of 
supply—-a tank fed by surface and marsh water, and a spring; those only 
who drank the tank water got fever. In a village (Tulliwaree) no one used 
to escape the fever ; Mr Bettington dug a well, the fever disappeared, and, 
during fourteen years, had not returned. 

Another village (Tambatz) was also “notoriously unhealthy ” ; a well was 
dug, and the inhabitants became healthy. Nothing can well be stronger than 
the positive and negative evidence brought forward in this paper. 

Dr Moore® also noted his opinion of malarious disease being thus pro- 
duced ; and M. Commaille* has since stated, that in Marseilles paroxysmal 


1 Topography of Ceylon, p. 52. 2 Indian Annals, 1856, p. 526. 
® Indian Annals, 1867. 4 Rec. de Mém. de Méd. Mil., Nov. 1868, p. 427. 


@ 


62 WATER. 


fevers, formerly unknown, have made their appearance, since the supply to the _ 
city has been taken from the canal of Marseilles. In reference also to this _ 
point, Dr Townsend, the Sanitary Commissioner for the Central Provinces _ 
in India, mentions in one of his able reports’ that the natives have a current — 
opinion that the use of river and tank water in the rainy season (when the ~ 
water always contains much vegetable matter) will almost certainly produce | 
fever (7.€., ague), and he believes there are many circumstances supporting | 
this view. In this way the prevalence of ague in dry elevated spots is often, | 
he thinks, to be explained. He mentions also that the people who use the ; 
water of streams draining forest lands and rice fields “suffer more severely | 
from fever (ague) than the inhabitants of the open plain drawing their 
water from a soil on which wheat grows.” In the former case there is far 
more vegetable matter in the water. The Upper Godavery tract is said to 

| 


be the most aguish in the province, yet there is not an acre of marshy | 
ground ; the people use the water of the Godavery, which drains more dense © 
forest land than any river in India. | 

In the “ Landes” (of south-west France), the water from the extensive | 
sandy plain contains much vegetable matter, obtained from the vegetable | 
deposit, which binds together the siliceous particles of the subsoil. It has 
a marshy smell, and, according to Fauré, produces intermittents and visceral — 
engorgements. Dr Blanc, in his papers on Abyssinia, mentions that on — 
the march from Massowah to the Highlands, Mr Prideaux and himself, who 
drank water only in the form of tea or coffee, entirely escaped fever, while 
the others who were less careful suffered, and, as Dr Blanc believes, from _ 
the water. 

The same facts have been noticed in this country. Many years ago Mr 
Blower of Bedford mentioned a case in which the ague of a village had been 
much lessened by digging wells, and he refers to an instance in which, in 
the parish of Houghton, almost the only family which escaped ague at one 
time was that of a farmer who used well-water, while all the other persons — 
drank ditch water.? 

At Sheerness the use of the ditch water, which is highly impure with 
vegetable débris, has been also considered to be one of the chief causes of 
the extraordinary insalubrity.? 

At Versailles a sudden attack of ague in a regiment of cavalry was traced 
to the use of surface water taken from a marshy district.+ 

The case of the “‘ Argo,” recorded by Boudin,? is an extremely strong one. 
In 1834, 800 soldiers in good health embarked in three vessels to pass from 
Bona in Algiers to Marseilles. They all arrived at Marseilles the same day. 
In two vessels there were 680 men without a single sick man. In the third 
vessel, the ‘‘ Argo,” there had been 120 men; thirteen died during the short 
passage (time not given), and of the 107 survivors no less than 98 were dis- 
embarked with all forms of paludal fevers, and as Boudin himself saw the 
men, there was no doubt of the diagnosis. The crew of the “Argo” had 
not a single sick man. 

All the soldiers had been exposed to the same influences of atmosphere 
before embarkation. The crew and the soldiers of the “Argo” were ex- 


1 For 1870, published at Nagpore in 1871, para. 143 ef seq. 
2 Snow On the Mode of Communication of Cholera, 2nd edit. 1855, p. 130. 

® Ts it not possible that the great decline of agues in England is partly due to a purer 
drinking water being now used? Formerly, there can be little doubt, when there was no 
organised supply, and much fewer wells existed, the people must have taken their supply from 
surface collections and ditches, as they do now, or did till lately, at Sheerness. 

4 Grainger’s Report on Choler a, Appendix (B ), page 95 ; footnote. 

5 Traité de Géographie et de Statistique Medicales, 1857, t. i. p. 142. 


MALARIOUS POISONING THROUGH WATER. 63 


posed to the same atmospheric condition during the voyage; the influence of 
air seems therefore excluded. There is no notice of the food, but the pro- 
duction of malarious fever from food has never been suggested. The water 
was, however, different—in the two healthy ships the water was good. The 
soldiers on board the “ Argo” had been supplied with water from a marsh, 
which had a disagreeable taste and odour ; the crew of the “Argo” had pure 
water. The evidence seems here as nearly complete as could be wished.1 
One very important circumstance is the rapidity of development of the 
malarious disease and its fatality when introduced in water. It is the same 
thing as in the case of diarrhcea and dysentery. Hither the fever-making 
cause must be in larger quantity in the water, or, what is equally probable, 
must be more readily taken up into the circulation and carried to the spleen, 
than when the cause enters by the lungs. 

In opposition, however, to all these statements must be placed a remark 
of Finke’s,? that in Hungary and Holland marsh water is daily taken with- 
out injury. But in Hungary, Dr Grosz states that, to avoid the injurious 

effects of the marsh water, it is customary to mix brandy with it, “a custom 
which favours hypertrophies of the internal organs.”? Professor Colin, of 
the Val de Grace, who is so well known for his researches on intermittent 
fever,‘ is also inclined to question the production of paroxysmal fevers by 
marsh water. He cites numerous cases in Algiers and Italy, where impure 
marsh water gave rise to indigestion, diarrhoea, and dysentery, but in no 
case to intermittent fever, and in all his observations he has never met with 
an instance of such an origin of ague. He therefore denies this power, and 
in reference to the celebrated case of the “Argo,” without venturing to 
contest it, he yet views it with suspicion, and questions whether Boudin 
has given the exact details. 
An instructive case, however, is recorded by Brigade-Surgeon Faught.° 
The artillery quartered at Tilbury Fort (in the Gravesend district) have 
generally suffered more or less from ague, whilst the people at the railway 
station, and the coastguard and their families in the ship lying just outside 
the fort, never suffer from malarious poisoning. The troops have been 
supplied with drinking water from two underground tanks which receive 
rain-water from the roof of the barracks, whilst the other persons above 
mentioned draw their drinking-water from a spring near the railway station. 
From December 1873 to July 1874 the troops were supplied from the same 
source, on account of the barrack tanks being out of repair. The table on 
_ page 64 shows the returns of sickness. 

Another case of importance is that recounted by C. Smart, Capt. and 
Assist. Surg., U.S.A. In the Rocky Mountain district of North America 
a fever prevails, which is popularly known as the Mountain fever ; it is 
evidently malarious, and is amenable to quinine. There is, however, ne 
malarious district in the neighbourhood, and cases of intermittent fever 
from the plains recover rapidly there, and the disease occurs sometimes 
when the thermometer is at times below zero, and always below the 
freezing-point, but most frequently at times when fever does not occur in 
the plains, but which coincide with the melting of the snows, viz., May, 
June, and July. Dr Smart found that all the water in the rivers contained 


1 Ritter, Hirsch in Jahresb. fir gen. Med. for 1869, p. 192. 

2 Oesterlen’s Handb. der Hygiene, 2nd edit., 1857, p. 129 ; footnote. 

3 Quoted by Wutzur, Reise in dem Orient Ewropas, bandi. p. 101. 

4 Del Ingestion des caux Marécayeuses comme cause dela Dysentérie et des Fievres Inter- 
mittentes, par L. Colin, Paris, 1872. 

> Army Medical Reports, vol. xvii. p. 212. 

6 For details see A.M.D. Reports, vol. xix. p. 190. 


wv 


64 WATER. 


a large excess of organic matter, the purest showing from 0°019 to 0-028 
per 100,000 of albuminoid ammonia, whilst the springs showed only 0-010. 
The amount was much increased after heavy snow-fall, and on analysing 
the snow he was surprised to find it contained a large excess of organic — 
matter, especially that which fell in large heavy flakes (as high sometimes ag _ 
0-058 of albuminoid ammonia). Dr Smart concludes that vegetable organic | 
matter is blown up from the plains and precipitated with the snow, and, 
when the latter melts, carried into the streams. At stations where care is — 
taken with the water-supply, and especially where suspended matter is 
prevented as much as possible from getting into the water, the disease is 
slight. 
Fever at Tirpury Fort. 


; Ratio of The analyses of 
tete Steaneth ee Eewenraee Admis- Water | the waters showed 
; SE Ague Sane. sions per used, that the tanks 
; annum. were exposed to 
soakage from the 
ae _————_ 2a AS AIRY Gi ka] Rae surrounding _ salt 
1872. marsh, for the so- 
Jan. to June. 103 34 33 66 Water | called rain-water 
from bar-| yielded 59 parts 
rack tanks.) per 100,000 of total 
solids in the one 
case, and 207°5 in 
- 1873. the other, the chlo- 
Jan. to June. 102 12 11:8 E | rine being respec- 
tively 18 and 47. 
The station water 
| gave 543 total 
aval ue and only 4°7 
73-4. of chlorine. As 
Dec. 1873 to 90 | ike 1S || 19 | Water | regards organic 
July 1874. fromspring matter, the tank 
at the rail-| waters showed 
way sta- | actually less im- 
tion. purity than the 
station water by 
| 1874-5. the ammonia 
| Nov. 1874 to 53 4+ 76 22°83 | Water | method, but by 
| March 1875. | from bar- | the permanganate 
| rack tanks.) method they were 
| three times as im- 
| 


bo 
cS 
ob 
—) 
Ss) 


pure. For full de- 
tails and for the 
microscopic  ex- 
amination, see the 
original paper. 


* This case was in hospital only five days ; it occurred only a few days after the arrival of 


the battery. 
+ None of these had ever had ague before ; two had to be sent on furlough, being much 


debilitated by malaria. 

W. North? thinks that “proof that the malarial affection can be con- 
veyed by water is wanting, though very largely credited by the natives of 
countries where the disease prevails.” As yet the views of Klebs and 
Tommasi-Crudeli have not been confirmed. 


1 In my Report on Hygiene, A.M.D. Reports, vol. xviii., an analysis is given of the water of 
the Rakus Tal Lake, on the northern side of the Himalayan range, the sample having been 
brought home by Lieut.-Col. H. Knight, late 19th Regiment of Foot. In this water the saline 
ammonia was 0°056 and the albuminoid 0°070 per 100, 000. Contrast this with Loch Katrine 
and other lakes in this country, where the respective amounts are under 0:002 and 0: 005, and 
we have a difference which requires explanation. May it not be that in this country we have 
so much less snow as a feeder of our inountain lakes, and also fewer districts from which winds 
could carry up orgariic matter /—[F. de C.] 2 Op. cit. 


ENTERIC FEVER PRODUCED BY WATER. 65 


Enteric Fever. 


The belief that enteric fever can spread by means of water as well as air 
appears to be quite of modern origin, though some epidemics, such as the 
“Schleim-fieber” of Gottingen in 1760, were attributed in part to the use 

of impure water. In 1822, “Walz, at Saarlouis, in 1843, Miiller, at Mayence, 
and in 1848, E. A. W. Richter, at Vienna, published cases illustrative of 

‘this! In 1852 Dr Austin Flint? published the particulars of a similar 

outbreak of enteric fever at the hamlet of North Boston (Erie, U.S.) in 

1843. 

In 1852-53 a severe outbreak of enteric fever took place at Croydon, 
and was thoroughly investigated by many competent observers ; and it was 
shown by Dr A. Carpenter “that it was partly, at any rate, spread by the 
pollution of the drinking water from the contents of cesspools. 

In 1856 Dr Routh,? and in 1859 Dr W. Budd,*;published very conclusive 
beases. The latter had long been convinced of the occasional propagation of 
enteric fever in this way. 

: In 1860 an outbreak of enteric fever occurred at the convent of Sisters 
/of Charity at Munich. 31 persons out of 120 were attacked between 15th 
September and the 4th of October with severe illness, and 14 of these cases 

were true enteric; 4 died. The cause was traced to wells impregnated 
with much organic matter (and among other things enteric dejections), and 

containing nitrates and lime. On the cessation of the use of this water 
the fever ceased.? 

__ The propagation of enteric fever in Bedford would certainly appear, from 
Sir J. Simon’s report,® to have been partly through the medium of the water. 
Dr Schmitt’ has for several years paid particular attention to this point, 

and in 1861 published several very striking cases. 

A case bearing on the same point was brought before the Metropolitan 

Officers of Health in 1862® by Mr Wilkinson of Sydenham. In this case 

the water was contaminated by absorption of sewer gases. 

In 1862 a very sudden and severe outbreak of enteric fever in a barrack 

at Munich was traced to water impregnated with fecal matter ;—on ceasing 
to use the water, the disease disappeared. In 1865 a very remarkable 
outbreak of enteric fever occurred at Ratho, in Scotland, and was traced to 
drinking water contaminated with sewage.!° In 1866 enteric fever broke 
out in a girls’ school at Bishopstoke, near Southampton, and was traced 

“unequivocally to the bursting of a sewer pipe into the well. The water was 

disagreeable both to smell and taste. 17 or 18 persons were affected out 

of 26 or 28. Several very striking instances are recorded in Sir J. Simon’s 


1 All these cases are related by Riecke in his excellent work, Der Kriegs und Friedens- 
Lyphus, Nordhausen, 1850, pp. 44-58. 
* Clinical Reports on Continued Fever, by Austin Flint, M.D., Buffalo, 1852, p. 380. 
3 Fecal Fermentation as a Cause of Disease. Pamphlet. Lond. 1856, p. 34. 
4 Lancet, Oct. 29, 1859, p. 432. 
5 Edinbur gh Medical Jour ee Jan. 1862, p. 1153; see also Gietl, Die Ursachen des Enter. 
Typhus in Miinchen, 1865, p. 
6 Third Report of the ee ‘Officer of the Privy Council, 1860. 
7 Journ. de Med. de Bruxelles, Sept. 1861; and Canstatt’s Jahresb. for 1861, band iv. pp. 
182, 183. See the 2nd edition of this work for a short account of them. 
8 British Medical Journal, March 1, 1862. 
9 Gietl, Die Ursachen des Ent. Typhus in Miinchen, 1865, p. 62. In this little book is 
- much evidence to show the propagation of enteric fever by foul water and by deficient arrange- 
ments for removal of excreta, as well as many instances of the carrying of the disease from 
_ place to place, analogous to those narrated by Bretonneau many years ago. 
0 Ridin. Med. Journ. , Dec. 1865. In this case a groom came to the house ill with enteric 
fever from Dundee, and thus introduced the disease. 


| E 


66 WATER. 


Reports by Drs Seaton, Buchanan, and Thorne,! and in some of these — 
cases analyses of the water were made which showed it to be impure, and © 
to contain organic sewage or its derivatives. A very good case, at the © 
Garnkirk works in Glasgow, is recorded by Dr Perry.2, Dr De Renzy, the | 
Sanitary Commissioner of the Punjab, has also published a remarkable | 
paper on the extinction of enteric fever in Millbank prison, and shows, 
from the statistics of many years, that the fever has entirely disappeared — 
since the use of Thames water was given up; the disappearance was coin- — 
cident with the change in the water supply. Two excellent cases are | 
recorded by Dr Clifford Allbutt? and one by Dr Wohlrab, which are free | 
from ambiguity.4 A very good case is recorded by Dr Latham.® Enteric 
fever was introduced into a village, and spread by the agency of con- 
taminated drinking water.® 

A destructive outbreak took place at Caterham and Redhill during 1878. 
This was investigated by Dr Thorne Thorne, who traced it to contamination 
of the water-supply by the stools of a workman suffering from mild enteric — 
fever, who was employed in the Company’s wells. The disease was con-— 
fed to those who consumed the water, and ceased after the wells were | 
pumped out and cleansed. The inmates of the Lunatic Asylum and the — 
detachment of troops at Caterham barracks used the water from the asylum — 
well, and did not suffer.’ 

That water may be the medium of propagating enteric fever thus seems — 
to be proved by sufficient evidence; and it has been admitted by men whe 
have paid special attention te this subject, as Jenner, W. Budd, and Simon. — 

Two questions arise in connection with this subject— 

1. As enteric fever undoubtedly spreads also through the air, What is © 
the proportion of cases disseminated by water as compared with those dis- 
seminated by air? No answer can yet be given to this question.® 

There is one point of some interest. When the dates of attack are given, 
it is curious to observe how short the incubative period appears to be; — 
while it is probable that it takes many days (8 to 14) after the enteri¢ 
poison has entered with the air before the early malaise comes on—in some — 
of the cases of enteric fever brought on by water, two or three days only | 
elapse before the symptoms are marked.® 


1 Dr Seaton’s Report on Tottenham (Report of Medical Officer to the Privy Council for 
1866, p. 215); Dr Buchanan on Guildford (Jbid. for 1867, p. 34); Dr Thorne’s Report on | 
Terling (Lbid., p. 41); Dr Buchanan’s Report on Wicken-Bonant (12th Report, p. 72). In all — 
these instances the evidence reaches the highest degree of probability, and in the cases of | 
Guildford and Wicken-Bonant of almost absolute certainty. See also Report on Sherborne by — 
Dr Blaxall; on Caius College, Cambridge, by Dr Buchanan (both in No. ii. new series) ; on — 
Lewes, by Dr Thorne (No. iv. new series); also the case of Over-Darwen (Sanitary Record, — 
1875) ; case given by Dr Stallard (Zancet, Feb. 1872); Dr Barclay’s Reports on Bangalore — 
(Army Med. Reports, vol. xiii. p. 208). Geissler also quotes from Higler a very strong case 
occurring at Lausen (Schmidt’s Jahrb. 1874, No. 2, p. 185). 

2 Lancet, June 1868. 

* See Report on Hygiene, Army Med. Dept. Blue Book, 1860, p. 23. 

4 Archiv der Heilk., vol. xii. p. 134 (1871). > Lancet, July 15, 1871. 

6 A remarkable case is reported by Dr Zuckschwerdt occurring in the orphan asylum at 
Halle in 1871. Also by Dr Burkart at Stuttgart, at Reinhartsdorf in Switzerland, and at 
Schandau, all distinctly traceable to impure water (Schmidt's Jahrbticher, 1874). 

7 See Report by Dr Thorne; also A.M.D. Reports, vol. xx. p. 222. 

8 Sir J. Simon, in his second Report, new series, gives a table of 146 outbreaks investigated 
by his officers in 1870-3 (4 years), in all of which great excremental pollution of air or water, ~ 
or generally of both, was found. Biermer, from an analysis of 1300 cases, cites evidence of 
water carriage (Schmidt’s Jahrl., 1873, No. 8, p. 195). 

9 Dr W. Budd says, in a letter to the late Dr Parkes,—‘‘In the cases in which the poison — 
is conveyed by water, infection seems to be much more certain; and I have reason to think that — 
the period of incubation is materially shortened. An illustration of this seems to be furnished 
by the memorable outbreak which occurred at Cowbridge some years ago, and which presented — 


| SPREAD OF CHOLERA THROUGH WATER. 67 


A very large number also of the susceptible Persens who drank the water 
are affected. 

2. Will decomposing sewage in water produced enter fever, or must the 
evacuations of an enteric patient pass in? This.-is. part Gf the larger 
question of the origin and propagation of specific poisons. dt is.certainly 

remarkable, in the range of cases recorded by Schmitt; how uniformly the 

possibility of the passage of enteric stools is disregarded. Everything is 
attributed to feecal matters merely. A case recorded by Dr Downes,’ in 
which six cases of enteric fever resulted from the overflow of non-enteric 
sewage into a well, supports this view. On the other hand, in the cases 
recorded by Allbutt and Wohlrab already referred to, contaminated water 
had been used for some time without producing enteric fever. Persons 
affected with enteric fever then entering the place, their discharges passed 
into the drinking water, and then an outbreak of enteric fever followed. 
An extremely strong case is given by Ballard.? Very polluted water had 
been used for years by the inhabitants of the village of Nunney without 
causing fever, when a person with enteric fever came from a distance to 
the village, and the excreta from this person were washed into the stream 
supplying the village. Between June and October 1872 no less than 76 
cases occurred out of a population of 832 persons. All those attacked 
drank the stream water habitually or occasionally. All who used filtered 
‘Yain or well water escaped, except one family who used the water of a well 
only 4 or 5 yards from the brook. The case seems quite clear—first, that 
the water caused the disease; and secondly, that though polluted with 
excrement for years, no enteric fever appeared until an imported case 
introduced the virus. Positive evidence of this kind seems conclusive, 
and we may now safely assume that the presence of enteric evacuations in 
the water is necessary. Common fecal matter may produce diarrhoea, 
which may perhaps be febrile,? but for the production of enteric fever the 
specific agent must be present. The opinion that the stools of enteric fever 
are the special carriers of the poison was first explicitly stated by Canstatt,* 
and was also ably argued by W. Budd. 


Cholera. 


Few of the earlier investigators of cholera appear to have imagined that 
the specific poison might find entrance by the means of drinking water. 
There is an intimation of the kind in a remark by Dr Miller ;° and Jameson © 
alludes to the effect of impure water, but in a cursory way. 


this unexampled fact, that out of some 90 or 100 persons who went to a race ball at the 
principal inn there, more than one-third were within a short time laid up with fever. In this 
case there was satisfactory : reason to think that the water was contaminated, though there was 
no chemical examination.” In the attack at Guildford, however, the incubative period was 
not shortened, as Dr Buchanan calculates it at 11 days ; neither was it shortened at Caterham. 
1 Lancet, 27th April 1872. 
i; Report to the Local Government Board on an outbreak of enteric fever at Nunney, Sept. 
(2 
34 good instance is given by Mr R. Bond-Moore (London Medical Record, May 27, 1874, 
page 397 ), as occurring at Sedgely Park School. Two years previously the water ’ supply became 
contaminated with ordinary sewage, but no enteric fever resulted, although there was 
diarrhcea, sickness, great languor, and great prostration. The leaking drain was repaired, 
and the attack ceased. Two years after enteric fever was introduced by one of the boys, and 
spread apparently by the use of the closets. 
4 “*Wahrscheinlich sind die Exhalationen des Krankes, seine Excremente, viclleicht die 
typhosen Aftergebilde im Darme, die Trager des Contagiums. ”_Canstatt, Spec. Path. wid 
Ther., 2nd edit. band ii. p. 582 (1847). 
5 Einige Bemerkungen uber die Asiat. Cholera, Hanover, 1848, p. 36. , oka 
8 Bengal Report of 1820. ete ee he a 


Leal 


“ 


68 WATER. 


In 1849 the late Dr Snow, in investigating some circumscribed outbreaks 
of cholera in Horsleydown, Wandsworth, and other places, came to the 
conclusion that, in these instances, the disease arose from cholera evacuations 
finding their way into the drinking water. Judging from the light of sub- 
sequent experience, it now seems extremely probable that this was the case, 
and to Dr Snow must certainly be attributed the very great merit of dis- 
covering this most important fact. At first, certainly, the evidence was — 
defective,’ but gradually fresh instances were collected, and in 1854 occurred | 
the celebrated instance of the Broad Street pump in London, which was 
investigated by a committee, whose report, drawn up by Mr John Marshall, 
of University College, with great logical power, contains the most convincing — 
evidence that, in that instance at any rate, the poison of cholera found its 
way into the body through drinking water.? 

In 1855 Dr Snow published a second edition of his book, giving an 
account of all the cases hitherto known, and adding some evidence also as to — 
the introduction in this way of other specific poisons.? 

The facts, at present, may be briefly summed up as follows :— 

1. Local outbreaks, in which contamination of the drinking water was 
either proved or in which the evidence of the origin and succession of cases — 
seemed to make it certain that the cause was in the drinking water. In | 
England, Dr Snow and others have thus recorded cases occurring in 1849 — 
and 1854 at Horsleydown, Broad Street, Wandsworth, West Ham, &c. In — 
1865 the important outbreak at Newcastle-on-Tyne,* when all the circum-_ 
stances pointed very strongly to the influence of the impure Tyne water. In 
1865 occurred the remarkable and undoubted case of water-poisoning at — 
Theydon Bois, recorded by Mr Radcliffe,® and in the following year the violent 
outbreak in the East of London was supposed to be connected withthe circula- — 
tion of impure water by the East London Water Works Company. Much 
discussion has taken place as to the real influence of the impure water, which 
it is admitted on all hands was used. Mr Radcliffe® and Dr Farr‘ collected — 
the evidence in favour of the opinion that the sudden outburst was really 
owing to this water; while Dr Letheby and some others expressed doubts 
on this point, chiefly on account of the difficulty of reconciling with the 
hypothesis certain exceptional cases both of immunity and of attack. The | 
evidence in favour of the water being the cause appears extremely strong, 
and far greater difficulty arises if that view is not received than is caused by | 
the exceptional cases referred to, of which we may not know all the particulars. — 
In the same year (1866) an apparently unequivocal case of production of 


° 

1 There seemed at once an @ priori argument adverse to this view, as, at that time, all 
evidence was against the idea of cholera evacuations being capable of causing the disease. 
They had been tasted and drunk (in 1832) by men, and been given to animals, without effect. — 
Persons inoculated themselves in dissections constantly, and bathed their hands in the fluids | 
of the intestines ; in India the pariahs who remove excreta, and everywhere the washerwomen _ 
who washed the clothes of the sick, did not especially suffer. And to these arguments must ~ 
be added the undoubted fact that there were serious deficiencies of evidence in Dr Snow's 
early cases. (See review of Dr Parkes in the British and Foreign Medical Chirurgical Re- 
view, April 1855). 

2 Report on the Cholera Outbreak in St James's, Westminster, in 1854, London, Churchill, 
1855. Every point is discussed in this Report with a candour and precision which leaves 
nothing to be desired. For further evidence on this outbreak see Indian Sanitary Report : 
evidence of Dr Dundas Thomson, p. 272. 

3 On the Mode of Communication of Cholera, by John Snow, M.D. London, Churchill, 
2nd edition, 1855. 

4 For full particulars see Dr Farr’s Report on Cholera in England, 1866, p. 33. 

5 Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council for 1865 (Highth Report), p. 458. 

6 Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council for 1866, p. 266. 

7 Report on the Cholera Epidemic of 1866 in England. Supplement to the 29th Annual © 
Report of the Registrar-General, 1868. 


SPREAD OF CHOLERA THROUGH WATER. 69 


cholera by the drinking of water of a tank on board a steamer occurred at 
Southampton. ! 

A very striking case at Utrecht is noticed by Snellen, and is given by Dr 
Ballot of Rotterdam, who has adduced much strong evidence on the 
influence of the foul water in Holland in spreading cholera.” 

During the epidemic in 1866, except in the East London case, no such 
striking instances of local outbreak from water contamination were recorded 
as in 1849, but there were in some parts, and especially in Scotland, as 
noticed by Dr Stevenson Macadam,? very striking coincidences between 
the abatement of the disease and the introduction of a fresh and pure 
supply. | 

In Germany choleraic water-poisoning has not only been less noticed, but 
the great authority of Pettenkofer is against its occurrence. At Munich, 
Pettenkofer + could find no evidence whatever in favour of the spread by 
water, nor does he consider that any further evidence was furnished by the 
epidemics in Germany in 1873-74.° Even Hirsch, who was favourable to 
the water theory, expresses himself with considerable caution ;° and Giinther, 
in his careful work on Cholera in Saxony,’ asserts that no influence what- 
ever was exerted by drinking water. No evidence could be obtained either 
in Baden or in villages near Vienna.S And as in all cases the observers 
were not only quite competent, but were fully cognizant of the opinions 
held in England, this negative evidence is of great weight. At the same 
time, it cannot be allowed to outweigh the English cases, and, moreover, 
even in Germany some positive evidence has been given. Dr Richter? 
attributes a preponderant influence in a local outbreak among the workmen 
of a sugar manufactory to the pollution of the drinking water by sewage ; 
and a still more striking case is recorded by Dr Dinger,!® in which the dis- 
charges of a cholera patient passed into a brook, in which also the clothes 
were washed ; the water of this brook being used for drinking, there was a 
sudden and very fatal outbreak affecting the persons who took the water. 

In India the evidence for cholera water poisoning has now become very 
strong. The great cholera outbreak of 1860 and 1861 was attributed by 
some medical officers to the defilement of the tank water “into which the 
general ordure of the natives is washed during the rainy season ;”" and still 
more recently, what appears to be a striking instance has occurred. No 
one can read the able account given by Dr Cuningham and Dr Cutliffe ” of 
the appearance of cholera among the vast crowd of pilgrims after the great 
bathing day at Hurdwar, without coming to the conclusion that it was a 
case of water-poisoning on a gigantic scale. Cholera broke out again at 
Hurdwar in 1879 (the pilgrimage takes place every twelve years), but in 


1 Report of Medical Officer to Privy Council for 1866, p. 244. In this case the water was 
foul tasted, and was certainly contaminated with sewage. 

2 Medical Times and Gazette, May 1869. Thus it was found that those who drank the 
water of the Polders (reclaimed lands) died at the rate of 17°7 per 100 ; those who drank the 
well-water, 16°8 per 1000; those who drank river-water, 11:9 per 1000 ; those who drank rain- 
water filtered, only 5°3 per 1000. The city of Amsterdam itself, supplied by an aqueduct 
with rain-water from the downs near Haarlem, had only 4 per 1000. In Rotterdam, during 
the epidemic, the mortality fell to one-half immediately on pure water being supplied in the 
streets. (See paper by J. C. Jager). 

* Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, vol. vii. p. 341 (1°67). 

4 Zeitsch. fiir Biol., band i. p. 353. 

5 Ucher Cholera und deren Bezichung zur parasitiéiren Lehre, von Max von Pettenkofer, 1880. 

6 Bericht der Commission des Deutschen Reiches, heft i. saite 13. 

? Die Indische Cholera in Sachsen im Jahre 1865, p. 125. 

8 Volz and Witlacil, quoted by Hirsch in Jahresb. der gen. Med. for 1867, band ii. p. 221. 

9 Archiv der Heilk., 1367, p. 472. 10 Archiv der Heilk., 1867, p. 84. 

U M‘William, Epidem. Society Trans., vol. i. p. 274. 

2 Report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India for 1867, Calcutta, 1868. 


“ 


70 WATER. 


his report on this epidemic Dr J. M. Cuningham endeavours to throw doubts 
upon the propagation by means of water. The circumstances, however, © 
were very similar in the two cases.!_ Drs T. Lewis and Douglas Cunningham | 
discredit the influence of water ;? and Dr D. Cunningham says :°>-—“ One 
point seems worthy of remark, and that is, that there is no evidence of the 
existence of any common condition affecting local sources of water supply, 
and simultaneously affecting the prevalence of cholera and bowel-com-— 
plaints.” 

That in India, however, the cholera poison is often carried by water | 
appears probable, not only from the Hurdwar outbreaks, but from the very — 
sudden and violent outbreaks and the great sewage contamination in the 
water of many districts.* 

In Central India Dr Townsend® has given strong reasons for believing © 
that the cholera of 1868-69 was, to a large extent, dependent on water- 
fouling. Dr Macnamara® has given some good evidence on the same side, | 
and Dr Cleghorn’ has noted some striking proofs of the same fact. 

See also the remarkable case of the Yerrauda gaol, reported by Surgeon- | 
Major H. Blane. Out of 1279 prisoners there were 24 cases of cholera in 5 — 
days, with 8 deaths. Of those, 22 cases occurred among 134 prisoners em- 
ployed as a road-gang, and only 2 among all the others variously employed. — 
It was shown that the road-gang alone drank of water from the Mootla 
River, a little below the spot where the clothes of two cholera patients from — 
the village had been washed and their bodies burned a few days before. — 
The rest of the prisoners drank the usual water supply laid on from a lake — 
near Poonah. In the two cases among those otherwise employed direct in- 
fection was undoubted in one, as he attended on cholera patients, and, con- 
trary to orders, took his meals in the cholera ward, and drank water that — 
had been standing there ; the other man slept near one of the first cases, | 
the patient vomiting in his immediate vicinity. 

Dr M. C. Furnell, Sanitary Commissioner of Madras, points out the 
immunity of Madras from cholera since the new water supply was obtained — 
from the Red Hills, the same immunity extending to the districts using 
the water, whereas other places which do not use it still suffer from the | 
disease. Guntur always suffered from cholera up to 1868, since which time — 
it has been practically free, following the greater care for the water supply 
begun by Dr Biggwither and carried out by Dr Tyrrell. A remarkable — 
case is recorded by the Rey. J. Delpech, at Vadakencoulam.® Cholera was 
confined to the higher castes, who drank of a particular well exposed to 
contamination. Among the lower castes none suffered, except one woman _ 
who washed for the higher caste women. The lower caste people drank | 
from other wells, which were less exposed to pollution. 1 

So also in other countries; in the attack which caused such losses to_ 
the French Division in the Dobrudscha in 1855, when the wells were sup- 
posed to be poisoned, and to the English cavalry at Deyna,!° the water was | 
apparently the means of carrying the disease. 

In evidence of this kind, we must remember that each successive - 


1 See section vi. of the Sixteenth Annual Report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the 
Government of India, 1880. 2 Cholera in Relation to Certain Physical Phenomena. 
% Medico-Topographical Report on Calcutta. } 
4 Vide Report on the Sanitary Administration of the Punjaub for 1867, and subsequent | 
years, by A. C. C. De Renzy, Esq. (Cases of Peshawur and Amritzur). } 
5 Report on Cholera in the Central Provinces. i 
6 On Asiatic Cholera, see pp. 328 et seq. 7 Indian Medical Gazette, March 1872. I 
® Indian Medical Gazette, April 1882. i 
% Indian Medical Gazette, Dec. 1, 1879. 10 MS. essay of Dr Cattell. 


SPREAD OF CHOLERA THROUGH WATER. a 


instance adds more and more weight to the instances previously observed, 
until, from the mere accumulation of cases, the cogency of the argument 
becomes irresistible. 

2. The evidence derived from such local outbreaks is supported by that 
drawn from the history of more general attacks, in which districts supplied 
with impure water by a water company have suffered greatly, while other 
districts in the same locality, and presenting otherwise the same condi- 
tions, were supplied with pure water, and suffered very little. Thus the 
Registrar-General has shown that the districts supplied in 1853, part by 
the Lambeth Company with a pure water, and part by the Southwark 
Company with an impure water, suffered much less than the districts 
supplied by the latter company alone (the proportion was 61 and 94 cases 
respectively to 100,000 of population). Schiefferdecker, in Konigsberg, has 
also given ev idence to show the different extent in which districts in the 
same city supplied with pure and impure water suffer.! 

In Berlin, in 1866, in the houses supplied with good water the number 
of houses in which cholera occurred was 36°6 per cent.; in the houses with 
bad water, 52°3 per cent.” 

3. Additional arguments can be drawn from instances in which towns 
which could not have had water contaminated with sewage have escaped, 
and instances in which towns which have suffered severely in one epidemic 
haye escaped a later one, the only difference being that, in the interval, the 
supply of water was improved. Exeter, Hull, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow, 
and Moscow are instances of this. Two very good cases are related by Sir 
H. Acland.2 The parish of St Clement was supplied in 1832 with filthy 
water from a sewer-receiving stream. In 1849 and 1854 the water was 
from a purer source. In the first year, the cholera mortality was great ; in 
the last years, insignificant. In Copenhagen a fresh water supply was 
introduced in 1859. Although cholera had prevailed very severely there 
previously, in 1865 and 1866 there were only a few cases.* In Haarlem, 
in Holland, cholera prevailed in great intensity in 1849. In 1866 it 
returned, and again prevailed as severely in all parts of the town except 
one. The part entirely exempted in the second epidemic was inhabited by 
bleachers, who, between 1849 and 1866, had obtained a fresh source of 
pure water.° In the last epidemic in Spain (1885), Malaga, Seville, and 
Toledo drew water from pure sources, and had little cholera; on the other 
hand, Granada, Zaragoza, and Aranjuez derived water from open canals, and 
suffered severely. 

In looking back, with this new reading of facts, it would seem that some 
older reported cases of sudden cessation of cholera can be explained, such as 
the case of Breslau in 1832, when the shutting up of a pump was followed 
by the very rapid decline of the disease. Doubtless, however, in other 
eases the causes of the cessation are different; heavy rain, by cleansing air 
and sewers, and by stopping the evolution of effluvia, will sometimes as 
suddenly arrest cholera. Most important evidence is given by Professor 
Forster of Breslau. He shows that five towns of Silesia (of 5000 to 12,000 
inhabitants) have been entirely free from cholera, which has never spread, 
even when introduced. The only common condition is a water supply from a 


See Report on Hygiene, Army Med. Dept. Report, vol. xii. p. 241. 
Die Kanalisation von Berlin, 1868, p. 30. 

Cholera in Oxford in 1854, by H. W. Acland, M.D., p. 51. 
Hornemann in Virchow’s "Ar chiv, band 53, p. 156. 

Ballot, British Med. Journal, April 1869. 

6 Die Verbreitung der Cholera durch die Br unnen, Breslau, 1873. 


oF & be 


te WATER. 


distance which cannot be contaminated. In Glogau (13,000) half the water is 
from a distance and half from wells: those using the former remain free, those 
using the latter are attacked. In one case in Breslau, on a well becoming 
contaminated, eleven persons were immediately attacked.!. Dr A. Fergus? 
has pointed out that in Glasgow, when the whole city was supplied from 


the river, cholera was universal in 1848; whilst in 1854 it was chiefly con- | 


fined to the north side, which still drew water from the river, the south 
side with a pure water supply being practically free from it. In 1866 the 
whole city had the pure Loch Katrine supply, and although cases of 
cholera were imported, it got no hold on the city whatever. 

So also other curious facts in the history of cholera become explicable. 
The prevalence of cholera in Russia, with an outdoor temperature below 


zero of Fahr., has always seemed an extraordinary circumstance, which it / 


appeared only possible to explain by supposing that, in the houses, the foul 


air and the artificial temperature must have given the poison its necessary — 


conditions of development. But Dr Routh has pointed out? that, in the 
poorer Russian houses, every thing is thrown out round the dwellings; 
then, owing to the cold and the expense of bringing drinking water from a 
distance, the inhabitants content themselves with taking the snow near 
their houses and melting it. It is thus easy to conceive that, if cholera 
evacuations are thus thrown out, they may be again taken into the body. 
This is all the more likely, as cholera stools have little smell or taste, and, 
when mixed even in large quantity with water, cannot be detected by the 
senses. 

We may therefore conclude that the cholera evacuations, either at once 
or after undergoing some special fermentative or transformation change, 
pass into drinking water or float about in the atmosphere. In either case 
they are received into the mouth and swallowed, and produce their effects 
directly on the mucous membrane, or are absorbed into the blood. The 
relative frequency of each occurrence, the incubative period, and the 
severity of the disease produced, are points still uncertain. 

C. Macnamara states* that the dangerous period is when the water into 
which cholera stools are passed is swarming with vibriones, and that when 
ciliated infusoria appear danger is over. He speaks strongly on this point, 
and from actual experience. 

In addition to the production of cholera from drinking water containing 
the cholera stools, it has been supposed that the use of impure water of 
any kind predisposes to cholera, though it cannot absolutely produce the 
disease. The facts already quoted on the influence of the Lambeth water 
seem to support this view; but some German evidence in 1866 does not 
favour it,? although later evidence seems to do so.® If the water acts in 
this way, it may be by causing a constant tendency to diarrhcea, or by 
carrying into the alimentary canal organic matter which may be thrown into 
special chemical changes by a small quantity of cholera poison, which has 
been introduced with air or food and swallowed, or by lowering the resistance 
of the body, and rendering it more favourable as a nidus for the poison. 


1 Tn India also similar results are found. Cullen cites the case of Hurda, rendered free from 
cholera by improved conditions of water supply. Payne reports that the new water supply 
of Calcutta has had the strongest effect in diminishing the mortality from cholera. See also 
the Report on the Cholera in America in 1873 for cases of water carriage. 

2 British Medical Journal, 1879, vol. ii. p. 336. 

3 Fecal Fermentation, p. 24. 4 Asiatic Cholera, p. 330. 

5 See Report on Hygiene, Army Medical Dept. Report, vol. vii. p. 325. 

6 Pistor of Oppeln, Cholera Epidemic of 1873-74; see 6th part of the Report of the Cholera 
Commissioners of the German Empire. 


YELLOW FEVER—DISEASES OF THE SKIN, ETC. Me 


Yellow Fever. 


As, like dysentery, enteric fever, and cholera, the alimentary mucous 
membrane is primarily affected in yellow fever, there is an a priorz 
probability that the cause is swallowed also in this case, and that it may 
possibly enter with the drinking water. But no good evidence has been 
yet brought forward. 

Boudin! quotes a case from Rochard in which a French frigate (in 1778) 
took in water at San Jago, where yellow fever prevailed. Some days 
afterwards yellow fever broke out with such violence that two-thirds of the 
erew were attacked. “And the proof that the only cause was the water,” 
says Rochard, “ was that the persons living with the captain had with them 
jars filled with water from Europe, and all escaped.” Boudin very properly 
observes that this evidence is very defective ; but yet we must remember 
how completely the propagation of marsh and enteric fevers, and of cholera 
by water, has been overlooked, and how exactly this sudden and extensive 
attack resembles the case of the “ Argo.” 

The Barrack Commissioners have also directed attention to the fact of 
the great impurity of the water at Gibraltar at the time of the yellow fever 
epidemic ; a difficulty which still remains to be dealt with in the event of 

the introduction of any epidemic disease. 


The other Zymotic Diseases. 


Of the other zymotic diseases the only ones likely to be propagated by 
means of water are scarlet fever and diphtheria. The evidence for such 
propagation was formerly very slight, but since attention has been drawn 
to the subject numerous cases have occurred which have been attributed to 
water-poisoning, working either directly through water drunk as such or 
by its being mixed with milk. There seems no primd facie reason against 
such a channel of infection in the case of scarlet fever, particularly as 
epithelium scales are so often found in contaminated water. As regards 
diphtheria the question is a little more complicated, for the direct 
communication through the use of the same drinking vessel might simulate 
water carriage, as pointed out by Dr A. Downes.* Some important 
evidence has, however, been collected by Dr B. Browning? and others. It 
would also appear that ordinary throat ulcer (if this be really different from 
diphtheria) may be propagated in this way. It has been suggested that 
erysipelas is sometimes due to contaminated water, but of this, however, 
there is as yet no conclusive evidence. 


4, DISEASES OF THE SKIN, AND SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUES. 


A curious endemic of boils occurred in the vicinity of Frankfort in 1848. 
It was confined to a small number of persons, and presented favourable 
opportunities for investigation. An elaborate inquiry was made by Dr 
Clemens,* which certainly seems to indicate that the complaint was caused 
by drinking water containing hydrogen sulphide gas, which was set free 
in some large chemical works, and was washed down by the rains into 
the brooks from which drinking water was derived. The case is most 
‘elaborately and logically argued, but it certainly seems remarkable that 


1 Traité de Geog. et de Stat. Med., 1858, t. i. p. 141. 

2 Sanitary Record, 1879-80, vol. xi. p. 51. 

% Sanitary Record, vol. xi. p. 13. 

4 Henlé’s Zeitschrift fiir Nat. Med., 1849, vol. viii. p. 215. 


74. WATER. { 


other instances of the same kind should not have been observed, especially | 
as In some trades there is disengagement of large quantities of SH, into the | 
atmosphere, and as the dr inking of sulphuretted Springs is so common. 
The peculiar forms of boil or ulcer common in many cities in the East | 
have been in some cases referred to the water. The Aleppo evil, the | 
Damascus ulcer, and some other diseases of an analogous kind, which have 
the peculiarity of occurring only once in life, are possibly more connected | 
with the true contagions ; but the unhealthy boils or ulcers so common in) 
India, especially in the north-west and along the frontier, are probably - 
connected with bad water. .The so-called Delhi boil has much decreased in’ 
frequency since the waters of the Jumna were used instead of the impure 
well-water,! but, on the other hand, Fleming’s observations have thrown) 
doubt on the fact of the water being to blame. The later observations of 
Drs D. Cunningham and T. Lewis have tended, on the other hand, to, 
weaken those of Fleming, and to show that the water is probably to blame, 
With regard to the frontier ulcers in India, Dr Alcock, Medical Staff, has 
given some curious evidence, which seems to connect them with vegetable 
detritus and the evolution of hydrogen sulphide. 
The elephantiasis of the Arabs (the so-called Barbadoes leg or Pachy-) 
dermia) has been ascribed to organic impurities in water, which may be | 
true, if the disease, as is now sug gested, be due to a Bacillus which might | 
be conveyed i in water. 


5. DISEASES OF THE BONES. : 

Water, impregnated with sulphurous acid, gives rise in cattle to a) 
number of serious symptoms, among others to diseases of the bones. The 
sulphur dioxide evolved from the copper works at Swansea has caused | 
numerous actions on account of the loss of herbage and cattle. Rossignol ? 
states that water highly charged with calcium carbonate and sulphate was : 
found to give rise to exostoses in horses ; pure water being given, the bones” 


ceased to be diseased. 


6. CALCULI. 


It has long been a popular opinion that drinking lime waters gives rise 
to calculi (calcium phosphate and oxalate). Several medical writers have | 
held the same opinion, and have adduced individual instances of calculi | 
(phosphatic?) being apparently caused by hard waters, and cured by the use | 
of soft or distilled water. On a large scale, statistical evidence is apparently | 
wanting. ‘The excess of cases of cell in Norwich and Norfolk generally’ 
iS not, in Dr Richardson’s opinion, attributable to the water. Dr J. 
Murray, of Newcastle, has given some evidence? to show a connection) 
between the lime waters and selloall especially phosphatic, but it does not | 
appear to be more convincing than that previously adduced. | 

At Canton stone is common, while at Amoy, Shanghai, Ningpo, and _ 
other places, it is not met with. The cause of the difference is not known, | 
but it is not calcium carbonate in the water, as the Chinese always drink | 
boiled water.° 


1 See Annual Report of San. Com. with the Government of India for 1867, p. 178 (1868). 
Some excellent analyses of the Delhi waters are given by Dr Sheppard ; vide D. Macnamara’ 8) 
Second and Third Reports of the Analyses of Potable Waters in the Bengal Presidency, Cale 
cutta, 1868. 

2 Traite d’ Hygiene Militaire, 1857, p. 357. 

® Med. History of England ; Medical Times and Gazette, 1864, p. 100. 

4 British Medical Journal, September 1872. 

5 Dr Wang, in Chinese Customs Report for 1870, p. 71. 


GOITRE PRODUCED BY DRINKING WATER. 75 


_ Professor Gamgee, however, states that sheep are particularly affected by 
-ealculus in the limestone districts. 


7. GOITRE. 


_ The opinion that impure drinking water is the cause of goitre is as old as 
| Hippocrates and Aristotle, and has been held by the majority of physicians. 
| The opinion may be said actually to have been put to the test of the experi- 
/ ment, since both in France and Italy the drinking of certain waters has been 
“resorted to, and apparently with success, for the purpose of producing 
'goitre, and thereby gaining exemption from military conscription.t And 
this is supported by the evidence of Bally, Coindet, and by many of the 
| French army surgeons, who have seen goitre produced even in a few days 
| (8 or 10) by the use of certain waters.? While, conversely, Johnston saw 
| goitre, which was common in a jail, disappear when a pure water was used.? 
Apart from this, the evidence for the causation by water is extremely 
strong, many cases being recorded where in the same village, and under the 
same conditions of locality and social life, those who drank a particular 
| water suffered, while those who did not do so escaped. The latest author 
, who has written on this subject, and who has accumulated an immense amount 

of evidence, M. Saint-Lager, expresses himself very confidently on the point. 
| The impurity in the water which causes goitre is not yet precisely known. 
| It is certainly not owing to the want of iodine, as stated by Chatin, and 
| there is little probability of its being caused by organic matters, by fluorine, 
or by silica. On the other hand, the coincidence of goitre with sedi- 
“mInentous water is very frequent. Since the elaborate geological inquiries 
of M. Grange ® and the analyses of the waters of the Isere, magnesian salts 
in some form have often been considered to be the cause, to which many 
add lime salts also ; and certainly the evidence that the water of goitrous 
places is derived from limestone and dolomitic rocks, or from serpentine in 
the granitic and metamorphic regions, is very strong. The investigations 
now include the Alps, Pyrenees, Dauphiné, some parts of Russia, Brazil, 
and districts in Oude in North-West India. A table compiled from Dr 
M‘Clellan’s work ° is very striking :— 


Goitre and Cretinism in Kumaon (Oude.) 


| Percentage of Population affected. 
Water derived from 
With Goitre. With Cretinism. 
Granite and gneiss, . . . 0-2 0 
Mica, slate, and hornblende, 0 (0) 
Wlayeslate, Gn ce kid ied Bayes ots 0:54 0 
Green sandstone, Pe aa 0 0 
immestone! rocks" 0.0.8 1.) . 39 3:0 


1 Among other evidence on this point, the work of M. Saint-Lager (Sur les causes du 
Cretinisme et du Goitre endémique, Paris, 1867) may be cited (p. 191 et seq.), as he appears to 
have carefully looked into the evidence. See also Baillarger (Comptes Rendus del’ Acad., 
t. ly. p. 475), who states, though this has been denied by Rey, that horses and mules become 
affected from drinking the water of the Isére. 

2 Encyclopedia of Practical Medicine, vol. i. art. Bronchocele, p. 326. 

® Edin. Monthly Journal, May 1855. 

4 Saint-Lager (op. cit.) cites several strong cases (p. 192 et seq.) 

° Ann. de Chimie et de Phys., vol. xxiv. p. 364. 

§ Medical Topography of Bengal. The facts on cretinism are also included, without 

_ desiring to express any opinion on the relation between goitre and cretinism. 


76 WATER. 


There are, however, not wanting analyses of water of goitrous regions 
which show that magnesia may be absent (in Rheims, according to Maumené; 
in Auvergne, according to Bertrand; in Lombardy, according to Demortain; 
and Saint-Lager enumerates other cases), while it has been also denied that 
there need be any excess of lime. M. Saint-Lager, basing his opinion partly 
on these negative instances, partly on his own experiments with the soap-' 
test, which show no relation between hardness of water and goitre, and partly 
on the negative results of experiments on animals with calcium sulphate 
and magnesian salts, denies altogether the connection between goitre and 
calcium and magnesium sulphates and carbonates. He states also that M. 
Grange has now himself given up the belief of magnesia being the essential 
agent of goitre,! and argues that the constituent of the water which is the 
actual cause is either iron pyrites (ferrum sulphide), or more infrequently 
copper or some other metallic sulphide. And he explains M‘Clellan’s results 
by the supposition, based on an expression of that writer, that in the lime- 
stone districts of Kumaon the water had traversed the metalliferous strata 
of the rocks. Saint-Lager does not support his opinion by actual chemical 
analyses, but he brings forward geological evidence on a large scale to prove 
that the endemic appearance of goitre coincides with the metalliferous 
districts. He has also made experiments on animals with iron salts which 
do not appear conclusive, although he believes he produced in some cases an 
effect on the thyroid. His hypothesis seems to fail from his want of chemical 
analyses. He has made out a case for inquiry rather than for conclusion. 

In some observations made by Dr Ferguson on the goitrous part of the 
Baree Doab district ? (a boulder-gravel subsoil), the water is said to be largely 
charged with lime. In the jail at Durham, Johnston ? states that when the 
water contained 110 parts per 100,000 (chiefly of lime and magnesium salts) 
all the prisoners had swellings of the neck ; these disappeared when a purer 
water, containing 26 parts per 100,000, was obtained.4 

Goitre may be rapidly produced. Bally noticed that certain waters in 
Switzerland would cause it even in eight or ten days, and cases almost as 
rapid have occurred in other places.® 

Dr J. B. Wilson (late A.M.D.) carried out some inquiries at Bhagsoo, 
Dhurmsala, where goitre prevails extensively. He analysed specimens of 
the drinking water within a radius of ten miles, and found them exceptionally 
pure, only three showing traces of lime, and none giving any evidence of 
magnesia or iron.® 

It seems, therefore, that the question is still undecided, and it is much to 
be desired that more extended inquiry should be made, with careful analyses, 
such as have been made by Dr Wilson,—as well as records of local and 
other conditions, which probably contribute more or less to the production 
of the disease. 


8. ENTOZOA OR OTHER ANIMALS. 


Whereas the Zenia solium and the Tenia mediocanellata, and many 
entozoa, find their way into the body with the food,’ the two forms of the- 


Sur les causes du Cretin. et du Goitre, p. 237. 
Sanitary Administration of the Punjab for 1871, Appendix 4, p. 33. 
Edin. Monthly Journal, May 1858. 

+ In Nottingham the people attribute goitre to hardness of water. Generally it appears 
only with magnesium limestone. 

> Many instances are recorded in the French military medical journal, Recueil de Mém. de 
Méd. Mil., of the acute goitre produced in a few days. 

6 Indian Annals of Medical Science; also Aitken’s Science and Practice of Medicine, 7th 
edit., vol. ii. p. 1009. 

7 Dr Oliver’s observations in India show that cattle may get tenia ova from the water; so 
that men may do the same. (See Aitken’s Med., 7th ed., vol. i. p. 207). 


| 
ow 


ENTOZOA SPREAD THROUGH WATER. 77 


Bothriocephalus latus (T. lata) may pass in with the drinking water.! 
Both embryo and eggs (but principally, or perhaps entirely, the former) 
exist in the river water. The ciliated embryo moves for several days very 
actively in water; it may after a time lose its ciliary covering, and then, 
not being able to move further, perishes; or it may find its way into the 
body of some animal, and there develop into the Lothriocephalus latus. 

It is most common in the interior of Russia, Sweden, in part of Poland, 
and in Switzerland. 

Distoma hepaticum (Fasciola hepatica).—The eggs are developed in water, 
and the embryos swim about and live, so that introduction in this way for 
sheep is probable, and for men is possible. 

The Ascaris lumbricoides (Round-worm) appears also sometimes to enter 
the body by the drinking water. At Moulmein, in Burmah, during the wet 
season, and especially at the commencement, both natives and Europeans, 
both sexes and all ages, were, in former years, so affected by lumbrici that 
it was almost an epidemic.? The only circumstance common to all classes 
was that the drinking water, drawn chiefly from shallow wells, was greatly 
contaminated by the substances washed in by the floods of the excessive 


‘monsoon which prevails there. Dr Paterson? has also noticed similar facts 


in England. 
Leuckart + has no doubt of the passage of the ascarzdes’ eggs into drinking 
water ; and, indeed, they have been actually seen in the water by Mosler.® 


But it seems yet doubtful (as all experiments have failed in producing 


from the drinking water the worms in animals) whether the eggs alone 


will suffice, and it seems possible that they must pass through some other 
host before developing in the human intestine. This was also the opinion 


of Cobbold. Mosler attributed in his case much influence to the large 
amount of vegetable food taken by the persons affected. 

The Dochmius duodenalis (Strongylus duodenalis, Anchylostomum seu 
Sclerostoma duodenale) would appear from Leuckart’s statement® to be 
introduced by impure water." 

Oxyuris vermicularis, very common in children, but occasionally also 
found in adults, is probably sometimes taken through water.*® 

Filaria Dracunculus (Guinea-worm).—The introduction by water of 
Filaria has long been a favourite opinion. It has been a matter of debate 
whether it is taken into the stomach as drink, and thence finds its way 
(like Zrichina, to the muscles) into the subcutaneous cellular tissue, or 


whether it penetrates the skin during bathing or wading in streams. The 


latter opinion seems to be the more probable in the majority of cases.° 


1 See especially a paper by Dr Knoch in the Peterburger Med. Zeitsch. for 1861. An ab- 
stract is given in the Lancet, Jan. 25, 1862; and the paper in full is printed in Virchows 
Archiv, band xxiv. 453. Cobbold, however, doubted the direct entrance in this way, and 
thought it more probable that fish form the host for the ova, which after development in the 
fish, may find their way into the bodies of men who eat the fish. 

* The native treatment is the powder of a fungus (Wah-mo), derived from the female 
bamboo. Itis most useful. See paper by Dr Parkes in the London Journal of Medicine, 1849. 

® Aitken’s Practice of Medicine, 7th ed., i. p. 157. 

+ Die Menschlichen Parasiten, band ii. p. 220. 

° Virchow's Archiv, band xviii. p. 249. 8 Thid., band ii. p. 465. 

7 The importance of the discovery of Griesinger (Archiv fiir Phys. Heilk., 1854, p. 555), 
that the so-called widely spread Egyptian chlorosis is caused by Dochmius duodenalis, has 
hardly been sufficiently appreciated. Not only anemia and liver diseases, but symptoms 
referred to dysentery and hemorrhoids, are often also produced. And as similar facts have 
now been observed in Brazil, Arabia, and Madagascar, it seems impossible but that in India 
the formidable affections caused by Dochmius should be common. 

8 Aitken, vol. i. p. 183. 

_ ° See Sir W. Aitken’s long and excellent chapter on this disease, in his Practice of Medicine, 
ith ed., vol. i. p. 169 ef seq., for a discussion on the water and earth question. 


78 WATER. 


Boiling the water before drinking appears to have a preservative effect.! 


Filaria sanguinis hominis (Lewis) appears to find its way into the blood — 
of man through water in a curious way. “ Dr. Manson has found that the > 
mosquito is an active agent in the propagation of Milaria. The embryos — 


are taken into the mosquito’s stomach with the blood of persons infected by — 


the hzematozoon, the further development of which shortly begins in the 


stomach of the mosquito. Thence they are transferred to the water, whence © 


it is assumed that it again finds entrance into the body of man.” ? 
Bilharzia hematobia.—From the observations of Griesinger, John 

Harley,? and Cobbold, there seems no doubt that the embryos of this 

entozoon live in water, and the animal may be thus introduced probably by 


the medium of some other animal. Dr Batho doubts, however, this — 
introduction by water, since the entozoon occurred in persons using rain-— 


water and pure mountain stream water.* 


Leeches.—Reference has already been made to the swallowing of small 
leeches, which fix on the pharynx, and in the posterior nares. Cleghorn ® — 
noticed that coughs, nausea, and spitting of blood were thus caused. Ina ~ 
march of the French near Oran, in Algiers, more than 400 men were at one — 


time in hospital from this cause. In some cases the repeated bleedings — 


from the larynx have simulated hemoptysis and phthisis, and have pro- | 
duced anzmia. A leech, once fixed, seldom falls off spontaneously. In| 


India no accidents of this kind are on record, yet we must assume that they 
occasionally occur. 


os LEAD, MERCURY, ARSENIC, COPPER, AND ZINC POISONING. 


It is only necessary to mention the fact of metals passing into the drinking 
water, either by trade refuse being poured into streams, or by the water | 


dissolving the metal as it flows through pipes or over metallic surfaces. 


In 1864 a factory at Basle discharged water containing arsenic into a | 
pond, from which the ground and adjacent wells were contaminated, and 


severe illness in the persons who drank the well-water was produced.°® 


General Conclusions. 


1. An endemic of diarrheea, i a community, is almost always owing © 
either to impure air, impure water, or bad food. If it affects a number of | 
persons suddenly, it is probably owing to one of the two last causes: and if — 
it extends over many families, almost certainly to water. But as the cause 


of impurity may be transient, it is not easy to find experimental proof. 


2. Diarrhoea or dysentery, constantly affecting a community, or returning | 
periodically at certain times of the year, is far more likely to be produced | 


by bad water than by any other cause. 


3. A very sudden and localised outbreak of either enteric fever or cholera — 


is almost certainly owing to introduction of the poison by water. 


4, The same fact holds good in cases of malarious fever, and, especially _ 
if the cases are very grave, a possible introduction by water should be care- | 


fully inquired into. 


5. The introduction of the ova of certain entozoa by means of water is’ | 


proved in some cases —is ae in others. 


1 Greenhow, in Lagan Annals, 1856, p. 557 

2 Aitken, op. cit., i. 185. 

3 Med. Chir. Drams. , vol. xlvii. p. 65, and vol. lii. p. 379. 

4 Army Med. Rep., vol. xii. p. 504. 5 Diseases of Minorca, 1768, p. 38. 
6 Roth and Lex, Milit. Gesundsheitpyl., p. 41. 


PURIFICATION OF WATER. 79 


6. Although it is not at present possible to assign to every impurity in 
water its exact share in the production of disease, or to prove the precise 
influence on the public health of water which is not extremely impure, it 
appears certain that the health of a community always improves when an 
abundant and pure water supply is given; and, apart from this actual 
evidence, we are entitled to conclude, from other considerations, that 
abundant and good water is a primary sanitary necessity. 


SECTION IY. 
PURIFICATION OF WATER. 
Without Filtration. 


1. Distillation.—This is undoubtedly the best plan, for if properly carried 

out all danger is got rid of. It has been suggested that foul gases may 
be brought over from dirty water, and that even bacteria or their spores may 
‘be transmitted ; this ismore than doubtful. An outbreak of diarrhoea among 
H.M. ships in the harbour of Valetta (Malta) was attributed to impurities 
in the water distilled from the not over-clean water of the Grand Harbour. 
‘The distilled water was also complained of as “going bad” very quickly in 
the Soudan campaign ; but there the dirty water of the harbour of Suakim 
was used, and in such a case there is great danger of the original water 
getting in if the apparatus leaks or is in any way out of order. All distilled 
water should be tested with a few drops of dilute nitric acid and silver 
nitrate ; if no haze appears, then the water may be considered safe : all other 
waters will give evidence of the presence of chlorine, by the formation of a 
precipitate, turbidity, or haze according to the amount ; and so will distilled 
water (so-called), if it has been contaminated during the process of distilla- 
tion, or by being received in vessels not perfectly clean. 

2. Boiling.—This plan is next best to distillation : it gets rid of calcium 
carbonate, iron in part, and hydrogen sulphide, and lessens, it is said, 
organic matter. Tyndall’s experiments have shown that there are stages 
in the life of bacteria during which they can resist almost any moist heat. 
But as they soften before propagation a solution can be successfully sterilised 
by repeated boilings, so as to attack the several crops of bacterva in their 
vulnerable condition. Most fungus spores are killed by boiling. On the 
whole we may take it that water, even only once boiled, is in all likelihood 
safe, and, if repeatedly boiled at intervals, quite safe. 

3. Exposure to Air in divided Currents.—This was a plan proposed by 
_ Lind for the water of the African west coast more than one hundred years 
ago, and frequently revived since. The water is simply poured through a 
Sieve, or a tin or wooden plate, pierced with many small holes, so as to 
cause it to fall in finely-divided streams, or a hand-pump is inserted in a 
cask of water, and the water is pumped up and made to fall through per- 
forated sheets of tin. It soon removes hydrogen sulphide, offensive organic 
_ yapours, and, it is said, dissolved organic matter. ‘The same plan has been 
used in Russia on a large scale, the water being allowed to fall down a 
series of steps passing through wire gauze as it does so. In Paris, also, it 
has been employed on the small scale. 

4. Aluminous Salts.—Alum has been used for centuries in India and 
China to purify water from suspended matters. It does this very effectually 
if there be calcium carbonate in the water ; calcium sulphate is formed, and 


80 WATER. 


this and a bulky aluminium hydrate entangle the floating particles and sink 
to the bottom. The quantity of crystallised alum to be used should Wel 
about 6 grains per gallon (83 per 100,000).? . 

If a sedimentous water is extremely soft, a little calcium chloride and 
sodium carbonate should be put in before the alum is added. . 

5. Addition of Lime Water (Clark’s patent).—By combining with 
carbonic acid, it causes almost all the calcium carbonate previously and 
newly formed to be thrown down. It also throws down suspended and a) 

certain proportion of dissolved organic matters, and also, it is said, iron,’ 
It appears to act favourably in arresting organisms. It does not touch) 
calcium and magnesium sulphate and chloride.? 5 

6. Sodium Carbonate, with boiling, throws down lime, and possibly a 
little lead, if present. . 

ae Addition of Potassium or Sodium Permanganate (Condy’s red fluid).— 
Pure Condy’s fluid readily removes the smell of hydrogen sulphide and the 
peculiar offensive odour of impure water which has been kept in casks or 
tanks. If it forms a precipitate of manganic oxide, it also carries down 
suspended matters ; but the formation of this precipitate is very uncertain. 
The action on the dissolved organic matters will, of course, vary with the 
nature of the substance; some of the organic matters, both animal and 
vegetable, will be oxidised ; but in the cold it will not act upon the whole 
of these substances, and some organic matters are not touched. 

One objection to the use of the permanganate is that it often communi- 
cates a yellow tint to the water, arising from suspended finely divided) 
peroxide of manganese. This is probably of no moment as far as health is 
concerned, but it is unpleasant. Sometimes the addition of a little alum’ 
will carry down this suspended matter; boiling may be used, but often has’ 
no effect. Sometimes nothing removes it but filtration. 

The indications for the use of permanganate are these. In the case of! 
any foul-smelling or suspected water, add good Condy’s fluid, teaspoonful! 
by teaspoonful, to 3 or 4 gallons of the water, stirring constantly. When) 
the least permanent pink tint is perceptible, stop for five minutes; if the} 
tint is gone, add 36 drops, and then, if necessary, 30 more, and then allow 
to stand for six hours ; ; then aad for each gallon 6 grains of a solution of 


sodium carbonate, and allow to stand for twelve or ene hours. 
There are many cases in which this plan may be useful; and as the 
permanganate certainly removes smells and oxidises in the cold to some 
extent, it is a very good introduction to the alum process, and does work! 
which alum alone will not do. But it cannot be considered a comple 
purifier of water from all organic matters. 
8. Perchloride of Iron. it has been found that the water of the Maas in 
Holland, which is turbid from clay and finely suspended organic matters, \ 
and gives rise in consequence to diarrhcea, is completely purified by per- 
chloride of iron in the proportion of about 24 grains of the solid perchloride 
to 1 gallon of water, 34 to the 100,000.? Tt i is a powerful oxidising agent. 
a Use of the Strychnos potatorum.—In India the fruit of the Str john 
potatorum is used, especially by the better class of Hindoos, to purity 


1 The headquarter wing of the 92nd Highlanders, going up the Indus in 1868, suffered from | ti 
diarrhoea from the use of the water ; the left wing rused alum and had no diarrhea. The) 
right wing then used it, and the diarrhcea disappeared. —Indian Medical Gaz., Aug. 1869, 
p. 158, 

2 This plan has been carried out with great suecess on a large scale in the form known as 
ine Porter-Clark process, and also in a modified form by Messrs Atkins and others. d 
3 Chemical News, May 1869, p. 289. { 


PURIFICATION OF WATER. Sl 


water. It is beaten into a paste, and rubbed on the inside of the water jar 
or cask. Its usefulness is doubtful. 

10. Immersion of Iron Wire and Magnetic Oxide of Iron (Medlock).— 
This plan is said to decompose organic matter. Charcoal and ferric oxide 
are sometimes mixed. 

11. Immersion or boiling of certain Vegetables, especially those containing 
tannin, such as tea,! kino, the Laurier rose (Weriwm Oleander, which is also 
rubbed on the inside of casks in Barbary), bitter almonds (in Egypt). 

12. Charring the inside of Casks.—This is an effectual plan, and 
Berthollet considered it more effectual than the immersion of pieces of 
charcoal ; the charring can be renewed from time to time. 

13. P. F. Frankland’s? experiments seem to show that agitation with 
small fragments of certain substances effectually purifies water from 
organisms. Coke has a powerful influence, and so has spongy iron. Later 
Anderson * has shown that scrap iron is equally efficacious, so much so that 
it is now used at Antwerp in the extension works instead of spongy iron. 

To put these facts in another form :— 

Organic matter is got rid of most readily by distillation, boiling, exposure 

50 air, agitation, especially with small fragments of charcoal, coke, or spongy 
‘ron, alum, potassium permanganate, astringents. 
_ Carbonate of lime, by boiling and addition of caustic lime. Various 
jowders are sold for softening water; they consist mainly of lime with a 
‘ittle soda; they remove temporary hardness, but very slightly affect the 
sermanent. 

Iron, by boiling and lime water, and in part by charcoal.+ 

Calcium and magnesium sulphate and chloride cannot be got rid of, 
xcept very partially. Mr Maxwell-Lyte has suggested the use of sodic 
Uuminate for this purpose, but experiments at Netley with it were not very 
satisfactory. 

The use of barium salts to precipitate the sulphuric acid, and the stream 
£ CO, to precipitate the lime, has also been proposed, but the process would 
de expensive, and not free from danger. 

It should be remembered that some water plants have a purifying effect, 
spparently from the large quantity of oxygen théy give out; and this takes 
jlace sometimes though the water itself is green. 


With Filtration. 


Sand and Gravel.—On a large scale, water is received into settling reser- 
voirs, where the most bulky substances subside, and is then filtered through 
ravel and sand, either by descent or ascent, or both.° 


1 In the north of China, and especially during winter, the water of the Peiho becomes very 
mpure, and contains, not only suspended matters, but dissolved animal matter in large 
| uantity, which gives the waters a disagreeable offensive smell. The Chinese never drink it 
| xcept as tea, which is cooled with a lump of ice if it is desired to drink it cold. In this way 
hey secure themselves from all bad effects of this water (Friedel, Das Klima Ost-A siens, p. 
0). The Europeans use alum and charcoal; but these do not always entirely remove the 
aste. The Tartars also use their ‘‘ brick tea” to purify the water of the steppes, which 
| vould otherwise be undrinkable. 

* Proc. Roy. Soc., loc. cit. 2 Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. lxxxv. 

4 Chevalier, Traité des Désinfect., p. 147. In the Ashanti campaign, under the directions 
f Surgeon-Major V. Gouldsbury, C.M.G., the water was purified in the following way, in the 
| bsence of proper filters :—Alum was added to precipitate suspended matter ; the water was 
assed through a rough filter, consisting of (1) sponge, (2) sand, (3) charcoal in pieces ; it 
vas then boiled, and a few drops of solution of potassium permanganate added. Water, even 
aken from a hole in a marsh, was innocuous after this treatment. 

° A good account of the engineering plans and filtration of the London water companies 
vill be found ina work called The Water Works of London, by Messrs Colburn & Shaw, 1867. 


F 


82 WATER. 


The London water companies usually employ a depth of 3 to 5 feet; in 
the latter case, the upper stratum of 18 inches or 2 feet is composed of sand, 
the lower 3 feet are made up of gravel, gradually increasing in coarseness, 
from pieces the size of a small pea and bean to that of a middle-sized potato. 
A stratum of oyster shells, about 14 inch in thickness, has been used by 
some companies instead of a layer of gravel; but this ‘plan i is not general. — 
If the filter is 3 feet in thickness, the upper 15 inches are sand, and the — 

_ lower 21 inches are gravel. | 

The pressure of water in these filters is not great ; the depth of the water | 
is never above 2 feet, and some companies have only 1 foot. From 70 to | 
75 gallons is the usual quantity which should pass through in twenty-four | 
hours for each square foot ; but some companies filter more quickly, viz., — 
at the rate of a gallon per twenty-four hours for each square inch, or 144 
gallons per square foot. | 

The sand should not be too fine; the sharp angular particles are the — 
best. The action seems chiefly, though not altogether, mechanical; the 
suspended impurities, both mineral and organic, rub upon and adhere to the 
angles and plane surfaces of the sand, which are gradually encrusted, and — 
after a certain time the sand has to be cleaned. The effect on suspended | 
matters, both organic and mineral, is certainly satisfactory. On dissolved | 
organic matter it is less so. Mr Witt’s experiments show only a removal of 
about 5 per cent. 

Some experiments were made at Netley on a sand filter of 1 square foot | 
surface, and made in imitation of a London water company’s filter, viz., 15_ 
inches of fine well-washed white sand, and 204 inches of gravel, gradually 
increasing in coarseness. The first eight gallons were thrown away, so as_ 
to avoid the fallacy of including the distilled water with which the sand _ 
had been washed. 

This sand filter had some effect in lessening the dissolved constituents, 
both mineral and organic, but the effect was limited; it stopped organic 
matter after it had ceased to arrest lime. After a longer time it became 
useless, and required washing. | 

On dissolved mineral matters sand exerts at first, and when in thick | 
layers, a good deal of action ; much sodium chloride can be removed; and. 
Professor Clark has stated that even lead can be got rid of by filtering § 
through a thick stratum. Very finely divided clay seems to pass through f 
more readily than any other suspended matters.! . 

The experiments of Dr Percy Frankland,? by the biological test of 
cultivation, show that the power of some sand is at first considerable, but 


1 A peculiar difficulty, never experienced in England, was discovered in the filtering, | 
through sand, of the Hooghly water at Calcutta. ‘During the rainy season the fine mud 
brought down penetrates very deeply into the filters, and “rapidly chokes them; in the dry 
seasons this does not happen: the suspended matters are arrested, as in England, near the 
upper surface of the sand. Mr D. Waldie (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. for 1873, | 
part J1, p. 210) explains this by showing that in the rainy season the water contains much less | | 

saline matter than in the dry season; ‘jt is this saline matter which seems to act on and so_ 
cause coherence of the particles of mud, so that they become larger and coarser, and are! 
more easily arrested. In order to remedy this, Mr Waldie proposes the addition of substances | i 
to the water, during the rains, which may eause this coalescence ; he has tried a great number ! 
of experiments and different substances ; on the whole crystallised alum and perchloride of iron 
are the best; 55°4 tb of erystallised alum, or 19:15 tb of perchloride of iron, were found to be | 
necessary for the clarification of one million gallons of muddy Hooghly water during the | 
rainy season. 

Higgin found pounded cinders in sand removed the yellowish opalescence of the River | 
Plate water. 

2 See Proc. of Roy. Soc., vol. xxxviii. p. 382; also Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers, vol. lxxxv.;/ 
also Transactions of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, vol. viii., York Congress. 


PURIFICATION OF WATER. 83 


that it ceases after a time. Ferruginous green sand arrested all organisms 
at first ; after thirteen days it arrested 88 per cent., filtration being carried 
on at the rate of 0°73 gallons per square foot per hour; after one month 
there was a reduction of organisms to the extent of 39 per cent., at a filtering 
rate of 1:14 gallon per square foot per hour. The efficiency of this sand is 
therefore greater than might have been supposed. 

The fine white sand chosen carefully, well washed, and, if possible, heated 
to redness before use, has hitherto been thought the best, but P. Frankland’s 
experiments show that its power of arresting organisms is only moderate, 
much inferior to that of the ferruginous green sand. 

Instead of sand and gravel, trap rock has been used. Even pulverised 
bricks have some effect for a time (P. Frankland). 

Sponge.—Sponge has a considerable effect in mechanically arresting 
suspended particles, but very little on dissolved matters. It soon clogs, 
and ought not to be used. 

Animal Charcoal.—Pure animal charcoal (deprived, as far as possible, of 
ealcium phosphate and carbonate by washing or by hydrochloric acid) used 
to be considered one of the best filtering materials. The particles of char- 
coal should be well pressed together, and the passage of the water should 
not be too quick. Contact with the water for about four minutes appears 
sufficient. There is a large (and, if the layer of charcoal be deep enough, 
complete) removal of suspended matters, both mineral and organic; water 
even deeply tinged comes through a good charcoal filter very clear and 
bright. So also dissolved organic and mineral matters are removed by 
charcoal in the first instance. All evidence agrees in respect of that point. 
But then its power is limited, and after a time it ceases to be efficient. 

In experiments made with animal charcoal at Netley (by Drs F. de 
Chaumont and J. L. Notter) it was found that it had a very rapid and 
powerful effect upon dead or decomposing organic matter, but that it 
allowed fresh organic matter, such as fresh egg albumin, to pass through 
to a large extent unchanged.! This suggests serious considerations with 
reference to the effect upon disease poisons. It was also found (as in Mr 
Byrne’s experiments) that after a time the filtering action not only ceased, 
but that the charcoal began to give back some of the organic matter it had 
removed. The same result takes place if the water be left too long in 
contact with the charcoal. Water filtered through charcoal, if it be kept 
for any length of time, shows some evidence of low forms of organic life,— 
i some instances a copious deposit forming. This may be due either to 
Spores or germs passing through unchanged,? or to the phosphates yielded 
by the charcoal affording a favourable nutrient for germs absorbed from 
the atmosphere. These conclusions have been fully confirmed by Dr P. 
Frankland’s* cultivation experiments, in which he found that during the 
first twelve days the animal charcoal effectually kept out all germs; but 
after a month the filtered water was more highly impregnated (nearly five 
times) than the original water. For these reasons it seems unadvisable to 
use charcoal for filtration on a large scale, independent of the consideration 
of expense. The plan of placing charcoal filters in water cisterns, now 
‘often practised, ought also to be given up. The conclusions to be arrived 
at with regard to charcoal as a filtering medium are these :—(1) It acts 
both chemically and mechanically, and is at first both rapid and efficient. 


1 See Sanitary Record, Oct. 1876, p. 288, and _A.M.D. Reports, vol. xix. p. 170. 

* This appears the more probable. Minute diatoms were found in water which had been 
kept for some months after being passed through Crease’s large filter tanks at Parkiurst. 

® Proc. Roy. Soc., loc. cit. 


. 


84 WATER, 


(2) With a good bulk of material, water may be passed through nearly as 
rapidly as it can flow, and be well purified. (3) Water must not be left in 
contact with the charcoal longer than is necessary for filtration, as it is apt 
to take up organic matter again. (4) Water filtered through charcoal must 
not be stored for any time, but must be used immediately, as if kept it is 
apt to become charged with minute living organisms. (5) Since fresh 
organic matter may pass through it unchanged, animal charcoal cannot be 
confidently depended upon to purify water from disease poison. (6) The 
power of charcoal is limited; with a moderately good water it remains 
efficient for some time, but with an impure water it soon becomes inactive. 
Tn all cases it ought to be cleaned or renewed at least every three months, — 
and with impure waters much oftener, say, every week or every fortnight. 

Vegetable Charcoal—Peat Charcoal—Seaweed Charcoal.—The first is | 
much less efficacious chemically than animal charcoal,—even useless, — 
according to E. Frankland. But P. Frankland’s biological experiments — 
show it to be much more efficacious and lasting in its powers than animal 
charcoal. The others are rather more effectual chemically, but their 
biological power has not yet been tested. 

Coke shows remarkable powers of keeping back organisms, at least for a 
time ; indeed, it is equal to animal charcoal at first, and retains its power 
longer. 

Spongy Iron.—This substance, obtained by roasting hematite iron ore, | 
is porous metallic iron, probably mixed with magnetic ‘oxide, and not unlike | 
animal charcoal in appearance. It occupies a space of about twenty cubic | 
feet to the ton. Its action on water is both mechanical and chemical, for | 
it arrests suspended matter and also oxidises organic matter in solution. 
It acts upon water itself, decomposing it and setting free hydrogen, —the} 
oxygen being afterwards given up to organic matter that may come in 
contact with it. Its oxidismg power is very great, although perhaps a 
little slow. Experiments at Netley! showed that it could be depended | 
upon to remove the greater part of the dissolved organic matter, and with 
prolonged exposure the whole of it in many instances. It has not much) 
effect on mineral matter, but removes lead. It yields a little iron to the 
water, which, ihommetree, can be removed by further filtration through 
prepared sand,—that is, sand or fine gravel with pyrolusite. Beyond this 
nothing is yielded to the water, which comes out quite clear and pure, and| 
may be stored for a long time without undergoing any change or showing 
signs of the production of living organisms,—or in any way favouring) 
putrefaction.2, Water left in contact with it does not deteriorate. It 
retains its filtering power a long time,—very much longer than animal 
charcoal. Those qualities are fully confirmed by the biological experiments, 
of P. Frankland. Such properties render it suitable for use on a large 
scale, and it has been so used in several places, as, for example, in the 
Water Works of Antwerp. On the whole, it must be looked upon as one 
of the most powerful and lasting filtering media we have. ! 

Carferal.—This substance is no longer in the market; a substance of 
somewhat similar character, called Carbalite, has been used instead in 
Crease’s filters. 

Domestic Filters. —On a small scale, a number of substances have been 
used, such as animal and vegetable charcoal, in granules or powder, 0} 


1 A.M.D. Reports, vol. xx. p. 205 et seq. 
2 See M. Gustav Bischof, ‘‘On Putrescent Organic Matter i in Potable Water,’ Proc. Ro 
Sve., No. 80, 1877; also “Sanitary Notes on Potable Water,” Sanitary Record, vol. x. p. 237 


| 
ui 


FILTRATION OF WATER. 85 


made into blocks, or fine silica impregnated with charcoal (silicated carbon 
filters), hzematite and magnetic iron ores, the so-called magnetic carbide, 
spongy iron, manganic oxide, flannel, wool, sponges, porous sandstones 
(natural and artificial), de. 

The “Filtre Rapide” of Maignen is an ingenious arrangement, by which 
a large straining surface is presented to the water by the spreading of 
asbestos cloth over a frame, or over a perforated cone of porcelain. Any 
filtering medium in powder or granules may be mixed with the water and 
settles on the cloth ; this, of course, can be renewed as required. These 
are now used in the army, both in garrison and in the field. 

The “ Filtre Chanoit” is much used in France. The straining material 
is ground slag (‘‘Scorie de fonte”), and the filter requires to be used under 
pressure (5 centimetres) ; by this means a cushion of air is compressed, and 
acts as a purifier. 

The Chamberland filter, used by Pasteur, consists of a cylinder of 
porcelain through which the water is forced. According to P. Frankland, 
it has little or no effect on the chemical constituents in solution, but it 
effectually strains off all organisms and their spores. 

The filters in the market in this country are very numerous, but the 
most important are the following :— 


1. Those containing animal charcoal, in granules or powder. 

2. Animal charcoal compressed into blocks by admixture with silica and 
other substances. 

3. Sponegy iron filters. 

4. Magnetic iron filters. 

5. Those containing other substances of a nature chiefly mineral. 

The essentials of a good filter are the following :— 


1. That every part of the filter shall be easily got at, for the purposes 
of cleaning, or of renewing the medium. 

. That the medium have a sufficient purifying power both as to 
chemical action on organic matter in solution and arrest of 
organisms or their spores in suspension, and be present in sufficient 
quantity. 

3. That the medium yield nothing to the water that may favour the 
erowth of low forms of life. 

. That the purifying power be reasonably lasting. 

. That there shall be nothing in the construction of the filter itself 
that shall be capable of undergoing putrefaction, or of yielding 
metallic or other impurities to the water. 

6. That the filterme material shall not be liable to clog, and that the 

delivery of the water shall be reasonably rapid. 


bo 


Oe 


The first of these conditions obviously sets aside all filters of the older, 
and what used to be the usual, pattern, where only a small layer of filter- 
ing material was present, which was cemented up, so as not to be reached 
without breaking open the apparatus. 

The second condition is fulfilled, so far as filtering power is concerned, 
by a number of media, chiefly spongy iron, magnetic oxide, or carbide of 
iron, and charcoal for a short time. Coke, sand, and some other substances 
arrest organisms for some time, but do not affect the organic constituents 
chemically. With regard to bulk of material, this is fairly well attended 
to in the filters where loose material is used; but where solid blocks are 
employed the size is often quite incommensurate with the work they are 
called upon to do. 


86 WATER. 


The third condition is complied with by spongy iron, magnetic oxide or 
carbide, and some other materials; but (as before mentioned), not by 
animal charcoal in the loose condition. As solid blocks, it seems to yield 
less to water than in the granular condition. 

The fourth condition depends a good deal upon the relative degree of 
impurity of the water. The spongy iron and the magnetic oxide or carbide, 
on the whole, last the longest. | 

* The jifth condition demands that nothing organic shall be used in the | 
construction of the filter, or in the packing of the interior.!_ Iron or other | 
metal must be protected from the action of the water.? 

The sexth condition is generally fulfilled when the material is loose, and 
when the water is not too full of suspended matter. Sometimes sponge is © 
used to arrest suspended matter, but itis so apt to get foul that its use had © 
better be avoided. The block filters are very apt to clog, aslimy substance 
forming on their surface. This is partly obviated now by the use of | 
asbestos strainers (as in the silicated carbon filter). Spongy iron is apt to 
cake unless kept constantly covered with water, but this is arranged for 
in the new forms of filter. As regards rapidity of delivery,’ the animal 
charcoal has the advantage over spongy iron and block filters, in the 


following ratio:— 
: water runs through fairly well purified in 
1. Animal charcoal, ae : S y I 
25 to 4 minutes. 
2. Silicated carbon, average exposure, 15 minutes. 
3. Spongy iron,? a rE 22 5 


It is obvious that, for reasons of convenience, one filter may be preferable 
to the others according to circumstances. If the water is required imme- 
diately in considerable quantity, and is to be consumed at once, animal 
charcoal would be used, but would require frequent renewal, as is the case _ 
in the Filtre Rapide. In the other cases, where the delivery is slower, the | 
size or the number of the filters would have to be arranged accordingly. 

Cleansing of Filters.—All filters when first taken into use require to be | 
washed by passing from 10 to 20 gallons of fairly good water through | 
them, according to the size of the filter, as the filtering medium generally | 
yields something to water in the beginning. It is also necessary to ensure © 
the removal of dust, &c., that may be in the apparatus. But after a 
certain time of use all filtering media not only cease to be efficient, but | 
even in some instances give up impurity to the water passed through | 
them; so much is this the fact that cases of illness have been traced to | 
this source, and some persons have thought the dangers of filtration were | 
greater than those of unfiltered water. There is no doubt that the 
practice of depending for years upon the efficiency of a filter, which has | 
never been cleaned or had its material renewed, is fraught with danger ; 
and there is still danger to be apprehended from many of the so-called | 
“self-cleaning” filters, which, in the words of advertisements, ‘‘ require no 
attention.” There is a limit to the power of all filtering materials, and no | 
implicit confidence can be placed in any of the methods vaunted as “self- | 
cleaning.” Jt is not possible to state positively the length of time any / 
filtering material will remain efficient, so much depending upon the con- | 


1 Cotton has sometimes been used, and gone rapidly to decay. 

2 Water has been found strongly charged with zinc, from the use of so-called galvanised | 
iron in filters. 

% Water can be drawn off much more rapidly from this filter, if required, but this is not 
recommended by the inventor. 


FILTRATION OF WATER. 87 


dition of the water and the quantity passed through. Animal charcoal in 
eranules or powder ought to be cleaned or renewed at least every three 
months, and much oftener if used with dirty waters. The best plan of 
cleaning is to heat it to redness under cover, and then wash it with dis- 
tilled water or the cleanest that can be procured. Failing this, boiling it, 
with or without permanganate of potassium solution or dilute Condy’s fluid 
and a little mineral acid, is the safest plan. After this it may be exposed 
to the air and sun, thoroughly washed, and then used again. The per- 
manganate solution (or Condy’s fluid) should be passed through it until it 
comes out a distinct pink colour. 

Spongy tron retains its efficiency for a long time, and, as in the filters 
made with it the flow of water is expressly limited with reference to the 
bulk of material, the difference is solely in relation to the greater or less 
impurity of the water acted upon. Its efficiency may generally be 
depended upon for a year, and, unless the water be very impure, even for 
a considerably longer time. The experiments (by cultivation) of P. 
Frankland would seem to indicate a much earlier failure of efficiency, and 
it would be well to have the water tested both chemically and biologically 
at intervals to be assured of the continued efficiency of the medium. 
When the limit of efficiency is reached, the only safe plan is to renew the 
charge of material, and it is generally advisable to provide for this renewal 
once a year, or oftener if examination of the water indicates the necessity 
of it; should circumstances arise, however, to prevent this renewal, the 
best plan for cleaning is to subject all the material to the action of fire, up 
to a low red heat, then to wash the whole well, and return it into the 
filter. The cleansing with permanganate and acid must not be attempted. 

Filters, where the material is cemented up and cannot be removed, ought 
to be abandoned altogether. 

Strainers of sponge, or any material which cannot stand the action of 
fire, ought also to be given up. Asbestos forms an excellent strainer, and 
can be heated to redness, so as to destroy all organic matter, as often as 
required. 

Block Filters are generally undesirable forms ; but, if used, they may be 
cleansed by carefully brushing the surface, pumping air in the reverse way, 
and treating with permanganate as above described. They are of various 
sizes, from small pocket filters to large-sized domestic filters delivering 30 
to 50 gallons a-day. The pocket filters are useful as strainers, but their 
small size must make the duration of their oxidising power very short. 
They ought to be frequently brushed and washed in clean water, with 
permanganate if possible. 

Cistern and Pipe Filters.—Filters are sometimes placed in cisterns, being 
constantly immersed in the water to be filtered. This is an objectionable 
plan, and ought to be abandoned. Pipe filters are those which are placed 
in the course of a supply pipe, and tap-filters those which are fitted on to 
a delivery tap. The objection to most of those filters is that they are 
generally much too small for the work expected from them, as they are 
usually represented by a small cylinder of block carbon or a few ounces of 
animal charcoal. For proper filtration the only way is to have a full-sized 
filter attached to the supply pipe, with a ball-cock or similar apparatus for 
filling it.1 The object is of course two-fold,—first, to ensure that all the 
water drawn shall be filtered ; and, second, to save the time required when 
the filter has to be filled by hand. 


1 See fig. 9, p. 91. 


88 WATER. 


Service-Filters for Land and Sea.—Col. Crease, C.B., Royal Marine 
Artillery, has arranged some excellent forms of filters, both small, for 
barrack, hospital, or ambulance use, and large tanks for ships or for large 
bodies of men on shore. The principle of them all is a filter of strong © 
durable material, which yields nothing to water, space for a large quantity | 
of filtering material, and a rapid delivery. The small filters may be | 
earthenware or iron, the latter being protected internally by a patent | 
cement ;—the larger tanks of iron, protected in the same way. 

Carbalite is now employed. By using a large quantity of the material, 
with a rapid delivery, a storage reservoir becomes unnecessary. The 
delivery can be regulated by screwing down or loosening a plate in the 
filter, so as to compress the material, or slacken the pressure as required. 

The Filtre Rapide of Maignen is now used a good deal in the service, both 
for barrack and hospital use, and also in the field.1 It has the advantage 
of enabling the filtering material to be frequently renewed and the asbestos 
strainer effectually cleaned by fire. 1 


. 


SECTION YV. 
Sus-Section [.—SEaRcH AFTER WATER. 


Occasionally a medical officer may be in a position in which he has to 
search for water. Few precise rules can be laid down. 

On a plain, the depth at which water will be found will depend on the 
permeability of the soil and the depth at which hard rock or clay will hold 
up water. The plain should be well surveyed; and, if any part seems below 
the general level, a well should be sunk, or trials made with Norton’s tube- | 
wells. The part most covered with herbage is likely to have the water | 
nearest the surface. On a dry sandy plain, morning mists or swarms of 
insects are said sometimes to mark water below. Near the sea, water is | 
generally found ; even close to the sea it may be fresh, if a large body of 
fresh water flowing from higher ground holds back the salt water. But 
usually wells sunk near the sea are brackish; and it is necessary to sink 
several, passing farther and farther inland, till the point is reached where | 
the fresh water has the predominance. | 

Among the hills the search for water is easier. The hills store up water, | 
which runs off into plains at their feet. Wells should be sunk at the foot 
of hills, not on a spur, but, if possible, at the lowest point ; and if there are 
any indications of a water-course, as near there as possible. In the valleys 
among hills the junction of two long valleys will, especially if there is any | 
narrowing, generally give water. The outlet of the longest valleys should 
be chosen, and if there is any trace of the junction of two water-courses, 
the well should be sunk at their union. In a long valley with a contrac- | 
tion, water should be sought for on the mountain side of the contraction. | 
In digging at the side of a valley, the side with the highest hill should be | 
chosen. 

Before commencing to dig, the country should be as carefully looked over | 
as time and opportunity permit, and the dip of the strata made out if 
possible. A little search will sometimes show which is the direction of fall 
from high grounds or a watershed. f 

If moist ground only is reached, the insertion of a tube, pierced with | 


er description of it is given in the Army Medical Regulations (1885), Appendix No. 9, 
p. 276. 


SUPPLY OF WATER TO SOLDIERS. 89 


holes, deep in the moist ground, will sometimes cause a good deal of water 
to be collected. Norton’s American tube-well gave satisfaction in Abyssinia, 
although it did not succeed so well in Ashantee. A common pump will 
raise the water in it if the depth be not more than 24 or 26 feet ; if deeper, 
a special force pump has to be used. 


Sup-Secrion II].—SpectaL ConsIDERATIONS ON THE SUPPLY OF WATER 
TO SOLDIERS. 


In barracks and hospitals, and in all the usual stations, all that has to be 
done is to make periodical examinations of the quantity and quality of the 
water, to inspect the cisterns, &c., and to consider frequently if in any way 
wells or cisterns have been contaminated. As far as possible, a record 
should be kept at each station of the normal composition of the water. 

In transport ships, the water and the casks or tanks should always be 
examined before going to sea. Should it show signs of putridity, distilla- 
tion of sea-water, which is now easily managed, should be resorted to. If 
the water distils over acid, neutralise with carbonate of soda. If there is a 
little taste from organic mater, let it be exposed to the air for two or three 
days. Crease’s tank-filters supply an excellent means of purifying water in 
large quantities. The spongy iron ship-filter is also an excellent form of 
filter for the purpose, and has the further advantage of removing lead 
should the water have taken any up during the process of distillation. 

During marches each soldier carries a water-bottle.t He should be taught 
to refill it with good water whenever practicable. If the water is decidedly 
bad, it should be boiled with tea, and the cold tea drunk. The exhausted 
leaves, if well boiled in water, will give up a little more tannin and colouring 
matter, and will have a good effect; and if 
a soldier would do this after his evening 
meal, the water would be ready for the next 
day’s march. Alum and charcoal should be 
used. Small charcoal or sandstone filters 
with elastic tubes (fig. 2) at the top, which 
draw water through like siphons, or through 
which water can be sucked, are useful, and 
are now much employed by both officers and 
men. They have been largely used by the 
French soldiers in Algiers, and some were 
issued to our troops both in the Ashantee and 
Soudan campaigns. It must be understood 
that these are all merely strainers, and do not 
purify the water from dissolved substances. 

Soldiers should be taught that there is danger in drinking turbid water, 
as they will often do when they are overcome with thirst. Not only all 
sorts of suspended matters may be gulped down, but even animals. On 
Some occasions the French army in Algiers has suffered from the men 
swallowing small leeches, which brought on dangerous bleeding. The 
pocket filters act fairly well in removing these suspended matters, 


1 The Italian water-bottle has been officially adopted in our army, but it is doubtful if it 
has any advantage except its convenient shape. It certainly imparts an unpleasant taste 
to the water at first, and presents difficulty in cleaning. Probably an iron bottle (coated by 
the Bower-Bartf process), covered with leather, would be better. 


90 WATER. 


If water-carts or water-skins are used, they should be regularly inspected ; 
every cart should have a straining filter of pure sand, through which the 
water should pass. The carts and skins should be scrupulously clean. The 


Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 


water-carriers, or bheesties, in India, should be paraded every morning, and 
the sources of water inquired into. 


NG Sain 
““ 


AS 
WEN 


SS 
\ 


AK 
“ 


A 
\ 


BEATE 


SS 


— 


When halting ground is reached, it may be necessary to filter the water. 
A common plan is to carry a cask charred inside and pierced with small 


WATER FILTERS. OI 


holes at the bottom ; it is sunk in a small stream, and the water rises through 
the holes. A better plan still is to have two casks, one inside the other, 
the outer pierced with holes at the bottom and the inner near the top ; the 
space between is filled with sand, gravel, or any filtering medium that may 


Fig. 8 


be procurable; the water rises 
through the gravel between the 
barrels, and flows into the inner 
barrel.! The sand, gravel, or other 
material ought to be frequently 
turned out, cleaned, or changed. 


& 
S 
S 
3 
g 
& 


<ul 


> 


Other simple plans are given in 
the drawings, which need little 
description. Figs. 3 and 4 speak 
for themselves. Fig. 5 is a barrel 
connected by a pipe with a supply 
above; the water rises through 
sand and charcoal, and is drawn 
out above; the barrel is fixed ona 
winch, and, the supply pipe being removed, and the hole closed, a few turns 
of the handle clear the sand. Fig. 6 is a simple contrivance, which may be 
made of wood or tin. Figs. 7 and 8 show Crease’s field-filter in use, either 
as a hand-filter (fig. 8) or connected by an india-rubber tube to a bucket 


1 Tn the Zulu campaign Surgeon-General Woolfryes states that “‘to the large base hospitals, 
such as Fort Pearson and Utrecht, large single or double barrel (charcoal) filters made in 
Pietermaritzburg were furnished. For the troops barrel (sand) filters, made on the spot by 
the Royal Engineers, were provided.” —A.M.D. Reports, vol. xxi. p. 287. 

2 Fig. 9.—Spongy iron filter, special ball-cock pattern. A,cap of regulator; B, ball-cock ; 
C, perforated lid, covering spongy iron; C’, perforated lid, covering prepared sand ; C", 
perforated plate, through which water flows to regulator ; D, cover of filter ; F, filtered 
water ; G, glass ball; I, spongy iron; L, lever of ball-cock ; O, withdrawing-pin of lever ; 
P, tube connecting with water-supply or cistern; R, screws to fasten ball-cock to filter ; S, 
pyrolusite ; S’, sand ; 8”, fine gravel (these three form the prepared sand) ; T, tap or stop- 
cock, from which to draw the filtered water; U, unfiltered water ; V, screw valve ; X, division 
in regulator, from which XA may be serewed off ; near X is the aperture through which the 
filtered water flows into the reservoir F. 


92 WATER. 


of unfiltered water placed in a cart (fig. 7). It acts with great rapidity, 
and gives good results.1 

Bearing in mind the results of mere agitation with rough particles of sand, 
scrap iron, &c., some such plan might be advantageously improvised in the 
field. A barrel mounted as in fig. 5 might be used as a revolver for the 
purpose, simulating the apparatus described by Mr W. Anderson as used at 
the Antwerp water-works.? 

Maignen’s field Filtre Rapide was used in the Egyptian campaign, and 
seemed to answer fairly well, but the strainer requires to be frequently 
cleansed and the filtering material renewed. Its portable form is an 
advantage. 

In the field the medical officer may be sent on to give a report of the 
quantity and quality of any source. Before the troops arrive he should 
make his arrangements for the different places of supply ; men and cattle 
should be watered at different points; places should be assigned for wash- 
ing ; and if removal of excreta by water be attempted, the excreta should 
flow in far below any possible spring ; in the case of a spring several reser- 
voirs of wood should be made, and the water allowed to flow from one to 
another—the highest for men, the second for cattle. If it is a running 
stream, localities should be fixed for the special purpose ; that for the men’s 
drinking water should be highest up the stream, for animals below, wash- 
ing lowest ; sentries should be placed as soon as possible. The distribution 
of water should be regulated ; streams are soon stirred up, made turbid, 
and the water becomes undrinkable for want, perhaps, of simple manage- 
ment. 

Wherever practicable the reservoirs or cisterns which are made should 
be covered in; even if it is merely the most flimsy covering, it is better 
than nothing. 

In sieges the same general rules must be attended to. The distribution 
of the water should be under the care of a vigilant medical officer. Ad- 
vantage should be taken of every rainfall; fresh wells should be dug early ; 
if necessary, distillation of brackish or sea-water must be had recourse to. 


——— Se Ce 


1 In the Zulu campaign of 1879 Surgeon-General Woolfryes reports that “ Crease’s filters 
were used in the larger field hospitals, but were found unsuitable for field service, as they 
would not stand the rough usage incidental to the march.”—A.M.D. Reports, vol. Sxi 


2 Journal of the Society of Arts, Nov. 26, 1886, pp. 29 et seg. 


CEEASR A Hii tle 
REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


Ir is highly probable that to barbarous and inefficient modes of removing 
the excreta of men and of animals we must partly trace the great prevalence 
of disease in the Middle Ages, and there is no doubt that many of the 
diseases now prevailing in our large towns are owing to the same cause. 

When men live in thinly-populated countries, following, as they will 
then do, an agricultural or nomad life, they will not experience the con- 
sequences of insufficient removal of excreta. The sewage matter returns at 
once to that great deodoriser, the soil, and, fertilising it, becomes a benefit 
to man, and not a danger. It is only when men collect in communities 
that the disposal of excreta becomes a matter literally of life and death, 
and before it can be settled the utmost skill and energy of a people may be 
taxed. 

The question of the proper mode of disposal of sewage has been some- 
what perplexed by not keeping apart two separate considerations. The 
object of the physician is to remove as rapidly as possible all excreta from 
dwellings, so that neither air, water, nor soil shall be made impure. The 
agriculturist wishes to obtain from the sewage its fertilising powers. It is 
not easy to satisfy both parties, but it will probably be conceded that 
safety is the first thing to be sought, and that profit must come after- 
wards. 


SECTION I. 
AMOUNT AND PRODUCTS OF THE SOLID AND LIQUID EXCRETA. 
Amount of the Solid and Liquid Excreta. 


The amount of the bowel and kidney excreta varies in different persons 
and with different modes of life. On an average, in Europe, the daily solid 
excreta are about 4 ounces by weight, and the daily liquid excreta 50 ounces 
by measure for each male adult. Women and children pass rather less. 
Vegetable pass more solid excreta than animal feeders, but this is chiefly 
owing to a large proportion of water.! Taking all ages and both sexes into 
consideration, we may estimate the daily amount per head of population in 
Europe at 25 ounces of fecal and 40 ounces of urinary discharge. A 
population of 1000 persons would thus pass daily 156 tb of solids and 250 
gallons of urine, or in a year 25 tons of feces and 91,250 gallons (14,647 
cubic feet) of urine. This gives 6:25 tons of water-free solids for the feeces 
and 16-7 from the urine, total 23 tons in round numbers, per annum. 
Letheby gives the mean daily amount per head as 2-784 ounces of feces 
and 31°851 ounces of urine. 


1 Mr Faweus’s experiments on Bengalee prisoners give an average bowel excretion of 12 
ounces, and in Bombay Dr Hewlett found the alvine discharges to be ouite as large. 


94 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


Frankland estimates the mean daily amount per head as 3 ounces of 
feeces and nearly 40 ounces by measure of urine. In adult males the 
quantity of nitrogen daily discharged by the bowels and kidneys amounts 
to from 250 to 306 grains, representing 304 and 372 grains of ammonia. 
Taking the whole population, however, the amount must be considerably 
less than this. Dr Parkes calculated it as 153 grains of nitrogen, and 
Letheby gave it as 155°8 grains, or from 186 to 189 grains of ammonia, 2.¢., 
the mean excretion of all the population is more than half the excretion of 
the adult male. 


Decomposition of Sewage Matter. 


Fresh healthy feecal matter from persons on mixed diet, unmixed with 
urine, has an acid reaction, and this it retains for a considerable time ; it 
then becomes alkaline from ammonia. If free from urine it usually decom- 
poses slowly, and in hot weather often dries on the surface and subsequently 
changes but little for some time. The urine, when unmixed with fecal 
matter, also retains its natural acidity for a variable number of days,— 
sometimes three or four, sometimes eight or ten, or even longer, and then 
becomes alkaline from ureal decomposition. When the feces and urime 
are mixed, the formation of ammonium carbonate from ureal decomposi- 
tion is much more rapid ; the solid excreta seem to have the same sort of 
action as the bladder mucus, and the mixed excreta become alkaline in 
twenty-four hours, while the separate excreta are still acid. And in its 
turn the presence of the urine seems to aid the decomposition of the solid 
matter, or this may be perhaps from the effect of the liquid, as pure water 
seems to act almost as rapidly as urine in this respect. Pappenheim! 
states that the absorption of oxygen by the feces is greatly increased when 
urine is added. When the solid excreta and urine are left for two or three 
weeks, the mixture becomes usually extremely viscid, and this occurs, 
though to a less extent, when an equal quantity of pure water takes the 
place of urine. The viscidity i is prevented by carbolic acid. 

When the solid excreta (unmixed with urine) begin to decompose, they 
give out very foetid substances, which are no doubt organic ; hydrogen 
sulphide is seldom detected, at any rate by the common plan of suspending 
paper soaked in lead solution above the decomposing mass. When heated, 
a large quantity of gas is disengaged, which is inflammable, and consists 
in great measure of carburetted hydrogen. When (instead of being dry) 
urine is present, ammonia and foetid organic matters are disengaged in 
large quantity. When water is also present, and if the temperature of the 
air is not too low, not only organic matters but gases are given out, consist- 
ing of light carburetted hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Hydrogen 
sulphide can be also disengaged by heat, and is almost always found in the 
liquid, usually in combination with ammonia, from which it is sometimes 
liberated and then passes into the air. 


SECTION IL. 
METHODS OF REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


While all will agree in the necessity of the immediate removal of excreta 
from dwellings, the best modes of doing so are by no means settled.. The 
fact is that several methods of removing sewage are applicable in different 


1 Handb. der San. Pol., 2nd edit., Band i. p. 72 


REMOVAL OF EXCRETA—SEWERS. 95 


circumstances, and their relative amounts of utility depend entirely on the 
condition of the particular place. 
The different plans may be conveniently divided into '— 


1. The water method. 
2. The dry methods. 


Before noticing these plans, it will be convenient to make a few general 
observations on sewers. 
SEWERS. 


Sewers are conduits employed to remove waste water and waste products 
suspended in water from houses, or to carry away rain. Among the waste 
products may be the solid and liquid excreta of men and animals, or the 
refuse of trade and factory operations. Or sewers may be used merely for 
the conveyance of dirty house-water, without the admixture of excreta or 
trade refuse. 

It is quite impossible that any town or even any single large house can 
be properly freed of its waste house-water without sewers, and in more or 
less perfect condition they are to be found not only in all modern but in 
most ancient cities. Originally, no doubt, they were mere surface channels, 
as they are still in many towns ; but for the sake of appearance and inoffen- 
Siveness, the custom must have soon arisen of placing them underground, 
nor in modern towns could they now be arranged otherwise. In some large 
towns there are even hundreds of miles of sewers constructed often with 
ereat skill and science, and they serve in some instances as the channels 
not only for rain, but for natural streams which have been enclosed. 

The sewers form thus in the subsoil of towns a vast network of tubes, 
connecting every house, and converging to a common outlet where their 
contents may be discharged. 

In some towns the sewers carry away none of the solid excreta, though 
probably urine enters in all cases. In most towns, however, solid excreta 
in greater or less quantity enter, owing especially to the prevalent use of 
water-closets, or to the drainage of middens and manure heaps. 

Whether the solid excreta pass in or not, the liquid in the sewers must 
always contain either suspended or dissolved animal and vegetable matters 
derived from the refuse of houses. It is generally warmer than the water 
of streams, and is of no constant composition: sometimes it is very turbid 
and highly impure ; in other cases it is hardly more impure than the water 
of surface wells. The suspended matters are, however, generally in larger 
proportion than the dissolved. 

In some cases the sewer water is in greater amount than the water 
supplied to the town and the rainfall together. This arises from the sub- 
soil water finding its way into the sewers. 

One ton of London or Rugby sewage contains only from 2 tb to 3 h of 
solid matter (Lawes).? One ton of Southampton sewage contains about 2 tb 
dissolved and 14 tb to 14 tb suspended matter. 


1 Dr Corfield’s work (A Digest of Facts relating to the Treatment and Utilisation of Sewage, 
by W. H. Corfield, 3rd edit., 1887) will be found to give a good summary of this subject. See 
also Report of a Committee appointed by the President of the Local Government Board to 
inguire into the several modes of treating Town Sewage, London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 
1876; see also ‘‘ Die Menschliche Abfallstoffe,” von Dr Ferd. Fischer, Supplement zur Deutschen 
Viertelj. f. Offt. Gesundh., 1882; Report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Sewage 
Discharge, 1884. 

2 Forthe composition of sewer water, see Way, Second Report of Common Sewage of Towns, 
1861, p. 69 et seq.; Letheby, The Sewage Question, 1872, p. 135; Report on Town Sewage, 
fa, Rivers Pollution Commissioners’ Report ; Report of Roy. Comm. Metr. Sew. Disch., 


96 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


The average composition of sewer water in towns with water-closets is: 
organic matter, 39°6; nitrogen, 8°87; phosphoric acid, 2°24; potash, 2°9 
parts per 100,000.1 

The Rivers Pollution Commissioners give 7:28 parts of organic nitrogen 
per 100,000 parts, or 5-41 grains per gallon; the mean amount of ammonia 
is 6°703 per 100,000, or 4:692 grains per gallon. 

Under the microscope, sewer water contains various dead decaying 
matters, and, in addition, multitudes of Bacterza and amcebiform bodies, as 
‘well as some ciliated infusoria, especially Paramecia. Sungi (spores and 
mycelium) are seen, but there are few Deatoms or Desmids, and not many 
of the higher animals, such as Rotzfera. 

A controversy is still gong on whether the solid excreta ought to be 
admitted into the sewers. The point is virtually practically decided in 
many towns in this country by the general use of water-closets, which 
cannot now in these towns be superseded by any plan yet proposed. It 
is, however, quite an open question whether, if all the arrangements 
could be commenced de novo, the admission of the solid excreta would be 
proper. 

The arguments for and against this view will presently be stated. 

Whether the solid excreta are allowed to pass in or not, it is clear that 
the dirty water of the sewers must in some way be disposed of. It is in 
every case more or less impure, containing animal and vegetable substances 
in a state of commencing decay, which passes readily into putrefaction. 
The readiest mode of getting rid of it is to pass it into streams, where it is 
at once subjected to the influence of a large body of water, and where the 
solid matters become either slowly oxidised, or form food for fishes or water 
plants, or subside. Although from an early period streams were thus con- 
taminated and their water, originally pure, was thus rendered unfit for use, 
it is only lately that a strong opposition has arisen to the discharge into 
streams. This is owing partly to the greater pollution and nuisance caused 
by the more common use of water-closets and the largely mcreasing trade 
of the country, which causes more refuse to be sent in, and partly to the 
evidence which has been brought forward of the diseases which are caused 
by drinking water made impure in this way. To prevent the nuisance and 
danger caused by the pollution of streams, many actions at law have ,been 
brought, and in some cases special Acts of Parliament have forbidden the 
discharge of sewer water into certain rivers until after efficient purification. 
The Rivers Pollution Act of 1876 now deals with the question, its provisions 
haying come into operation on the 15th August 1877. Unfortunately, 
from various causes, it has been largely operative, and must ere long be 
reconsidered. 

Up to a certain point there would probably be a general agreement as 
to the principle on which this difficult question should be dealt with. 
Animal substances in a state of decay can be best prevented from con- 
taminating the air, the soil, or the water of streams by imitating the 
operations of nature. In the endless cycle of physical change, decaying 
animal matters are the natural food of plants, and plants again form the 
food of animals. 

It so happens that, with the exception of some mineral trades, the waste 
products of which are hurtful to agriculture, many of the substances con- 
tained in the sewer water of our towns are adapted for the food of plants, 
and we seem on sure ground when we decide that it must be correct to 


1 Letheby, op. cit., p. 138. 


REMOVAL OF EXCRETA BY WATER. 97 


submit these matters to the action of plant life, and thus to convert them 
from dangerous impurities into wholesome food. 

The difficulty is, however, with the application of the principle, and at 
the present moment there is the utmost diversity of opinion on this point. 
It seems, however, that we may divide the opinions into two classes. 
According to one opinion, the proper mode is to bring the waste water of 
towns, when it contains fertilismg matters, at once to the ground, and, 
after the arrest of substances which may block the pipes, to pour it over 
the land in such a way as may be best adapted to free it from its impurities 
and to bring it most rapidly and efficiently under the influence of growing 
plants. 

The other opinion objects to this course on two grounds,—first, that the 
substances are not brought to the ground in the most convenient form for 
agriculture, and also that the plan entails evils of its own, arising from the 
immense quantity of water brought upon the land and from the difficulty 
of eticient management. The advocates of this second view would, there- 
fore, use some plan of separating the impurities of the water, and would 
then apply them in a solid form to the land, or use them for some other 
purpose, as in General Scott’s plan of adding the materials for cement and 
then making this substance. The purified water would then be filtered 
through land, or passed into streams, without further treatment. 

In the case of the sewage water containing materials not adapted for 
agriculture, both parties would deal with it in the same way, viz., purify it 
by chemical agencies or filtration, and then allow the water to flow off into 
streams, while the solid products would be disposed of in the most con- 
venient way. 

These general views apply to any sewer water, whether it contains solid 
excreta or not, although if these excreta can be perfectly excluded the 
sewer water is less offensive, though not much so, when the volume of 
water is large. It has hitherto been often poured into streams without 
previous purification, though now this practice is prohibited by law, with 
certain reservations. 

The sewers of a town are for the most part used also to carry off the 
rainfall, and, indeed, before the imtroduction of water-closets they were 
used only for this purpose, and for taking away the slop and sink water of 
houses. In countries with heavy rainfall, and in this country in certain 
cases, the rainfall channels are distinct from the sewers, and the outfalls 
may be in an entirely different direction. This is sometimes called the 
“separate system.” 


REMOVAL OF EXcRETA BY WATER. 


_ This is the cleanest, the readiest, the quickest, and in many cases the 
most inexpensive method. The water supplied for domestic purposes, 
which has possibly been raised to some height by steam or horse power, 
gives at once a motive force at the cheapest rate ; while, as channels must 
necessarily be made for the conveyance away of the waste and dirty water 
which has been used for domestic purposes, they can be used with a little 
alteration for excreta also. It would be a waste of economy to allow this 
water to pass off without applying the force which has been accumulated in 
it for another purpose. 
But if this is obvious, it is no less so that certain conditions of success 
_ must be present, without which this plan, so good in principle, may utterly 
fail. These conditions are, that there shall be a good supply of water, good 
G 


w 


| 


98 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


sewers, ventilation, a proper outfall, and means of disposing .of the sewer 
water. If these conditions cannot be united, we ought not to disguise the 
fact that sewers, improperly arranged, may give rise to no inconsiderable 
dangers. They are underground tubes, connecting houses, and allowing 
possibly, not merely accumulation of excreta, but a ready transference of 
gases and organic molecules from house to house, and occasionally also 
causing, by bursting, contamination of the ground, and poisoning of the 
water supply. And all these dangers are the greater from being concealed. 
It is probably correct, as has been pointed out, that in deep-laid sewers the 
pressure inwards of the water of the surrounding soil is so great as 
frequently to cause an overflow into the sewer, and so prevent the exit of 
the contents; but, in other cases, the damage to the sewer may be too 
great to be neutralised in this way, and, in the instance of superficially laid 
and choked-up pipes, the pressure outwards of the contents must be 


considerable. The dangers of sewers have now been greatly reduced, by — 


having good material, better construction, good ventilation, sufficient water 
supply, and means of disposal of the sewage water. 


Amount of Water for Sewers intended for Excreta. 


Engineers are by no means agreed on the necessary amount. We have 
already named 25 gallons per head per diem, on the authority of Mr 


Brunel, as the amount required to keep common sewers clear, and even — 


with this amount there should be some additional quantity for flushing. 
But in some cases a good fall and well-laid sewers may require less, and in 
other cases bad gradients or curves or workmanship may require more. It 
is a question whether rain-water should be allowed to pass into sewers ; it 
washes the sewers thoroughly sometimes, but it also carries débris and 
gravel from the roads, which may clog; while in other cases storm waters 
may burst the sewers, or force back the sewage. To obviate this, storm 
overflows have to be provided; of these there are about fifty within the 
metropolitan area, to relieve the low-level sewers on both sides of the 
Thames.? 


Construction of Sewers. 


Sewers are differently constructed according to the purposes they are to 
serve, 7.¢., whether simply to carry off house and trade water, or the solid 
excreta in addition, or one or both, with the rainfall. 


In following out the subject, it will be convenient to trace the sewers — 


from the houses to the outfall, after first considering the construction of 
water-closets. 
Water-Closets and Water-Troughs. 


Water-Closets—The old pan closet is now, happily, being abandoned, 
although still to be found in many dwellings and public buildings. It 
consists of a conical pan surrounded by a container, and having at the 


bottom a small movable pan, usually of tinned copper, to receive the 


excreta; this holds a certain amount of water, and is intended to act as a 
water seal or trap. Frequently, from failure of water, defective apparatus, 
or from the copper being eaten through by oxidation (not uncommon when 
there are nitrates in the water supply), the pan is empty, so that free 
passage is given to noxious gases. Add to this that the container is 


1 Report on Metr. Sewage Discharge, 1884. For description of storm overflows, see Bailey- 
Denton, op. cit., sections lxii. and Ixxxv. 


re 


WATER-CLOSETS. 99 


always more or less filthy, and that the soil pipe from it usually terminates 
in a D trap, and we have one of the worst combinations from a sanitary 
point of view. All such closets ought to be definitively abolished. 

In modern improved forms the pan of the closet is usually a cone in 
earthenware (which is better than metal), with a siphon or flap valve 
below. In addition, there are numerous contrivances for flushing the pan 
and siphon, and for preventing the escape of the air from the soil pipe 
into the house! The soil pipe is usually of cast lead; but both lead and 
iron are easily eaten through, as shown by Drs Fergus and N. Carmichael, 
and earthenware pipes, if strong and well joined, would be preferable.* 

The points to be looked to in examining closets are—I1st, that the pan is 
nearly a cone, and not a half circle with a flat bottom; 2nd, that the 
amount and force of water is sufficient to sweep everything out of the 
siphon; 3rd, that the soil pipe is ventilated beyond the siphon by bemg 
earried up full-bore to the top of the house; 4¢h, that the junction of siphon 
and soil pipe and the lengths of the soil pipe are perfect. 

With respect to water, a pipe from the house cistern frequently leads to 
the closet; but if so, there is danger of gas rising through the pipe. There 
should be a special small cistern for the use of the closet. What are 
termed water-waste preventers are now commonly used, fed either by a 
cistern or by constant supply. They are boxes which are emptied by a 
valve into the pan, and are then refilled. There are many kinds, but 
perhaps the best are those that work by siphon action, brought into play 
by pulling a wire. The amount of water should not be less than two 
gallons, and the fall should not be less than 3 or 4 feet, so as to insure 
thorough scouring of the soil pipe.? 

The ventilation of the soil pipe is a matter of importance, as the water 
from the pan suddenly displaces a large body of foul air, which rises 
through the siphon as the water flows. The best plan is to carry up the 
soil pipe full-bore to the roof, far from any windows. It is well also to 
have a second pipe from the crown of the siphon to the ventilating pipe, 
in order to prevent the unsiphoning of the trap (see fig. 18). Air is 
supplied by a grating below, as in Buchan’s and other disconnecting traps, 
or (as in Banner’s plan) by drawing air from another shaft carried up the 
house. The currents in the two shafts are determined by reversed cowls. 
In some cases it is proposed to draw the air down the soil pipe and up 
another pipe. 

The simple hopper closet, or some form of “wash-out” closet, with a 
siphon trap below, is the safest; but there are some good forms of valve 
closet in the market. They are, however, too frequently made with over- 
flow pipes passing into the soil pipe. These, although siphon-trapped, are 
apt to be sucked dry. They are thus dangerous, and they are really 
unnecessary, for a well-made siphon pan rarely overflows. If it does, it is 
better to receive the overflow on to a safe under the closet, from which the 
water flows out through a pipe to the open air, such pipe acting as a warn- 


ing pipe. 


1 Mr Eassie’s work, Healthy Houses, gives a good account of the various kinds of closets ; 
see also his article in Our Homes. 

2 In his work on Sanitary Arrangements for Dwellings, Mr Eassie does not approve of 
earthenware pipes, preferring the strongest cast lead to any other. 

’ The Army Sanitary Committee (On Sanitary Appliances, Blue Book, 1871, p. 17) state 
that the amount of water used in the water-closets in the army is, for Green’s closet, between 

gallon and 1 gallon for each time of use ; Underhay’s, Lambert’s, and the pan-closet, from 

to 14 gallon ; and for Jenning’s closet, usually the same, or in some stations 3 gallons. The 
quantity ought not to be less than 2 gallons under any circumstances. 


100 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. i 


The position of the closet is a matter of great moment. If possible, it 
should always be in an outbuilding, or a projection, with thorough venti- | 
lation between it and the house. In two-storied buildings it might be put 
in a small third story in the roof, and well ventilated above. The windows 
in a closet ought always to open quite to the ceiling. 

Tn all cases, a tube should pass from the top of the closet to the outer 
air; and, if the closet is in a bad situation, the tube should be heated by a 
gas-jet. 

It is a bad plan to have the pull-up handle covered by the lid;? it should 
be able to be pulled up when the lid is shut, or the shutting of the lid should 
open the water-waste preventer cistern. In wash-out closets the flush is 
often obtained by pulling a wire like a bell-pull, as mentioned above. 

The plan of placing closets in the basement should be entirely given up ;) 
closet air is certain to be drawn into the house. 

Water-Troughs or Latrines.—Vhese are very strong earthenware or cast- 
iron elongated receptacles, which are about half full of water. The 
excreta drop into the water, and once or twice a day a valve is raised, 
and the water and excreta pass into a drain. There is usually a catch-pit 
into which fall bits of bricks, towels, or other things which are thrown in, 
so that they are stopped and fished out when the trough is emptied, and do’ 
not pass into the drain. The amount of water in the water-latrines used in 
some barracks is about 5 gallons per head daily, so that the plan is not 
economical of water, but, as it avoids all loss by the dripping in closets,’ 
there is probably no great excess of expenditure. It is a good plan to have: 
a flexible hose attached to the water-pipe so as to wash thoroughly the 
seats and partitions every day. 

The chief objection to this plan has been the labour which is necessary 
to empty the trough; but this may be obviated by the use of automatic 
flush tanks, discharging periodically. On the other hand, there is saving 
of expenditure in repairs to water-closets.? 

In judging of the value of a water-trough, the amount of water, the’ 
surface exposed to evaporation, and the completeness of the flushing are’ 
the points to look to, 


House Pipes and Drains. 


It will be convenient to call the conduits inside the house, which run’ 
from sinks and closets, ‘‘ house pipes,” and to give the term “drain pipes” to 
the conduits which receive the house pipes, and carry the house water into) 
tanks or main sewers. The house pipes may be divided into sink and 
water-closet or soil pipes; they are made of metal (lead, iron, or zinc, or 
two of these) or of earthenware. The drain pipes are usually made of well- 
burnt, hard, smooth glazed earthenware.’ All bricks, porous earthenware, 
or substances of the kind should be considered inadmissible for drain pipes.| 
Iron pipes are not much used in this country, but are common and in some’ 
places compulsory in America, when pipes have to be carried under houses. 


— 


1 In Dr Aldridge’s patent the handle cannot be pulled up until the lid is shut down ; there! 
is also arrangement for carrying off foul gas by means of a pipe communicating with the outer’ 
air, the lid itself being air-tight round the rim of the seat. 

2 In the army two kinds of latrines (Macfarlane’s of cast-iron, and Jenning’s of earthen- 
ware) have been in use for many years. The army Sanitary Committee (On Sanitary 
Appliances introduced into Barracks, Blue Book, 1871, p. 14) state that out of 185 barracks 
only 53 were charged with repairs, and the average expenditure on these 53 was 12s. per 
barrack annually for Macfarlane’s, and 18s. 9d. per barrack for Jenning’s latrine, and nearly’ 
the whole of these expenses were caused by articles thrown carelessly into the latrines. 

3 Mr Baldwin Latham cautions us to see that the socket of the drain pipe is made with 
and is a component part of the pipe, and not merely joined on. 


CONNECTION OF HOUSE PIPES WITH THE DRAINS. 101 


When made of heavy cast iron, jointed and well caulked with lead or 
Spence’s metal, they are the best in many circumstances. Inside they may 
be enamelled, or coated with Dr Angus Smith’s composition, or treated by 
Barff’s process. The pipes and drains vary in size from 4 to 16 inches 
diameter,' but the usual size of stoneware pipes is 4 to 9 inches; they are 
round or oval in shape.? 

Connection of House Pipes with the Drains.—It is customary to commence 
the drains at the basement of the house, and the sink and closet pipes pass 
down inside the house and join on, a water trap being placed at the junction.? 
As the aspiratory power of the warm house is then constantly tending to 
draw air through the water-trap, and as the trap is lable to get out of order, 
it is most desirable to alter this plan. The drains should end outside the 
house, and as far as possible every house pipe should pass outside and not 
inside or between walls to meet the drain. The object of this is that any 
imperfection in the pipe should not allow the pipe air to pass into the houses. 
At the junction of the house pipe and drain there should not only be a good 


a a) 5 
as eh ONO 25S 


Fig. 10.—Jenning’s Access-pipe. Fig. 11.—Stiff’s Access-pipe and 
Junction. 


water-trap, but also complete ventilation and connection with the out- 
side air at the point of junction. The rule, in fact, should be, that the 
union of any house pipe whatever with the outside drain should be broken 
both by water and by ventilation. In addition, it should be a strict rule 
that no drain pipe of any kind should pass under a house ; if there must be 
a pipe passing from front to back, or the reverse, it is much better to take 
it above the basement floor than underneath, and to have it exposed 


1 Pipes are made up to 36 inches and upwards, usually round up to 16 or 18 inches, and 
oval above that. Engineers are now desirous of restricting the term ‘‘ drain” toa pipe that 
merely draws off moisture from land, using the term ‘‘ sewer ” for a pipe carrying sewage or 
liquid refuse of any kind. This distinction, however, has not been made in the Public Health 
Act of 1875, in which ‘‘ drain” is used for the pipe that receives the “ house pipes,” and 
“sewer ” for the main pipe of asystem. (See Bailey-Denton’s Sanitary Engineering, p. 16.) 

2 See Mr William Eassie’s Healthy Houses (2nd edition) for much information on this and 
kindred subjects. Some of the drawings given here have been copied from Mr Eassie’s work, 
by his permission; reference may also be made to Sanitary Arrangements for Dwellings, by 
the same author ; also to Our Homes, op. cit. 

’ Builders are always anxious to conceal tubes, and thus carry them inside the walls, or, in 
the case of hollow walls, between the two. The consequence is that any escape of air must 
be into the house. The leakage of a closet pipe carried down ina hollow wall often constantly 
contaminates the air of the house. It would be infinitely better to run the pipes at once 
through the wall to the outside. Few persons have any idea of the carelessness of plumbers’ 
work—of the bad junctions, and of the rapidity with which pipes get out of order, and decay. 
When a leaden pipe carrying water is led into a water-closet discharge pipe, it is frequently 
simply puttied in, and very soon the dried putty breaks away, and there is a complete leakage 
of gas into the house. Even if well joined, the lead pipe will, it is said, contract and expand, 
and thus openings are at last formed. Dr Fergus of Glasgow and Dr N. Carmichael have 
directed particular attention to this, in the case of lead closet pipes, which become easily 
perforated, and which have only a limited duration of wear. Considerable efforts are now 
being made (1886) by the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, in conjunction with others, to 
improve the general character of plumbers’ work, and to secure the registration of competent 
workmen. 


102 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


throughout its course. In such a case it ought to be of cast-iron, as already 
mentioned. In America this is made compulsory. It is hardly possible to 
insist too much on the importance of this rule of disconnection between 
house pipes and outside drains. Events have shown what a risk the richer 
classes in this country often run, who not only bring the sewers into the 
houses, but multiply water-closets, and often put them close to bed-rooms. 
The simple plan of disconnection, if properly done, would insure them against 
_,the otherwise certain danger of sewer air entering the house. Houses which 
have for years been a nuisance from persistent smells have been purified and 
become healthy by this means. 

Cleansing of Pipes and Drains.—Pipes are cleaned by flexible bamboo or 
joimted rods with screws and rollers to loosen sediment. The safest plan of 
cleaning drains is from man-holes, the drains being laid in straight lines 
from man-hole to man-hole. By this means obstructions are easily de- 
tected and removed. ‘The use of movable caps runs the risk of leakage, 
it being difficult to make the drain water-tight again after removing the 

cap, but with care such caps (see figs. 10 

(1 lana to 12) are useful with small pipes, where 

man-holes cannot be employed. Drain pipes 

ii ll | ii | | | ‘i should also be cleared out by regular flushing, 

= ——— carried out not less often than once a month. 

This is best done by means of an automatic 

apparatus such as Field’s flush tank (fig. 13). 

By regulating the flow of water it may 

be made to empty itself as often as neces- 
sary. 

Laying of Drains.—They should be laid very 

carefully on concrete in all soils. Sometimes, 

Fig. 13. Field's Flush Tank. in very loose soils, even piling for the depth of 
a foot must be used besides the concrete. When pipes are not laid on a good 
foundation, leakage is sure to occur sooner or later, and the final expense 


is far more than the first outlay would have been. The greatest care must , 


be taken in laying and joining the pipes, and in testing them afterwards, to 
make sure they are water-tight. Ina wet soil, a good plan is to have a 
as firm basis, or envert block, which is itself per- 
AS Ww Q forated to carry off subsoil water, and to put the 
Mi \ drain over this, as in the plan of Messrs Brooks 

— and Son of Huddersfield (see fig. 26). 
The “junction” of pipes is accomplished by 


DAD a 
mo f iN A special pipes, known by the names of single and 


double squares, curved or oblique junctions, ac- 


§ & cording to the angle at which one pipe runs into 
() ss) ® the other. The square junctions are undesirable, 
Fig. 14.—Junctions. ag blockage will always occur, and the oblique 


junctions should be insisted upon. When one pipe opens into another, a 
taper pipe is often used, the calibre being contracted before it enters the 


receiving pipe. All jointing must be in good cement, unless special patent | 


joints (such as Stanford’s) are used. Clay jointing is wholly inadmissible.? 


1 Wiekon Doulton ara Son have introduced a new form of joint; the material is bituminous 
in character, like Stanford’s, but instead of being fixed, the end of the spigot is slightly convex, 


whilst the surface of the faucet is slightly concave. We have thus a kind of ball-and-socket 
joint, which is water-tight, and yet permits considerable bending of the line of sewer without | 


breaking and leaking. Of course, this is better than a sewer that breaks with accidental 


sinking of the ground, but it would certainly form deposit if allowed to bend in that way | 


permanently. 


EFFICIENCY OF TRAPS. 103 


Fall of Drain Pipes.—1 in 30 for 4-inch drains, and 1 in 40 for 6-inch ; 
or, roughly, for small drains 1 inch per yard. 

House-T'vraps.—As the traps are usually the only safeguard against the warm 
house drawing sewer air into it, the utmost attention is necessary to insure their 
efficiency. There is almost an infinite diversity, but they can be conveniently 
divided into the s¢phon, the midfeather, the flap-trap, and the ball-trap. 

The s¢phon is a deeply-curved tube, the whole of the curve being always 
full of water. It is a useful trap, and efficient if the curve is deep enough, 
so that there is a certain depth of water (not less than ? inch) standing 
above the highest level of the water in the curve, and if the water is never 
sucked out of it, and if the pipe is not too small, so that the water is 
carried away, when it runs full, by the siphon action of the pipe beyond. 
If two siphons succeed each other in the same pipe, without an air opening 
between, the one will suck the other empty. 

The mzdfeather is in principle a siphon ; it is merely a round 
or square box, with the entry at one side at the top, and the 
discharge pipe at a corresponding height on the opposite side, 
and between them a partition reaching below the lower margin 
of both pipes. Water, of course, stands in the box or recep- 
tacle to the height of the discharge, and therefore the partition 
is always to some extent under water. ‘The extent should not 
be less than # of aninch. Heavy substances may subside and 
collect in the box, from which they can be removed from time 
to time ; but as ordinarily made it is not a good kind of trap, 
as it favours the collection of deposit, and is not self-cleaning. “c?';. Tee. a 
The common bell-trap, with its modifications, is a variety of movable screw 
the midfeather-trap, but it is so inefficient that it ought to be for cleaning. 
givenup. The best kind of sink trap is the simple siphon, with a screw cap 
by which to clean it (fig. 15). 

The flap is used only for some drains, and is merely a hinged valve which 
allows water to pass in one direction, but which is so hung as to close 
afterwards by its own weight. It is imtended to prevent the reflux of 
water into the secondary drains, aud is supposed to prevent tbe passage of 
sewer gas. But it is probably a very imperfect block. 

The ball-trap is used in some special cases only ; a ball is lifted upas the water 
rises, until it impinges on and closes an orifice. It is not a very desirable kind. 

However various may be the form and details of the water-trap, they can 
be referred to one or other of these patterns. 


Fig. 15.—Siphon 


Bad 


ee 
Fig. 16.—Common Mason’s or Fig. 17.—D Trap. 
Dip-Trap. Bad form of Trap. form of Trap. 

L ficiency of Traps.—Water should stand in a trap at least ? of an inch 
above openings, and it should pass through sufficiently often and with 
sufficient force to clear it. An essential condition of the efficiency of all 
traps is that they should be self-cleansing. Many traps are so constructed 
that no amount or velocity of water can clear them. Such traps are the 


104 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. - 


common mason’s or dip-trap (fig. 16), and the notorious D trap (fig. 17), both 
of which are simply cesspools, and could never be cleaned without being 
opened up. Such traps ought to be unhesitatingly condemned. Traps are © 
often ineffective :—I1st, From bad laying, which is a very common fault. 
2nd, From the water getting thoroughly impregnated with sewer eftluvia, 
so that there is escape of effluvia from the water on the house side. 3rd, 
From the water passing too seldom along the pipe, so that the trap is either 
dry or clogged. 4th, From the pipe being too small (2 or 3 inches only), 
and “running full,” which will sometimes suck the water out of the trap ; 
it usually occurs in this way, as frequently seen in sink traps; the pipe 
beyond the trap has perhaps a very great and sudden fall, and when it is 
full of water it acts like a siphon, and sucks all the water out of the trap; 
to avoid this, the pipe should be large enough to prevent its running full, 
or the trap should be of larger calibre than the rest of the pipe. This, 
however, will not always prevent it, as even 
6-inch pipes have sometimes sucked a siphon 
dry. The question has lately been very care- 
fully investigated, in America, by Messrs Phil- 
brick and Bowditch,! whose report has shown 
the danger of unsiphoning which small pipes are 
exposed to. The remedy appears to be to in- 
troduce an air-vent at the crown of the trap (see 


IX\\\ 


SNL i/4a BS ED. 


Zz fig. 18), and not to havetoo smallapipe, especially 

Z =) . . . 

Z when several pipes unite in one general waste. 
Zz The experiments also showed how unsiphoning | 


\ 


\\ 


Z might take place from the pressure of descend- 
ing water from upper floors, so that air might be 
forcibly driven into the house when upper closets 
or sinks were used. Mr Glenn Brown’s experi- 
ments show that with proper ventilation these 
dangers may be completely obviated.? 5th, 
Traps may perhaps be inefficient from the 
pressure of the sewer air, combined with the 

‘A 'B aspirating force ‘of the house displacing the 

Fig. 18.-Siphon Closet Basins water, and allowing the air uninterrupted com- 

with ventilating pipes. A, munication between the sewer and the house. 
ae epee oy = The extent of the last danger cannot be pre- 
Subsidiary Ventilating Pipe cisely stated. From a long series of observa- — 
(also passing up above eaves tions on the pressure of the air in the London 
with open top) to prevent suck- : : 
ing of the siphon. sewers, Dr Burdon-Sanderson ascertained that | 
in the main sewers, at any rate, the pressure 
of the sewer air, though greater than that of the atmosphere, could never | 
displace the water in a good trap. Ina long house drain which got clogged, 
and in which much development of gaseous effluvia occurred, there might 
possibly be for a time a much greater pressure, but whether it would be | 
enough to force the water back, with or without the house suction, has not | 
been yet experimentally determined. Dr Neil Carmichael has shown that | 
water siphon traps act efficiently so long as they are not emptied by any 
siphon action beyond. But the reasons already given show that we ought | 


\\ 


IC 


AVY, 


4 


1 The Sanitary Engineer, vol. vi. p. 264, 1882 (New York). ‘The Syphonage and | 
Ventilation of Traps,” Report to the National Board of Health, by E. W. Bowditch and E. 8. | 
Philbrick, C.E. 

2 Report on Experiments in Trap Siphonage at the Museum of Hygiene, U.S. Navy 
Department, Washington, D.C., by Glenn Brown, Architect. Washington, 1886. 


Hes 
TRAPS AND MAN-HOLES. 105 


not to place dependence solely on traps,! though they are useful adjuncts. 
In arranging the house pipes the sink and water-waste pipes must not be 
carried into the closet soil pipes, but must empty in the open air over a 
erating.2 See fig. 19. In the case of soil or water-closet pipes there must 
be also a complete air-disconnection between the pipe and drain by means 


Fig. 19.—Pipes open- Fig. 20.—Disconnecting and Venti- Fig. 21.—Sim- 
ing above Grating lating Drain Trap No. 2, Buchan’s ple Gully 
and Trap. Patent. Trap. 


of one of the contrivances now used by engineers. At the point where 
this disconnection is made there ought to be some easy means of getting at 
it for ispection. 

A simple good form is Buchan’s trap (fig. 20). A good form of man-hole 


DISCONNECTING MAN-HOLE. 
Perforated Iron Door. 


Fyrom House. 


iat ety 


US ee 


Section. 


Fig. 25.—Plan. Fig. 24.—Cross 


is Mr Rogers Field’s (see figs. 22 to 24).3 Professor Reynolds * has suggested 
an arrangement which seems fairly good and simple. 
A simple trap is sometimes made by inserting a pipe im the centre of a 


1 “ Honestly speaking, traps are dangerous articles to deal with; they should be treated 
merely as auxiliaries to a good drainage system.”—LHassie. 

2 For the sake of appearance, in some cases, it may be necessary to carry the pipe imme- 
diately wnder the grating, but care must be taken that nothing occurs to obstruct the free 
communication with the open air through the grating. 

3 From Mr Field’s Bye-Laws for Uppingham, with later improvements. I am indebted to 
Mr Field for several valuable suggestions.—[F. de C.] 

4 Sewer Gas, by Osborne Reynolds, M.A., Professor of Engineering at Owens College, 
Manchester, 2nd edition, 1872. 


106 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


siphon, and carrying this pipe to the surface, or higher if considered © 
desirable. It is, however, apt to be clogged with grease, faeces, and other | 


light matter rising into the pipe. There are various similar arrangements. 
The “Somerset Patent Trap,” designed by Mr Honeyman, and much used 


at Glasgow, is a midfeather-trap with an air-shaft on each side the partition; | 


on one side the shaft ventilates the pipe leading to the sewer, on the other 
allows fresh air to pass into the house pipe. This 
second shaft also allows the trap to be cleaned. 


late drains, but, independent of their small size, 
which often leads to blockage, they are often 


ventilation is most required. They are also 


The plan is objectionable, and ought to be 
abandoned. 

A good form of disconnecting trap for sink 
and slop waters is Dean’s, which has a movable 
bucket for removing deposits (fig. 25). 

In yards, gully traps of different kinds are 


Fig. 25.—Dean’s Gully Trap. : : ; 
A, Handle of FABIO GREE used, the action of which will be at once under- 


stood from the drawing (fig. 21). 


Examination of House Pipes and Traps. 


Pipes and traps are generally so covered in that they cannot be inspected ; 
but this is a bad arrangement. If possible, all cover and skirting boards 
concealing them should be removed, and the pipe and trap underground laid 


bare, and every joint and bend looked to. But supposing this cannot be | 


done, and that we must examine as well as we can in the dark, so to speak, 
the following is the best course :—Let water run down the pipe, and see if 


there is any smell; if so, the pipe is full of foul air and wants ventilation, | 
or the trap is bad. If a lighted candle, or a bit of smouldering brown | 


paper, is held over the entrance of the pipe or the grating over a trap, a 


reflux of air may be found with or without water being poured down. It | 
should be noticed, also, whether the water runs away at once, or if there is | 
any check. This is all that can be done inside the house ; but though the | 
pipe cannot be disturbed inside, it may be possible to open the earth out- | 
side, and to get down to and open a drain; in that case, pour water mixed | 


with lime down the house pipe; if the whitened water is long in appear- 


ance, and then runs in a dribble merely, the drains want flushing ; if it is | 
much coloured and mixed with dirt, it shows the pipes and trap are foul, | 


or there is a sinking or depression in some part of the drain where the 


water is lodging. The pipe should then be flushed by pouring down a} 
pailful of lime and water till the lime-water flows off nearly clear. The | 
drain should also be blocked, and water poured into the house pipe to see | 


if it be water-tight im every part. 

Yard-traps are often very foul, and if the trap-water be stirred, gas 
bubbles out, which is a sign of great foulness or that the traps are seldom 
used. 

Main Sewers. 


The outside house drain ends in a channel which is common to several | 
drains, and is of larger size. These larger sewers are made either of round | 
glazed earthenware pipes from 15 to 24 inches diameter, or of well-burnt | 


apt to deliver sewer gas into garret windows. — 


Rain-water pipes are sometimes used to venti- © 


full of rain, and cannot act at the time when — 


\ 
II 
| 
i 


ACCESS TO SEWERS—DISCHARGE FROM SEWERS. 107 


impervious brick moulded in proper curved shape and set in Portland 
cement, or stoneware bricks are partly used. The shape now almost 
universally given, except in the largest outfall part, is that of an egg with 
the small end downwards, so that the invert is the narrowest part. The 
object of this is to secure the maximum scouring effect with a small 
quantity of water. Engineers take the greatest care with these brick 
sewers ; they are most solidly put together in all parts, and are bedded on 
a firm uny ielding bed. Much discussion has taken place as to their size, 
but the question . is so complicated by the admission of rain water, that it 
is difficult to lay down any fixed rule, at least as regards the main pipes. 
All other sewers, however, should be small, and with such a fall as to be 
self-cleansing. 

Sewers should be laid in as straight lines as pos- 
sible, with a regular fall; tributary sewers should 
not enter at right angles, but obliquely ; and if the 
sewer curves, the radius of the curve should not 
be less than 10 times the cross sectional diameter 
of the sewer. Sometimes there is an arrangement “=z 
for subsoil drainage under a pipe drain, as in the Fig. 26.—Brooks’s combined 
plan pr oposed by Mr Brooks. “Drain and Subsoil Pipe. 

The fall for street drains is usually from 1 in 244 to 1 in 784, according 
to the size of the drain. The flow through a sewer should in no case be 
less than 2 feet per second, and 3 is better. As in the house drain, the fall 
should be equable without sudden changes of level.1 


Access to Sewers. 

It is of importance that, to all sewers capable of being entered by a man, 
there should be an easy mode of access. Man-holes opening above, or, 
what is better, at the side, should be provided at such frequent intervals, 
that the sewers can be entered easily and inspected at all points. The 
man-holes are sometimes provided with an iron shutter to prevent the 
sewer air passing into the street, or by the side of the man-hole there may 
be a ventilating chamber.’ 


Calculation of Discharge from Sewers.? 
Several formule have been given, of which the following is the most simple:— 


1 In some cases a fall is almost impossible to obtain, as, for instance, at Southport, in Lan- 
cashire, where the ground is nearly a dead level. The fall there is about 1 in 5000, and never 
exceeds 1 in 3000. In such a case the drain would have to be cleaned either by locks or valves 
(flushing-gates) to retain a portion of the contents for atime, and then set them free suddenly 
in order to flush the next section, or by special arrangements, such as Field’s flush-tank, or 
Shone’s ejector. 

2 Mr Baldwin Latham joins the sewers in man-holes, so that if one is blocked another may 
be used ; the outlet being at the lower level. 

% The "following table, ‘taken from Mr Wicksteed, will be found useful :— 


ae Sewers. 

Z elocity in feet Gradient 
DESTIN ISie per Hanae! requir ed. 
4 inches 2 ; 240 Iino 
oe elt At Th lO 9 De SLC 
hae Haniel awl a Pre O) ah ¥ 64 Smegy, 
QF mi ee Sm 556 Tea Nats 
TON ee bee ont Ol) tos, Ie 
We) 4 : : : 180 ID ee nds 
Sees 4 : 0 180 Il », 294 
oes by ee Set 80 ape tana45 
24: y, ; ; : 180 il 3, 392 
30) 18 OPS Pte Pec) Ly 40 
SOME ; 3 ‘ 180 1 oS 
48 180 1 Oe 


“ 


108 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


V=905% (,/DE Ze): 

V = velocity in feet per minute. 
D =hydraulic mean depth. 

F = fall in feet per mile. 


Then, if A=section area of current of fluid, VA=discharge in cubic feet — 


per minute. 


To use this formula, the hydraulic mean depth when the sewage is | 
flowing, and the amount of fall in feet per mile, must be first ascertained. | 


The hydraulic mean depth is always ith the diameter in circular pipes;! in 
pipes other than circular it is the section area of current of fluid divided 
by the wetted perimeter. The wetted perimeter is that part of the 


circumference of the pipe wetted by the fluid. The fall in feet per mile is | 


easily obtained, as the fall in 50 or 100 or 200 feet can be measured, and 
the fall per mile calculated (5280 feet = 1 mile).? 


Movement of Air in the Sewers, and Ventilation. 


It seems certain that no brick sewer can be made air-tight; for on 
account of the numerous openings into houses, or from leakage through 
brickwork, or exit through gratings, man-holes, and ventilating shafts, the 


air of the tubes is in constant connection with the external air. There is | 
generally, it is believed, a current of air with the stream of water, if it be | 
rapid. The tension of air in main sewers is seldom very different from | 
that of the atmosphere, or if there be much difference equilibrium is | 


quickly restored. In twenty-three observations on the air of a Liverpool 


sewer, it was found by Drs Parkes and Burdon-Sanderson® that in fifteen | 
cases the tension was less in the sewer than in the atmosphere outside | 
(z.e., the outside air had a tendency to pass in), and in eight cases the — 
reverse; but on the average of the whole there was a slight indraught into | 
the sewer. In the London sewers, on the other hand, Sanderson noticed an | 


excess of pressure in the sewers. 


Mr Latham (ZLectwres on Sanitary Engineering, delivered to the Royal Engineers at Chatham) 
gives a table, of which the following is an extract :— 


Tomei in Rate of inclination for velocity per second. 
4 2 feet. 3 feet. 4 feet. 5 feet. 6 feet. 
4 1:194 1:92 1:53 1:54 1:24 
6 292 137 80 a 36 
8 389 183 106 69 48 
9 437 206 119 a7 54 
10 486 229 133 86 60 
12 583 275 159 103 72 


In this table the velocity in feet multiplied by the inclination equals the length of the 
sewer to which the calculation applies. For example, if the velocity is 6 feet per second in a 
pipe whose diameter is 4 inches, then 6 x 24=144 feet is the length of the sewer. 

1 This may be shown thus : Let r=the radius of section-:: then the perimeter=72r, and the 


: : . ‘ Tr? 
section of fluid (or area of circle)=a7r?, then —- 


pues F , 
apo? wes 4 the radius or + the diameter. 


2 An example may illustrate the formula: Let the sewer be 12 inches in diameter and | 
circular in shape; then the hydraulic mean depth is 3 inches or 0°25 of a foot; let the fall — 


in feet per mile be 73: then we have 55 x »/25 x 146=333 feet per minute velocity ; then the 
sectional area of the pipe running full = 0°7854 of a square foot, and 0°7854 x 333=261 
cubic feet discharged per minute. 

® Report on the Sanitary Condition of Liverpool, 1870, p. 27. : 


VENTILATION OF SEWERS. 109 


If at any time there is a very rapid flow of water into a sewer, as in 
heayy rains, the air in the sewer must be displaced with great force, and 
possibly may force weak traps; but the pressure of air in the sewers is not 
appreciably affected by the rise of the tide in the case of seaboard towns.! 
The tide rises slowly, and the air is displaced so equably and gradually 
through the numerous apertures, that no movement can be detected. It is 
not possible, therefore, that it can force water-traps in good order, when 
there are sufficient ventilating apertures. 

On the contrary, the blowing off of steam, or the discharge of air from 
an air-pump (as in some trade operations), greatly heightens the pressure, 
and might drive air into houses. So also the wind blowing on the mouth 
of an open sewer must force the air back with great force. 

It is, therefore, important to protect the outfall mouth of the sewer 
against wind by means of a flap, and to prohibit steam or air being forced 
into sewers. 

To how great an extent it is the openings into houses which thus reduce 
the tension of the air in main sewers is difficult to say, but there can be 
little doubt that a large effect is produced by houses which thus act as 
ventilating shafts. 

When a sewer ends in a cul-de-sac at a high level, sewer gas will rise and 
press with some force; at least in one or two cases, the opening of such a 
cul-de-sac has been followed by so strong a rush of air as to show that there 
had been considerable tension. It is also highly probable, from the way in 
which houses standing at the more elevated parts of sewers, and communi- 
cating with them, are annoyed by the constant entrance of sewer air, 
while houses lower down escape, that some of the gases may rise to the 
higher levels. 

That no sewer is air-tight is certain, but the openings through which the 
air escapes are often those we should least desire. It is therefore 
absolutely necessary to provide means of exit of foul and entrance of fresh 
air, and not to rely on accidental openings. The air of the sewer should 
be placed in the most constant connection with the external air, by making 
openings at every point where they can be put with safety. In London 
there are numerous gratings which open directly into the streets, and this 
plan, simple and apparently rude as it is, can be adopted with advantage 
whenever the streets are not too narrow. But in narrow streets the sewer 
eratings often become so offensive that the inhabitants stop them up. In 
such cases there must be ventilating shafts of as large a diameter as can 
be afforded, running up sufficiently high to safely discharge the sewer air.” 
In some of these cases it may be possible to connect the sewers with 
factory chimneys.? The sewer should never be connected with the chimneys 
of dwelling-houses. 

In making openings in sewers it seems useless to follow any regular plan. 
The movement of the sewer air is too irregular to allow us to suppose it can 
ever be got to move in a single direction, though probably the most usual 
course of the air current is with the stream of water, if this be rapid. The 


1 Vide same Report, p. 21, for the case of Liverpool. Dr Corfield’s observation at Scar- 
borough was confirmatory. 

2 In Liverpool there were small shafts with Archimedean screws at the top. From the 
observations of Sanderson and Parkes, it appears that these screws did act, but not to such an 
extent as to warrant the expense. 

3 It seems inadvisable to erect chimneys and use fires with an idea of ventilating the sewers 
on a general plan; the air would simply be drawn with great force through the nearest open- 
pie. But local ventilation by a factory chimney, when gratings cannot be used, is a different 
thing. 


110 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


openings should be placed wherever it can conveniently be done without | 


creating a nuisance. Some of these openings will be inlets, others outlets, 


but in any case dilution of the sewage effluvia is sure to be obtained. Sir) 


R. Rawlinson considers that every main sewer should have one ventilator 


every 100 yards, or 18 to a mile, and this should be a large effective | 


opening.! 


But there may be cases when special appliances must be used. For ex-_ 


ample, in what are called ‘sewers of deposit,” as when the outflow of the 
sewer water is checked for several hours daily by the tide or other causes, 
it may be necessary to provide special shafts, and the indication for this 
will be the evidence of constant escape of sewer air at particular points. 


The use of charcoal trays has not answered the expectations that were | 


formed of them. 
Inspection of Sewers. 


The inspection of sewers is in many towns a matter of great difficulty, on 
account of the means of access being insufficient, and also because the length 


of the sewers is so great. Still inspection is a necessity, especially in the | 


old flat sewers, and should be systematically carried out, and a record kept 


of the depth of water, the amount of deposit, and of sewer-slime on the side | 


or roof. 

Choking of and Deposits in Sewers—Causes.—Original bad construction ; 
too little fall; sharp curves; sinking of floor; want of water; check of flow 
by tides, so that the heavy parts subside. 


Well-made sewers with a good supply of water are sometimes self- | 
cleansing, and quite free from deposit, but this is, unfortunately, not always | 


the case. 


Even in so-called self-cleansing sewers, it has been noticed by Sir R.— 
Rawlinson that the changing level of the water in the sewers leaves a deposit 
on the sides, which, being alternately wet and dry, soon putrefies. In foul 
sewers a quantity of slimy matter collects on the crown of the sewers ; it is | 


sometimes 2 to 4 inches in thickness, and is highly offensive. When 


obtained from a Liverpool sewer by Dr Parkes and Burdon-Sanderson, it — 
was found alkaline from ammonia and containing nitrates.? On microscopic | 


examination, this Liverpool sewer-slime contained an immense amount of 
fungoid growth and Bacteria, as well as some Conferve. There were also 
Acari and remains of other animals and ova. 

When deposits occur, they are either removed by the sewer-men or they 
are carried away by flushing of water. 

Flushing of Sewers.—This is sometimes done by simply carrying a hose 
from the nearest hydrant into the sewer, or reservoirs are provided at 
certain points which are suddenly emptied. The sewer water itself is also 
used for flushing, being dammed up at one point by a flushing gate, and 
when a sufficient quantity has collected the gate is opened.? An automatic 
system is however preferable, such as is carried out by Field’s annular 
siphon, before mentioned, or by Shone’s ejector. 

Almost all engineers attach great importance to regular flushing, and 


1 Others have recommended 1 in 50 yards. 

2 Report on the Sanitary State of Liverpool, by Drs Parkes and Burdon-Sanderson, 1871. 
The amount of free ammonia was 25 parts per 100,000; the albuminoid ammonia was 4°62 
per 100,000, and the nitric acid 203°5 per 100,000. Photographs are given of the microscopic 
appearances of the slime in this report. 

3 Baldwin Latham points out that there is a point of flow in all sewers when they discharge 
more than when running full. A good flushing power may be obtained at considerably less 
than the full discharge. Tables are given in his Sanitary Engineering. 


DISPOSAL OF THE SEWER WATER. IIL 


almost the only advantage of allowing the rain to enter the sewers is the 
scouring effect of a heavy rainfall which is thus obtained. This, however, 
is so irregular that it is but a doubtful benefit. 


DISPOSAL OF THE SEWER WATER. 


The great engineering skill now available in all civilised countries can 
ensure in the case of any new works that the construction of sewers shall 
be perfect. . If an engineer can obtain good materials, good workmen, and 
a proper supply of water, there is no doubt that sewers can be so solidly 
constructed and so well ventilated that the danger of deposits in the sewers, 
or of sewer air entering and carrying disease into houses, is removed. 

But the difhiculty of the plan of removing excreta by water really com- 
mences at the outfall. How is the sewer water to be disposed of ? 

This difficulty is felt in the case of the foul water flowing from houses 
and factories without admixture of excreta almost as much as in sewer 
water with excreta. The exclusion of excreta from sewers, as far as it can 
be done, would not solve the problem—would, indeed, hardly lessen its 
difficulty. In seaboard towns the water may flow into the sea, but in’ 
inland towns it cannot be discharged into rivers, being now prohibited by 
law. Independent of the contamination of the drinking water, the sewer 
water often kills fish, creates a nuisance which is actionable, and in some 
cases silts up the bed of the stream. It requires in some way to be purified 
before discharge. At the present moment the disposal of the sewer water 
is the sanitary problem of the day, and it is impossible to be certain which 
of the many plans may be finally adopted. It will be convenient to briefly 
describe these plans. 


1. Storage in Tank, with Overflow. 


The sewer water runs into a cemented tank with an overflow-pipe, 
which sometimes leads into a second tank similarly arranged. The solids 
subside, and are removed from time to time; the liquid is allowed to run 
away. Instead of letting the liquid run into a ditch or stream, it has been 
suggested to take it in drain pipes, to 1 foot under ground, and so let it 
escape in this way into the subsoil, where it will be readily absorbed by the 
roots of grasses. The fat, grease, and coarser solids may be intercepted by 
a strainer, and daily removed and mixed with earth. The liquid portions 
may be discharged periodically by means of the automatic flush-tank.t In 
a light soil this could no doubt be readily done; and, if the drain pipes are 
well laid, a considerable extent of grass land could be supplied by this sub- 
terranean irrigation. The tank plan is, however, only adapted for a small 
scale, such as a single house or small village, and there should be ventila- 
tion between the tank and the house in all cases. This plan is applicable 
to the disposal of slop waters in villages, even when the excreta are dealt 
with by dry methods. 


2. Discharge at once into Running Water. 


All new works of this description are now prohibited, and the plan will 
probably ultimately cease in this country.” 


1 See Mr Rogers Field’s evidence, Annual Conference on the Progress of Public Health at 
the Society of Arts, 1880. 

2 When the sewer water passes into a river it undergoes considerable purification by sub- 
sidence, by the influence of water plants, and in a lesser degree by oxidation. Although 
some oxidation of nitrogenous organic matters into nitrous and nitric acids and ammonia 


112 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. ; 


3. Discharge ito the Sea. 


The outlet pipe must be carried to low water, and, if possible, should be | 
always under water. A tide flap opening outwards is usually provided. If’ 
not under water constantly, special care must be taken to prevent the wind | 
blowing up the sewers. The tide will fill the outfall sewers (which are 
generally made large) to the level of high water, and to that extent will! 
check the discharge, and in the sewers filled with the mixed sea-water | 
and sewage there will be deposit. To remove this special attention is _ 
necessary. | 

If the sewage cannot be got well out to sea, and if it issues in narrow’ 
channels, it may cause a nuisance, and may require to be purified before | 
discharge. In the Rivers Pollutions Act (1876) power is given to prohibit | 
discharge into the sea or tidal waters under certain circumstances.t 


4. Precipitation. 


Another plan is not to pour the whole sewage into rivers, but to precipi- | 
tate the solid part, or the greater portion of it, and then to allow the liquid | 
to pass into the stream or over the land. } 

This is sometimes done by simple subsidence, the sewage being received | 
into settling reservoirs or trenches, with strainers to arrest the flow to some | 
extent. When the solid matter has collected to a certain amount, the) 
sewage is turned into another reservoir, and the thick part, being mixed 
with coal refuse or street sweepings, is sold as manure. \ 

The thin water which runs off must be almost as dangerous as the sewage | 
itself when poured into streams, and consequently the prohibition to dis- | 
charge sewer water extends to it also. | 

In order to produce greater purification, the sewage in the subsiding | 
tanks is now usually mixed with some chemical agents which may precipitate | 
the suspended matters. 


must take place, it appears from Frankland’s experiments? that in the river Irwell, which 
receives the sewage of Manchester, after a run of 11 miles, and falling over six weirs, there | 
is no formation of nitrites and nitrates, and there is even an increase in the organic nitro- | 
gen (?), though the suspended matters are less (from 2°8 to 1°44 parts per 10,000) than at | 
first. Average London sewage diluted with 9 parts of water and siphoned from one vessel 
into another so as to represent a flow of 96 and 192 miles, gave a percentage reduction in the 
organic nitrogen of 28-4 and 33°3 respectively. The oxidation of sewage appears, then, from 
these experiments, to take place slowly. These experiments were, however, not conclusive. | 
Odling does not think a long flow necessary for sewage oxidation. On this subject see the | 
Report of the Metropolitan Sewage Discharge Commission, evidence of Odling, Frankland, 
Tidy, Abel, &c. Dr Letheby considers that oxidation takes place more rapidly, and that if | 
sewage is mixed with 20 times its bulk of water, and flows for 9 miles, it will be perfectly | 
oxidised.’ Of course it is clear that ova, and solid parts of the body, like epithelium, might | 
be totally unchanged for long periods,4 and we may conclude that oxidation of sewage in 
running water cannot be depended on for perfect safety. i 
1 The word “stream” (into which sewage is not to be passed) is defined by section 20 of | 
the Act, thus :—‘‘ Stream includes the sea to such extent and tidal waters to such point as 
may, after local inquiry and on sanitary grounds, be determined by the Local Government | 
Board, by order published in the Zondon Gazette. Save as aforesaid, it includes rivers, | 
streams, canals, lakes, watercourses, other than watercourses, at the passing of this Act, 
mainly used as sewers, and emptying directly into the sea or tidal waters, which have not 
been determined to be streams within the meaning of this Act by such order as aforesaid.” i 
\ 

| 

| 


_2 Reports of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Pollution of Rivers, 1870, vols. i. ii. and 
iii. 
3 Report of East London Water Bill Committee (1867), p. 430, questions 732-4. 
4 As formerly mentioned, Dr Parkes found unchanged epithelium in unfiltered Thames water after | 
a tvansit in a barrel of 80 miles, and after keeping for five months. It was transparent and worn, but 
quite recognisable. 


SEWAGE PRECIPITANTS AND DEODORANTS. TELS: 


Numerous substances have been employed as precipitants.! 

Lime Salts.—Quicklime (proportion 8 to 12 grains per gallon), or 1 tb of 
lime for 600 gallons of sewage (nearly) ; chloride of lime, which is added to 
quicklime in the proportion of about ;4th part of chloride to 1 of lime; 
calcic phosphate dissolved in sulphuric acid, or a mixture of mono- and di- 
ealcic phosphate with a little lime (Whitthread’s patent),? are said to be 
good precipitants. Chloride of calcium has also been recommended. 

Aluminous Substances. —Aluminous earth mixed with sulphuric acid (Bird’s 
process) ; impure sulphate of aluminum (Anderson’s and Lenk’s processes) ; 
refuse of alum-works, either alone or mixed with lime or charcoal ; clay 
mixed with lime (Scott’s cement process) ; natural phosphate of aluminum 
dissolved by sulphuric acid and mixed with lime. In all these cases the 
amount of the substance added is from 50 to 80 grains per gallon of sewer 
water. 

Magnesian salts mixed with lime in the form of superphosphates (Blyth) ; 
impure chloride of magnesium. 

Black-ash waste, the residue from the manufacture of washing soda (sodium 
carbonate), has been tried, with the addition of a little lime (Hanson’s patent).* 
It is used in Aldershot (town) and in other places. 

Carbon in the shape of vegetable charcoal ; peat; sea-weed charcoal ; 
carbonised tan ; lignite; Boghead coke; so-called porous carbon. 

Iron in the shape of sulphate ; perchloride (Ellerman’s and Dale’s liquid) ; 
the sulphate is sometimes mixed with lime and coal-dust. [von is also some- 
times added to lime. 

Manganese.—Condy’s fluid ; manganate of soda. 

Zinc sulphate and chloride. 

The deposit obtained from these processes is sometimes collected 
and dried on a hot floor, a stream of hot air being allowed also to 
pass over it. There is some little difficulty in drying it, but this is now 
being overcome. The sludge, after precipitation with lime, in Birming- 
ham is spread upon the ground and dug in when partially dry. One acre 
a week is used, upon which 500 tons of sludge a day are put. It is then 
cropped for three years before being again used. At Leyton, Wimbledon, 
and elsewhere the sludge, which contains 90 per cent. of water, is pressed in 
patent presses until it contains only 45 per cent of moisture. It is then in 
the form of solid dry-looking cakes, which may be taken for laying on land, 
making cement, &c. At Southampton porous carbon is used to the extent 
of 4 grains a gallon, the effluent is expelled into the river by a Shone’s ejector, 
and the sludge by a similar process is projected to the corporation works, 
where it is mixed with road sweepings and ashes. This mixture finds 
a sale at 2s. 6d. a ton among the farmers in the neighbourhood. In general 
the deposit appears to possess small agricultural value,°® although it is 


1 An interesting account of the precipitating process is given in a book called The 
Sewage Question, the author of which has had the advantage of Dr Letheby’s notes and 
analyses. A list of no less than 57 processes or proposals is given at page 38, from which it 
appears that the first precipitant was proposed by Deboissieu so long ago as 1762, and was 
a mixture of acetate of lead and proto-sulphate of iron. 

2 This patent was found to give good results in removing suspended matters and organic 
nitrogen, and the Committee of the British Association considered the process deserved 
“ further investigation.” It appears, however, to have come at present to a standstill. 

8 See Second Report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, page 96. 

4 See The Engineer. 

> This never exceeds one-third of the theoretical or chemical value. Thus the product by 
Anderson’s process at Coventry is estimated theoretically at 16s. 94d. per ton; the practical 
value is only 5s. 6d. to 8s. 4d. See Dr Voelcker’s Reports, in the Report of a Committee on 
Town Sewage (1875), p. lx. et seq. 


H 


114 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 
occasionally saleable. The profit is never large, and in some instances there _ 
has been even a loss. The clear water from all those processes contains | 
ammonia and oxidisable organic matter, as well as phosphoric acid (in most 
cases), and it would thus appear that a considerable part of the substances | 
which give fertilising power to sewage remains in the effluent water. 

The metallic pr ecipitants of various kinds (iron, zine, manganese) are | 
expensive and the least useful. Blyth’s magnesian process was unfavour- 
ably reported on by Mr Way. | 

When the sewer water is cleared by any of these plans, is it fit to be dis-| 
charged into streams? In the opinion of some authorities, if the precipitate 
is a good one it may be so, and it appears certain that in many cases it is” 
chemically a tolerably pure water, and it will no longer silt up the bed or 
cause a nuisance. But it still contains in all cases some organic matter, as_ 
well as ammonia, potash, and phosphoric acid.! It has, therefore, fertilising — 
powers certainly, and possibly it has also injurious powers. No proof of this 
has been given, but also no disproof at present, and when we consider how | 
small the agencies of the specific diseases probably are, and how likely it is” 
that they remain suspended, we do not seem to be in a position to expect’ 
that the water, after the subsidence of the deposit, will be safe to drink.| 
We must adopt here the plan which is the safest for the community ; and 
the effluent water should therefore be used for irrigation, or be filtered before. 
discharge. The clear fluid is well adapted for market gardens ; the plants | 
grown as vegetables for the table are sometimes inj jured by irrigation with 
unpurified effluent water. 

In arranging any processes for precipitation everything must be as sinnplel 
as possible; there is no margin for expenditure or complicated arrange- 
ments. 

The plan recommended for the treatment of the Thames sewage, as 
given by the Royal Commissioners on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, was 
to adopt some method of precipitation at the outfalls at Barking and Cross- 
ness, to compress the sludge into cakes, and as a temporary measure let 
the effluent pass into the Thames. This would get rid of the solids, un- 
doubtedly the greatest source of nuisance. The cakes might be burnt, 
laid on low-lying land, or taken out to sea and sunk there. Ultimately the’ 
effluent ought to be pumped up to appropriate land, and purified by inter- 
mittent downward filtr ation, or by irrigation, if that should prove feasible. 


Sewage Cement. 


Instead of using the dried deposit as manure, General Scott proposed to 
make cement, and for this purpose added lime and clay to the sewer water.. 
The deposit contains so much combustible matter that it requires less 
coal to burn it than would otherwise be the case. General Scott also 
proposed to use the burnt material as manure to lime the land in some 
cases. 


1 Many analyses are given in the First and Second Reports of the Rivers Pollution Com- 
missioners, from which it appears that on an average the chemical processes remove 89°8 per 
cent. of the suspended matters, but only 36°6 per cent. of the organic nitrogen dissolved in the 
liquid. Mr Crookes’ analyses show that the A BC process, when well carried out, removes all 
the phosphoricacid. Voelcker’s analysis of the effluent water treated by the acid phosphate 
of aluminum shows that it contains more ammonia than the original sewer water, less organi¢ 
nitr ogen by one-half, and less phosphoric acid ; it is pure enough | to be discharged into streams. 

2 On the subject of precipitation processes much information will be found in th 
coun Report of the Roy. Com. on Metr. Sewage Discharge, op. cit. 


FILTRATION OF SEWAGE, Bl 5 


5. Filtration through Earth, Charcoal, &c. 


By filtration through earth is meant the bringing of sewer water upon a 
comparatively small area of porous soil, which is broken up and comminuted 
above, and is deeply underdrained, so that the sewer water may pass 
through the soil and issue by the drains. Mr Dyke, in explaining the 
system employed at Merthyr-Tydvil! by Mr Bailey-Denton, lays down the 
following conditions :—There should be—l1s¢, a porous soil ; 2nd, an effluent 
drain, not less that 6 feet from the surface ; 37d, proper fall of land to allow 
the sewage to spread over the whole land; and, 4th, division of filtering 
area into four parts, each part to receive sewage for six hours, and to have 
an interval of eighteen hours. He considers that an acre of land would 
take 100,000 gallons per day, equal to the sewage of 3300 people. At 
Merthyr-Tydvil 20 acres of land were divided into beds, which sloped 
towards the effluent drain by a fall of 1 in 150. The surface was ploughed 
in ridges, on which vegetables were sown; the sewage (strained) passed 
from a carrier along the raised margin of each bed into the furrows. The 
effluent water was stated to be pure enough to be used for drink. Since 
1872 these filter-beds, as well as 230 acres of other portions of the land, 
have been used as Ordinary irrigation ground. The effluent water remains 
bright and pure.? Another case of marked success with intermittent filtra- 
tion is that of Kendal. The best soil for filtration appears to be a loose 
marl, containing hydrated iron oxide and alumina, but sand and even chalk 
produce excellent results. But in order that filtration shall be successful 
it is necessary that the amount of filtermg material shall be large ; it must 
not be less than 1 cubic yard for 8 gallons of sewage in twenty-four hours,? 
and in the case of some soils must be more. If the drains are 6 feet below 
the surface, then an acre will contain 9680 cubic yards of filtermg material, 
and at 8 gallons per yard an acre would suffice for 77,440 gallons, or the 
sewage of 2870 people at 30 gallons a head. These views are, however, 
subject to some modification, since it has been more recently shown that all 
the oxidation is carried out in the first two, or at the outside, three feet of 
depth. It would, therefore, seem as if we could greatly increase the amount 
of sewage in proportion to the soil. Beds 3 feet in depth would probably 
be found sufficient. Crops may be grown on the land, and indeed it is 
desirable that they should be. 

When the filters are too small they fail to do much good ; and Letheby 
has given analyses which prove that small filters may be nearly useless. 
It appears undesirable to use charcoal filters on this account, and all filtra- 
tion through charcoal has been a failure. Spongy vron has been lately very 
strongly recommended. 

Filtration may be downwards or upwards, but the former kind is much 
more efficacious. Upward filtration may be said to be now abandoned. 


1 On the Downward Intermittent Filtration of Sewage at Merthyr-Tydvil, by T. J. Dyke, 
F.R.C.S. Eng. 

2 Report on Town Sewage. 

® The Rivers Pollution Commissioners give a smaller amount, viz., 55 gallons per cubic yard; 


' but some of their experiments seem to show that we must increase the amount. For example, 


the soil at Beddington was found by them to have a remarkable power of nitrification up to the 
extent of 7°6 gallons per cubic yard in twenty-four hours. But when this rate was doubled 
hitrification ceased, and the soil became clogged. The best soil experimented on (Dursley 
soil), containing 43 of silica and 18 of oxide of iron, purified 9°9 gallons in twenty-four hours 
per cubic yard. But as few soils would be so good, the limit of 8 gallons is selected in the 
text. 


116 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


Condition of the Effluent Water.—When 5°6 gallons of sewage were 
filtered in twenty-four hours through a cubic yard of earth, it was found by 
the Rivers Pollution Commissioners that the organic carbon was reduced 
from 4:386 parts to 0-754, and the organic nitrogen from 2°484 parts 
to 0°108 parts in 100,000. The whole of the sediment was removed. 
Nitrates and nitrites, which did not exist before filtration, were found 
afterwards, showing oxidation. 


> 


6. Irrigation. 


By irrigation is meant the passage of sewer water over and through the 
soil, with the view of bringing it as speedily as possible under the influence 
of growing plants. For this purpose it is desirable that the sewer water 
should be brought to the land in as fresh a state as possible. In some 
cases, as at Carlisle, carbolic acid in small quantities has been added to 
the sewage in its flow for the purpose of preventing decomposition, and the 
plan appears to be effectual. The sewer water is usually warmer than the 
air at all times, and will often cause growth, even in winter. 

The effect on growing plants, but especially on Italian rye-grass, is very 
ereat; immense crops are obtained, although occasionally the grass is rank 
and rather watery. For cereals and roots it is also well adapted at certain 
periods of growth, as well as for market vegetables when the viscid parts 
are separated. When the sewer water permeates through the soil there 
occur—lst, a mechanical arrest of suspended matters; 2nd, an oxidation 
producing nitrification, both of which results depend on the porosity and 
physical attraction of the soil; and, 3rd, chemical interchanges. The last 
action is important in agriculture, and has been examined by Bischof, 
Liebig, Way,” Henneberg, Warrington,’ and others. Hydrated ferric oxide 
and alumina absorb phosphoric acid from its salts, and a highly basic com- 
pound of the acid and metallic oxide is formed. They act more powerfully 
than the silicates in this way. The hydrated double silicates absorb bases. 
Silicates of aluminum and calcium absorb ammonia and potassium from all 
the salts of those bases, and a new hydrated double silicate is formed, in 
which calcium is more or less perfectly replaced by potassium or ammonium. 
Humus also forms insoluble compounds with these bases. Absorption of | 
potash or ammonia is usually attended with separation of lime, which then 
takes carbonic acid. 

The soil must be properly prepared for sewage irrigation ; either a gentle 
slope, or a ridge with a gentle slope on each side of about 30 feet wide,* | 
with a conduit at the summit, or flat basins surrounded by ridges, are the 
usual plans. The sewer water is allowed to trickle down the slope at the 
rate of about 8 feet per hour, or is let at once into the flat basin. The 
water passes through the soil, and should be carried off by drains from 5 to — 
6 feet deep, and thence into the nearest water-course. 

The sewer water should reach the ground in as fresh a state as possible ; 


1 On the application of sewage to land many works have been published. Dr Corfield’s 
work on the Tveatment and Utilisation of Sewage, 2nd edition, and the Report of the Committee 
of the British Association, 1872, give the best summary of the subject up to the date of publica- | 
tion. Also the Report of the Committee on Town Sewage, 1876. A third edition of Dr 
Corfield’s work, in collaboration with Dr Louis Parkes, has since appeared (1887). 

2 Journal of Royal Agricultural Society, vol. xi. | 

3 Chemical News, May 1870. Warrington’s paper gives a good resumé of the subject, with | 
wany original experiments, and can be consulted for full details. 

‘ This was the arrangement of Mr Hope’s farm at Romford. 


CONDITION OF THE EFFLUENT WATER AFTER IRRIGATION. ‘117 


it is usually run through coarse strainers to arrest any large substances 
which find their way into the sewers, and to keep back the grosser parts 
which form a scum over the land ; it is then received into tanks, whence it 
is carried to the land by gravitation, or is pumped up. The “carriers” of 
the sewer water are either simple trenches in the ground, or brick culverts, 
or concreted channels, and by means of simple dams and gates the water is 
directed into one or other channel as may be required. Everything is now 
made as simple and inexpensive as possible—underground channels and jets, 
hydrants, hose and jets, are too expensive, and overweight the plan with 
unnecessary outlay. 

The amount of land required is, on an average, 1 acre to 100 persons ; 
this is equal to a square of 70 yards to the side, and will take 2000 gallons 
in twenty-four hours. Later experience seems to show that with proper 
management less land is required. Dr A. Carpenter, from experience at 
Croydon, believes that an acre might suffice for 300 persons and even 
more. 

The sewer water is applied intermittently when the plants are growing ; 
but im winter it is sometimes used constantly, so as to store up nourishment 
in the soil for the plant-growth in the spring.! 

The amount of sewer water which can be applied will vary with the kind 
of ground, the amount of rain, and the season of the year. In the year 
ending 1871, it appears that, on the Lodge farm at Barking, 622,324 tons 
of sewage were applied to 163 acres (nearly), or about 3800 tons per acre. 
In the sixteen months ending December 1872, the average quantity was 
3342 tons per acre annually. On the most porous part of the farm as much 
as 960 tons have been applied in twelve hours.” 


Condition of the Effluent Water after Irrigation. 


When the sewer water passes over and not through the soil, it is often 
impure, and even suspended matters of comparatively large size (such as 
epithelium) have been found in the water of the stream into which it flows. 
It requires, therefore, that care shall be taken in every sewage farm that 
the water shall not escape too soon. Dr Letheby,? whose authority on such 
a question no one can doubt, rated the cleansing power of soil much lower 
than the Rivers Pollution Commissioners or the Committee of the British 
Association, and his analyses make it at any rate quite certain that the 
proper purification of the sewer water demands very careful preparation of 
the ground in the first instance, and constant care afterwards. But the 
chemical evidence of the good effect of irrigation is too strong to admit a 


1 See an interesting paper on the ‘“‘ Utilisation of the Sewage of Paris,” by Sandford Moore, 
B.A., Assist.-Surgeon, 4th Dragoon Guards (now Brigade Surgeon, retired) (Medical Times 
and Gazette, June 1870. In the summer “arrosage” is practised: the land is ploughed in 
furrows and ridges, and the water is allowed to flow into the furrows, and not allowed to 
wet the vegetables which are planted on the ridges. In winter “‘colmatage” is had re- 
course to ; the ridges are levelled, and the entire surface is submerged under sewage water. 
The sewers of Paris receive only a small part of the solid excreta (though most of the urine), 
but the fluid is highly fertilising. Precipitation with alum was also formerly had recourse 
to in Paris, but has now been abandoned. bez! 

For detailed information, see the Report of the Prefecture of the Seine, Sur / Assainisse- 
ment de la Seine. An abstract is given in the Annales des Ponts et Cha USssees, and is trans- 
lated by R. Manning, M.I.C.E. (E. and F. N. Spon), 1876. Similar works are in process at 
Berlin, and are described in the same paper. At Brussels the Senne, during its passage th rough 
the city, is no longer used as the main sewer, and although the sewage is still poured into it 
at a lower poiut, it will ultimately be disposed of by irrigation. 

2 Mr Morgan’s Report, quoted in Food, Air, and Water, Dee. 1871. 

* The Sewage Question, 1872, pp. 3-27. 


118 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


doubt to exist, as may be seen from the table given by the Rivers Pollution 
Commissioners.! 

The results are much better than those of any chemical precipitant, 
although they are not quite so good as the downward filtration plan.” 


Do Sewage Irrigation Farms affect the Public Health or Public Comfort ? 


That sewage farms, if too near to houses and if not carefully conducted, 
"may give off disagreeable effluvia is certain; but it is also clear that in 
some farms this is very trifling, and that when the sewer water gets on the 
land it soon ceases. It is denied by some persons that more nuisance is 
excited than by any other mode of using manure. As regards health, it 
has been alleged these farms may—1sé, give off effluvia which may produce 
enteric fever, or dysentery, or some allied affection; or, 2nd, aid in the 
spread of entozozc diseases ; or, 3rd, make ground swampy and marshy, and 
may also poison wells, and thus affect health. 

The evidence of Edinburgh, Croydon,’ Aldershot, Rugby, Worthing, 
Romford, the Sussex Lunatic Asylum,‘ is very strong against any influence 
in the production of enteric fever by sewage farms’ effluvia. On the other 
hand, Dr Clouston’s record of the outbreak of dysentery in the Cumberland 
Asylum is counter-evidence of weight, and so is one of the cases noted by 
Letheby,° of enteric fever outbreak at Copley, when a meadow was irrigated 
with the brook water containing the sewage of Halifax. 


1 The standard of purity which effluent water should have has not yet been fixed. That 
proposed by the Rivers Pollution Commissioners, which is based on the method of analysis 
proposed by Dr Frankland, and which is not yet universally admitted, was as follows :— 


Standard of Rivers Pollution Commissioners. Maximum of Impurity permissible in 100,000 
parts by weight of the liquid. 


In Solution. 
Dry Dry 
mineral organic Colour. eo eee ex- Sah 
matter in | matter in Organie | Organic | C&P? Calcium, ..|Chlo-| Swiphur 
suspension. | suspension. Sneath eh | Magnesium, Arsenic.) ~. as SHo, or 
i P carbon. “nitrogen. Daraesient or Tine. | ‘sniphate. 
| Sodium. 
| Shown in a | 
stratum of | 
: : : 2 : 
3 1 eee 2 03 2 | 0°05 1 1 
white plate. | 


A certain degree of acidity or alkalinity is also ordered not to be surpassed. In the discus- 
sions on the Public Health Bill in the House of Commons this standard, which had been 
embodied in the Bill, was struck out, and the standard is left to be hereafter determined. 
(No standard is given in the Rivers Pollution Act of 1876.) The objection to the plan is not 
merely the doubt about the substances represented by organic carbon or nitrogen, but also 
because the standard does not take into consideration the volume of water into which the foul 
Ne flows. The Thames Conservancy Commissioners adopt a standard for effluent sewage 
as follows :— 

Must not exceed in 70,000 parts. In 100,000. 


Suspended matters, . : : : 6 ; 3 parts. 4°3 
Total solids, ; : : ; 5 100°0 
Organic carbon, : : : : é F 2 ne 30 

AG nitrogen, . F : ; ; P OD op ell 


2 On the disposal of sewage a large amount of information will be found in the First and 
Second Report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, 1884-5 ; see also 
Corfield’s work, op. cit., 3rd ed., 1887. 

* Carpenter, various papers and essays on this subject drawn from the experience of 
Croydon Sewage Farm. 

4 Dr J. W. Williams, Brit. Med. Journal, 11th May 1872. 

5 The Sewage Question, p. 190. 


OBJECTIONS TO SEWERS. 119 


The negative evidence is, however, so strong as to justify the view that 
the effluvia from a well-managed sewage farm do not produce enteric fever 
or dysentery, or any affection of the kind. In a case at Eton, in which 
some cases of enteric fever were attributed to the effluvia, Dr Buchanan 
discovered that the sewer water had been drunk; this was more likely to 
have been the cause. 

With regard to the second point, the spread of entozoic diseases by the 
carriage of the sewer water to the land was at one time thought probable, 
though, as solid excreta from towns have been for some years largely 
employed as manure, it is doubtful whether the liquid plans would be more 
dangerous. The special entozoic diseases which it is feared might thus 
arise are ZVapeworms, Round worms, Trichina, Bilharzia, and Distoma 
hepaticum in sheep. Cobbold’s latest observations showed that the embryos 
of Lilharza die so rapidly that, even if it were introduced into England, 
there would be little danger. The Zvrichina disease is only known at 
present to be produced in men by the worms in the flesh of pigs which is 
eaten, and it is at least doubtful whether pigs receive them from the land. 
There remain, then, only Zapeworms and Round worms for men and 
Distoma hepaticum for sheep to be dreaded. But, with regard to these, the 
evidence at present is entirely negative, and, until positive evidence is 
produced, this argument against sewage irrigation may be considered to be 
unsupported. 

The third criticism appears to be true. The land may become swampy, 
and the adjacent wells poisoned, and disease (ague! and perhaps diarrhea 
and dysentery) be thus produced. But this is owing to mismanagement, 
and when a sewage farm is properly arranged it is not damp and the wells 
do not suffer. 


Objections to Sewers. 


The main objections are as follows :— 

1. That, as underground channels connecting houses, they allow transference 
of effluvia from place to place.—The objection is based on good evidence, 
but it must be said in reply that, if proper traps are put down, and if air 
disconnection, in addition, is made between the outside drains and the 
house pipe, such transference is impossible. The objection is really against 
am error of construction, and not against the plan as properly carried out. 
Besides, the objection is equally good against any kind of sewer, and yet 
such underground conduits are indispensable. 

2. That the pipes break and contaminate the ground.— 'This is a great evil, 
and it requires care to avoid it. But such strong pipes are now made that, 
if builders would be more careful to make a good bed and to connect the 
joints firmly, there would be little danger of leakage, as far as the pipe 
drains are concerned, and not much damage of the main brick sewers. 
All pipes, however, ought to be actually and carefully tested after being 
laid and before being covered in, otherwise it is impossible to ensure their 
being water-tight, even when everything is sound to all appearance. 

3. That the water supply vs constantly in danger of contamination.—This 
also is true, and as long as overflow pipes from cisterns are carried into 
sewers, and builders will not take care to make a complete separation 
between water pipes and refuse pipes, there is a source of danger. But 
this is again clearly an error in constructive detail, and is no argument 
against a proper arrangement. 


1 There is no ague or any other disease traceable to the sewage irrigation at Craigentinny, 
near Edinburgh. 


120 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


ON THE INFLUENCE THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEWERS HAS HAD ON THE 
DeatH Rate or Towns. 


Reference has already been made to the possibility of sewers being the 
channels by which enteric fever and cholera have been propagated from 
house to house, and from which emanations, causing diarrhoea and other 
complaints, may arise. Admitting the occasional occurrence of such cases, 

it remains to be seen whether the sanitary advantages of sewers may not 
greatly counterbalance their defects. The difficulty of proving this pomt 
statistically consists in the number of other conditions affecting the health 
of a town in addition to those of sewerage. Dr Buchanan! has, however, 
given some valuable evidence on this point, which has been well commented 
on by Sir J. Simon. He inquired into the total death rate from all causes, 
and the death rate from some particular diseases, in twenty-five towns 
before and after sanitary improvements, which consisted principally of 
better water supply, sewerage, and town conservancy. The general result 
is to show that these sanitary improvements have resulted in a lowering of 
the death rate in nineteen out of twenty-five towns, the average reduction 
in these nineteen cases being 10°5 per cent. The reduction of enteric fever 
was extremely marked, and occurred in twenty-one towns out of twenty- 
four, the average reduction being 45-4 per cent. in the deaths from enteric 
fever. In three cases there was an augmentation of enteric fever, but this 
was manifestly owing to imperfection in the sewerage arrangements ; and 
these cases afford excellent instances of the unfavourable part badly-arranged 
sewers may play in this direction. Soyka* has given some interesting 
statistics of German towns with regard to this point. In Hamburg the 
enteric deaths per 1000 total deaths has fallen from 48°5 to 10°5; in 
Dantzig from 26°6 to 2°3. In Frankfort the enteric deaths per 10,000 
living have fallen from 9 to 2; in Munich from 24-2 to 8-9. 

Diarrhoea has also been reduced, but not to such an extent ; and in some 
towns it has increased while enteric fever has simultaneously diminished.* 
But the term diarrhcea is so loosely used in the returns as to make any 
deduction uncertain. Cholera epidemics Dr Buchanan considers to have 
been rendered “practically harmless.” The immense significance of this 
statement will be at once appreciated. Whether the result is owing solely 
to the sewerage or to the improved water supply, which is generally obtained 
at the same time, is not certain. Phthisis, which Dr Buchanan and Dr 
Bowditch ® find to be so much influenced by dampness of soil, does not 
appear to have been affected by the removal of excreta per se,—at least 
towns such as Alnwick and Brynmawr, which are thoroughly drained, 
show no lowering in the phthisical mortality. Nor could Dr Buchanan 
trace any effect on the other diseases of the lungs. 

As far as can be seen, the effect of good sewerage has therefore been to 
reduce the general death rate, especially by the reduction of deaths from 
enteric fever and from cholera (and in some towns from diarrhea), but 
partly, in all probability, by general improvement of the health. The action 
has been, in fact, very much in the direction we might have anticipated. 


1 Ninth Report of the Medical Offiecr to the Privy Council, p. 12 et seg. and p. 40. 

2 See the case of Worthing (p. 45, Ninth Report, &c., op. cit.), for a striking instance of the 
spread of enteric fever through sewers. 

% Deutsche Viertelj. fir Off. Ges., Band xiv. Heft 1, 1882, p. 33. 

4 Virchow has called attention to the lessening of enteric fever. 

> Ninth and Tenth Reports of the Medical Officers to the Privy Council. See especially Dr 
Buchanan’s Report in the last-named work, p. 57. 


MODIFICATIONS OF THE WET METHOD. OF REMOVAL. 121 


It may be observed that this inquiry by Dr Buchanan does not deal with 
the question as between sewers and efficient dry methods of removing excreta 
(on which point we possess at present no evidence), but between sewerage 
and the old system of cesspools. 


MopIFrIcATIONS OF THE Wet Metuop or Removine EXcrEtTa. 
The Separate System. 


By this term is meant the arrangement which carries the rain-water in 
separate channels into the most convenient water-course.t Mr Ward’s 
celebrated phrase, “the rain to the river, the sewage to the soil,” is the 
principle of this plan. Its advantages are that the sewers can be smaller ; 
that the amount of sewer water to be dealt with at the outflow is much less 
in quantity, more regular in flow, and richer in fertilising mgredients, and 
is, therefore, more easily and cheaply disposed of. The grit and débris of 
the roads also are not carried into the sewers; and the storm waters never 
flood the houses in the low parts of the town. ; 

The disadvantages are, that separate channels and pipes have to be pro- 
vided for the rain; that the rain from all large cities carries from roofs and 
from streets much organic débris which pollutes streams, and that the scour- 
ing effect of the rain on sewers is lost, though this last is a very questionable 
objection. 

The adoption of one or other system will probably depend on local condi- 
tions. If a town in Europe lies low, and it is expensive to lift sewage ; if 
land cannot be obtained ; or if the natural contour of the ground is very 
favourable for the flow of rain in one direction, while it is convenient to 
carry the sewage in another, the separate system would be the best. So 
also in the tropics, with a heavy rainfall and a long dry season, the providing 
of sewers large enough to carry off the rain would be too expensive for all 
except the richest cities, and the disposal of the storm water would be 
difficult. 

In all cases in which rain enters the sewers, some plan ought to be 
adopted for storm waters.? If irrigation is the plan carried out, the sewer 
water becomes so dilute and so large in quantity in storms, that the 
application to land is usually suspended, and the sewer water is allowed to 
pass at once into streams. 

In this way the evil which irrigation is intended to prevent is produced, 
though, doubtless, the sewer water is highly dilute. In London the storm 
waters mingled with sewage are allowed to flow into the Thames, special 
openings being provided. 


The Interception System. 


In many of the continental cities the fluid and solid excreta fall into a 
receptacle with perforated sides or bottom, so that the fluid part drains 
away and the solid is retained, and is removed from time to time. Such a 
plan may keep the sewers free from deposit, but has the great disadvantage 
of retaining large collections of excreta close to and in many cases 
immediately under or in the cellars of houses, and no ventilation can 
entirely remove all effluvia. 


1 On this subject the works of Mr Menzies, who first described this plan, and of Colonel 
Ewart, R.E. (Report on the Drainage of Oxford, Eton, Windsor, and Abingdon, 1868), will 
be found very useful. 

2 Plans for this purpose are figured and described in the works on Sanitary Engineering, by 
Baldwin Latham and Bailey-Denton. 


\ 


@ 


172 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


Dry Metuops.! 


The use of sewers and removal by water are in many cases impracticable. 


A fall cannot be obtained ; or there is insufficient water ; or the severity of 
the climate freezes the water for months in the year, and removal by its 
means cannot be attempted. Then either the excreta will accumulate about 
houses, or must be removed in substance daily or periodically. Even when 
water is abundant, and sewers can be made, many agriculturists are in 
favour of the dry system, as giving a more valuable fertilising product ; 
and various plans are in use. 

It is not necessary to consider here the employment of cesspools, dead- 
wells, &c., as such plans must be considered quite unsanitary, and should 
be invariably discontinued. If excreta are ever allowed to accumulate, it 


should be in properly prepared receptacles, and after admixture with © 


deodorants. 
Removal without Admizxture. 


In some cases the solid and liquid excreta pass into boxes or tanks, which 


are emptied daily, or from time to time, and the sewage is at once applied 


to land without further treatment. In Glasgow the excreta from one part 


of the town, containing 80,000 people, are now removed every day without © 
admixture, except with the garbage from the houses, and are sent long | 
distances at a profit.2_ If the removal can be made daily, the plan is a good | 


one ; the manure should not be applied in the immediate neighbourhood of 
dwellings, and the Barrack Commissioners have ordered that it shall not be 
put on land nearer barracks than 500 yards. 


In some towns in the north of England (Salford, Halifax, Nottingham) | 


the receptacles are lined with some absorbent material (refuse of cloth 
manufactures), and at Aldershot with stable litter, intended to absorb the 


urine (Goux system) ; in other cases the urine is carried off by a pipe into | 


a drain ; the intention being, in both cases, to make the fecal matter drier, 
and to delay decomposition. 

In others, the soil, being removed daily or at short intervals, is taken to 
a manufactory, and there subjected to manipulations which convert it into 
a manure. 

Under the term “ Poudrette,” manufactories of this kind have been long 
carried on in France, though they are said not to be very profitable.? At 
present, however, a portion of the nitrogen of the urea is converted into 
ammonia, and is united with sulphuric acid, and comes into the market as 
sulphate. In England, also, there have been several manufactories. 

There have been great discussions as to the salubrity of the French 
poudrette manufactories, and the evidence is that they are not injurious to 
the workmen or to the neighbourhood, although often disagreeable. But 
the poudrette can take on a kind of fermentation which renders it 


1 On the dry methods of removal a very good paper has been published by Dr Buchanan 
and Mr Radcliffe (Twelfth Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, 1870, pp. 80 and 
111); also another by Mr Netten Radcliffe (Report on certain Means of preventing Excrement 
Nuisances in Towns and Villages, New Series, No. 2, 1874). 

2 At Carlsruhe, Mannheim, Rastadt. and Bruchsal the excreta are removed in boxes holding 
about 116 enbic feet (Prussian) every evening. From an experience of eighteen years (1851— 
1868), the excreta of 6351 men (mean strength) returned 7628 florins per annum, or about 1s. 
11d. English money per head. In Bruchsal it was 1s. 1d. and in Mannheim 2s. 6d. per head. 
This rich manure has converted the sandy wastes into fertile corn-fields. 

% Nearly all the solid excreta of Paris are dealt with in the same way, at the great depot 
of Clichy-la-Garenne. 


ADMIXTURE WITH DEODORISING SUBSTANCES. 123 


dangerous, and Parent-Duchatelet has recorded two cases of outbreaks of a 
fatal fever (enteric ?) on board ships loaded with poudrette. In the case of 
the Eureka Company in England no bad effect was produced on the health 
of the men. 


Admizxture with Deodorising and Anti-Putrescent Substances. 


Usually, however, some deodorising substance is mixed with the excreta 
before they are removed from the house, and they are then at once applied 
to land without further preparation. Mr Moule’s advocacy of the use of 
dried earth has brought into prominent notice the great deodorising powers 
of this substance, and perhaps no suggestion of late years has had more 
important consequences. The various substances employed to prevent 
odour and decomposition are as follows :— 

1. Coal and Wood Ashes.—This is a common practice in the north of 
England, and closets are made with hinged flaps or seats, so that the coal 
-ashes may be thrown on the sewage. Sometimes screens are used, so that 

the large cinders are held back, and can again be used for firing. In some 
towns there are receptacles (middens) intended both for excreta and ashes ; 
sometimes these are cemented, but they are usually porous, and there may 
be a pipe leading into a sewer, so as to dry them. The midden system is a 
bad one ; even with every care the vast heaps of putrefying material which 
-accumulate in some of our towns must have a very deleterious influence on 
the health, and the sooner all middens are abolished the better. The 
deodorising effect of coal ashes is very slight. The mixture of coal ashes 
and excreta usually finds a sale, but the profit is much greater if no ashes 
are mixed with it. Wood ashes are far more powerful as deodorisers, but 
it is not easy in this country to have a proper supply. 

2. Charcoal.—There is no better deodoriser than charcoal! Animal 
charcoal is too expensive, and peat charcoal is cheaper; according to 
Danchell, 3 ounces of peat charcoal are equal to 14 tb of earth; and this 
author states that the cost of charcoal for a family of six persons would 
only be ls. 6d. per month. A plan has been proposed by Mr Stanford,? 
and is in use at Glasgow, which may obviate the difficulty of price. Mr 
Stanford proposes to obtain charcoal from sea-weed ; the charcoal is cheap, 
and remarkably useful as a deodoriser. After it has become thoroughly 
impregnated with feces and urine, the mixture is recarbonised in a retort, 
and the carbon can be again used; the distilled products (ammoniacal 
liquor, containing acetate of lime, tar, gas) are sufficient to pay the cost, 
and it is said even to give a profit. 

The closet used with this carbon is, in principle, similar to Moule’s earth 
closet, with various improvements for more thoroughly mixing the charcoal 
and sewage. 

The advantages claimed by Mr Stanford’s process are the complete 
deodorising effect ; the small amount of charcoal required as compared with 
dry earth (three-fourths less required) ; the value of the dry manure, or of 
the distilled products, if the mixture is reburnt; and, in the last case 
(burning), the complete destruction of all noxious agencies. In using it the 
mixed charcoal and sewage may be stored for some months without odour 
in some convenient receptacle outside, but not under the house; and Mr 
Stanford states that all the house urine can be also allowed to flow into this 


1 At Kreilingen, in Holland, a pail system is in use, where charcoal is employed made from 
burning town refuse. It appears to yield a product of sufficient value to pay itself. 
* Chemical News, June and October 1869 and February 1872. 


124 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


receptacle. The reburning of the mixture can be done in a gas retort, or a 
special retort is built for the purpose; the charcoal left in the retort is’ 
returned to the house. The so-called ‘‘ porous carbon,” a substance obtained | 
by roasting Devonshire lignite with clay or iron, may also prove useful. 

3. Harth.—Since the Rev. Mr Moule pointed out the powerful deodorising 
properties of dried earth, many different closets have been proposed. 

Mr Moule’s earth closet consists of a wooden box, with a receptacle’ 
below, and a hopper above from which dried earth falls on the sewage when 
the plug is pulled up. The earth is previously dried, and about 14 to 13 ib- 
of the dried earth per head daily is the usual allowance. For a single 
house the earth can be dried over the kitchen fire; but if a village is to be 
supplied a small shed, fitted with tiles, below which smoke pipes from a 
small furnace pass, is required. The earth used in the closet is sufficient | 
to deodorise the solid excreta and the portion of the urine passed with them, 
but the rest of the urine and house water has to be carried off in pipes, and 
disposed of in some other way. The receptacle is emptied from time to time, 
and the mixture is stored until it can be applied to land. Its value, how- 
ever, is not great, as most of the nitrogen disappears in a gaseous form. 
Indeed, so complete is the disintegration of organic matter that even paper 
disappears, and the earth after redrying has been used again and again. 

The advantages of this plan are obvious; its disadvantages are the 
necessity of collecting, and drying, and storing the earth, which, for 
cottagers who have little space, and possibly no means of getting earth, is” 
a serious matter. The supply of dried earth to large towns is almost a 
matter of impossibility, so large is the amount required.! Again, the atten- 
_ tion necessary to prevent the house water being thrown in, and to remove 
the soil at sufficiently short periods, sometimes militates against the success. 
To obyiate these disadvantages, some modifications have been introduced 
into Moule’s closet; one side of the receptacle may be covered with a 
erating, leading to a pipe, so that all fluids drain away, and the house 
water can be thrown in. In another plan, as in Taylor’s improved closet, 
the urine is carried away without mixing at all with the solid excreta. 
Sometimes the urine thus separated is led into another box of earth, and is 
thus more easily disposed of, if there are no means of taking it entirely 
away; or it is passed into a tank, and then used as liquid manure. In 
another modification (Moser’s original form), a partition along the front 
holds some absorbent substance (sawdust, straw), into which the urine 
passes, and the solids are thus kept dry. This separation of the urme 
and solids certainly appears to be an improvement. Dr Carpenter, of 
Croydon, reports well of these closets.? 

The best kind of earth is clay, marl, and vegetable humus ; when dried, 
the clay is easily powdered. Chalk and pure sand are of little use. 

The earth system is coming into great use in India, and is carried out 
with great attention to detail. In those European stations where water is 
not procurable, Mr Moule’s invention has been a boon of great value, and 
medical officers have stated that nothing has been done in India of late 
years which has contributed so much in the health and comfort of the men.’ 


| 
| 


1 For workhouses, prisons, barracks in country places, where there is plenty of labour, and 
no difficulty in obtaining and afterwards disposing of the earth, the plan is most perfect. 
So also for small villages, if some central authority arranges for the supply of earth and for 
the removal of the used soil. For a good statement of the advantages of the earth system, see 
Dr Hawksley’s paper in the Report of the Leamington Congress on the Sewage of Towns. 


2 Bailey-Denton, op. cit., p. 102. 


3 An account of the Bengal arrangements will be found in the 2nd edition of this work, p. 
329, but the plans have been much altered. 


ADMIXTURE WITH DEODORISING SUBSTANCES. 125 


The plan of separating the urine from the feces was strongly advocated by 
Dr Cornish of Madras, and would no doubt be attended with great advantages 
in India if there are means of disposal of the urine. The chief difficulty in | 
the European barracks in India is felt during the rainy seasons, when the 
mixed excreta and earth cannot be kept sufficiently dry. 

In the case of natives of India, however, a serious difficulty arises in the 
use of the earth system, in consequence of the universal use of water for 
ablution after using the closet. Every native takes with him a small vessel 
holding 10 to 20 ounces of water, so that a large amount of fluid has to be 
disposed of. The usual earth closet does not suffice for this. Mr Charles 
Turner, C.E., of Southampton, contrived a closet suitable for the native 
family ;! it is unfortunately too costly, and possibly a simple iron box, with 
a pipe to carry off the urine and ablution water, would be better suited for 
the poorer classes. 

It appears from the observations of Mr Fawcus, at the jail of Alipore, 
that more earth must be used for vegetable than for animal feeders ; the 
experiment gave 5:1 tb avoir. (24 seers) of undried earth for the daily evacua- 
tion of a vegetable-feeding Hindoo. The urine discharge (2 tb) required 8-2 
ib of earth. The earth was efficacious in proportion to the vegetable organic 
matter or humus. In the experiments in this country the clayey matters 
(silicates of alumina) have seemed to be chiefly useful. In Indian jails and 
some cantonments the trench system is used; shallow (1 to 14 foot deep) 

trenches are dug in a field, and earth is thrown over the excreta; when the 

‘trenches are full the whole is ploughed up, and vegetables are at once 

planted, trenches being dug elsewhere ; after two or three crops this portion 
of the field may be used again. Great importance is attached to the early 
and repeated cropping of the ground.? 

4. Deodorising Powders.—\nstead of charcoal or earth, M‘Dougall’s or 
Calvert’s carbolic acid powders may be used, and this plan has been largely 
adopted in some Indian stations. A comparatively small quantity is required, 
but the smell of carbolic acid and the cost are somewhat against the plan. 
Dr Bond’s preparations of terebene, viz., the terebene powder, cupralum, 
&c., are very efficacious, and have a pleasant odour. 

5. Sawdust mixed with sulphuric or carbolic acid.tThe mixture of 
sulphuric acid and sawdust has been found to have little efficacy ; the 
earbolic acid has the disadvantage of the odour, which adheres to the 
clothes. Choralum powder is also mixed with sawdust, and is moderately 
efficacious. 

6. In Germany, Stivern’s deodoriser (a mixture of lime, magnesium chloride, 
and coal-tar) ismuch used. The Miiller-Schiir deodoriser is composed of 100 
Tb of lime, 20 tb of powdered wood charcoal, 10 tb of peat powder or sawdust, 
and 1 tb of carbolic acid containing 60 to 70 per cent. of real acid. After 
mixing, the mass is put under cover for a night to avoid any chance of 
self-combustion, and when it is dry it is packed in barrels. Lweder and 
Leidlof’s powder, consisting of ferric sulphate, ferrous sulphate, calcium 
sulphate, and a little free sulphuric acid, is also much used. It is 
moderately successful. 


1 This was done at the suggestion of Dr Niven, of Bombay. Mr Turnevr’s closet is described 
and figured in Dr Parkes’ Report on Hygiene for 1867, Army Medical Report for 1866, pub- 
lished 1868, vol. iii. p. 307. 

2 Two objections have been made to the dry earth system:—l1. It is almost impossible to 
get rid of a certain amount of smell, even with deodorants. 2. The product is not very valu- 
able, according to Dr Gilbert’s analysis, not so valuable as good garden mould, even after the 
earth has been twice used. The chief value is therefore a sanitary one. 


126 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


Arrangement of Closets on the Dry Plan. 


As the excreta after being mixed with the deodoriser are in most cases | 
kept for some days or even weeks close to the house, the same rules as to | 
position and construction of closets should be employed as in the case of | 
water-closets. The closet should never be in the basement, but in the roof, 
or, better still, in a detached building or semi-detached, and with thorough | 
ventilation between it and the house; there should be a pipe leading at 
once to the outer air from the closet, and one from the receptacle. 

The receptacle itself is usually movable; but if not, it should be most’ 
carefully cemented, so that no leakage may occur. 

With these precautions no odour will be perceived; but it is still very 
desirable that the removal of the soil should be as frequent as possible. In 
country houses there is no difficulty, but in towns the removal can seldom 
be more frequent than once a week, and often is only once a month. 

The forms of the closet itself are numerous. Those applicable to the 
earth plan have been already noticed. Colonel Synge, R.E., has patented 
a closet for Mr Sandford’s charcoal process (the Alver appliance for dry 


deodorants). In Germany and the north of Europe, where the dry removal, 


but without admixture with deodorant powders, is in much use, there are 


various closets in which the urine and feeces are separated.1 The “air-_ 
closet” of Mehlhouse is said to be a good arrangement for houses. The 
urine runs into a porcelain funnel fixed on the front wall of the pan, and 


then into an iron vessel, from which it can readily be removed through a 
valve; the solids fall into an iron receptacle at the back part of the pan. 
A discharge tube passes from the back and top part of this receptacle into 
a chimney. ‘Two openings in the front wall, which can be closed by valves, 
can be used as inlets for the air. If a hopper with charcoal or dried earth 
were attached to this closet, it would be almost identical with Taylor’s 
improved closet.” 


Carbonisation. 


In 1869, Mr Hickey,*® of Darjeeling (Bengal Presidency), proposed to 
carbonise the sewage in retorts, either with or without previous admixture 


with charcoal. Almost at the same time Mr Stanford * proposed the plan, | 
already referred to, of the addition of sea-weed charcoal, and subsequent — 


distillation. 
In India the difficulty of obtainmg a remunerative price for the 
ammoniacal products, and the large cost of the apparatus necessary for 


| 
| 
: 
| 


working the plan, have been unfavourable to its success. Carbonisation 


has been tried in this country, and if it could be made to return a profit, 


there can be no question that it is an excellent plan in a purely sanitary | 


point of view. 


In Manchester Fryer’s patent method is in operation, and it is also being» 


applied, in whole or in part, at Birmingham and at Leeds. It consists of a 


Destructor, which reduces to slag all the more bulky town refuse, such as — 


1 Roth and Lex (op. cit., p. 454) give a good description of these. See also for some good 
remarks, Pettenkofer’s paper on the ‘‘Sewerage of Bale” (Zeitsch. fur Biologie, Band iii. p. 
273). 


siv 


2 Dr Bond has also invented a good form of self-acting closet, which separates the urine © 


and feces. At Manchester and Salford the cinder-sifting closet of Mr Morrell is in use, 

3 The Carbonisation or Dry Distillation Systen of Conservancy, by W. R. 8. Hickey, C.E., 
with a note on Dry Sewage, by F. J. Mouat, M.D., Darjeeling, 1869. 

4 ** A Chemist’s View of the Sewage Question,’ Chemical News, June to October 1869. 


THE PNEUMATIC AIR PLAN. i 7 


cinders and ashes, broken earthenware and glass, which cannot be dealt 
with except by being accumulated in a rubbish heap. This slag is ground, 
mixed with lime, and sold as mortar. The apparatus is so arranged that 
none of the heat is lost, while the heated products of combustion pass over 
fresh portions of material and prepare it for combustion. The mass is re- 
duced in bulk to one-third. Other refuse, such as condemned food, vegetable 
garbage, street sweepings, and the like, are reduced to charcoal in another 
apparatus called the Carboniser. The carbon thus produced is used for 
disinfecting purposes, for decolorising the waste water from factories, &c. 
The excreta proper it is proposed to collect in pails and reduce to small 
bulk by drying in a closed apparatus, called the Concretor, the ammonia 
being fixed by the sulphuric acid fumes produced by the other processes. 
By this means the contents of the pails are reduced to one-twelfth, and a 
yaluable manure obtained, which may be either in the form of poudrette or 
mixed with a little charcoal. Similar plans of disposing of town refuse 
are in operation in Glasgow and elsewhere. 


The Pneumatic Air Plan* (Aspiration Plan). 


A Dutch engineer, Captain Liernur, proposed some years since an entirely 
novel plan. No water or deodorising powders are used; the excreta fall 
into a straight earthenware pipe, leading to a smaller iron siphon pipe, from 
which they are extracted periodically by exhaustion of the air. The 
extracting force which can be used (by an air-pump worked by a steam- 
engine) is said to be equal to a pressure of 1500 Ib per square foot, which 
is sufficient to draw the excreta through the tubes with great rapidity. 
The plan has been tried on the small scale at Prague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, 
Leyden, and Hanau, also at Briinn, Olmutz, and St Petersburg, and the 
opinions concerning it are very various. It does not render sewers 
unnecessary ; indeed, the system contemplates an arrangement of sewers for 
slop and other waters. 

Shone’s Ejector System.—This is an opposite plan to Liernur’s, the agent 


1 The Sewage Question, by F. C. Krepp, London, 1867. This book was written for the 
purpose of bringing the Liernur plan before the public, and some parts of it must be taken 
with limitation. 

Reports in Deutsche Vierteljahrs. fur offentl. Gesundsheitspfl., Band iii. p. 313 (1871). 

Ibid., Band iii. p. 312. 

Report of Kauff and Esser, in Deutsche Viertelj. fur off. Gesundsheitspfl., Band iv. p. 316. 
These gentlemen were sent from Heidelberg to investigate the plan. Report of Messrs 
Schroder and Lorent (Jbid., Band iv. p.486). In this Report is a good technical and financial 
account. 

Ballot (Medical Times and Gazette, 15th Feb. 1875) spoke favourably of it, and considered 
it to have been a decided success in Amsterdam and Leyden. Gori, on the other hand (Med. 
Times and Gazette, 8th March 1873), replied to Ballot, denied that this is the case, and declared 
that in Amsterdam all with one consent say, ‘‘Itis impracticable.” Ballot adheres, however, 
to his statement. ] 

I saw the system at work in Leyden in Sept. 1876, when much of its results and details was 
explained to me by the late Professor Boogaard, and again in Amsterdam in 1879 with Captain 
Liernur himself. It seemed very effectual, and there was a total absence of odour, although 
I was present in some of the closets at the moment that the contents were sucked away by the 
apparatus. In Leyden the material is sold in barrels in the liquid form ; but at Dordrecht, 
where the newest and most complete works are, it is made into poudrette, which is said to pay. 
In this country Mr Adam Scott did his best to bring it to public notice (see his papers in 
the Builder, Sanitary Record, Public Health, &c.). He considered that it had been shown, by 
five years’ experience in Holland, that the pneumatic system, by removing excrement with- 
out any possible pollution of air, soil, or water, had banished enteric fever and diphtheria, as 
well as cholera and any diseases that are conveyed by the discharge from the intestines. 
The Committee on Town Sewage (Sir R. Rawlinson and Mr C. 8S. Reade) spoke most dis- 
_ paragingly of it, more so, indeed, than seemed warranted by all the evidence. On the other 
hand, the patent for Austria and Hungary was purchased by the Vienna Joint-Stock 
Agricultural Society, who considered it a success, both hygienically and financially.—[F. de C.] 


128 REMOVAL OF EXCRETA. 


being compressed air instead of exhaustion. It has been applied at Wrexham, 
at Eastbourne, at Southampton, and elsewhere. It seems especially useful 
where the ground is flat and it is difficult to get a fall. It works auto- 
matically, and gives very little trouble. 


CoMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT METHODS. 


Much controversy has arisen on this point, though it does not appear 
that the question of the best mode of removing excreta is really a very 


difficult one. It is simply one which cannot be always answered in the | 


same way. 

It will probably be agreed by all that no large town can exist without 
sewers to carry off the foul house water, some urine and trade products, and 
that this sewer water must be purified before discharge into streams. The 
only question is, whether fecal excreta should also pass into the sewers. 

It will also be, no doubt, admitted that no argument ought to be drawn 
against sewers from imperfection in their construction. The advocate of 
water removal of solid excreta can fairly claim that his argument pre- 
supposes that the sewers are laid with all the precision and precaution of 
modern science; that the houses are thoroughly secured from reflux of 
sewer air; that the water-closets or water-troughs are properly used; and 
that the other conditions of sufficient water supply and power of disposal of 
the sewer water are also present. If these conditions are fulfilled, what 
reason is there for keeping out of the sewer water (which must, under any 
circumstance of urban life, be foul) the solid excreta, which, after all, cannot 
add very greatly to its impurity, and do add something to its agricultural 
value ? 

That it is not the solid excreta alone which cause the difficulty of the 
disposal of sewer water is seen from the case of Birmingham. That town 
is sewered ; when it contained nearly 400,000 inhabitants, it was in the 
greatest difficulty how to dispose of its sewer water ; yet the solid excreta 
of only 6 per cent. of the inhabitants passed into the sewers, while the solid 
excreta of the remainder were received into middens.1 The problem of 
disposal was as serious for Birmingham as if all the excreta passedin. This 
difficulty has now been in the main overcome, by the use of the lime pre- 
cipitating process and the passing of the sewage on land. An innocuous 
effluent is obtained, and the sewage of over 600,000 people is dealt with, 
the excreta of about one-sixth of the population passing into the sewers, the 
remainder being removed by a pail system. 

The great difficulty, in fact, consists not so much in the entrance of the 
solid excreta into sewers as in the immense quantity of water which has to 
be disposed of in the case of very large inland towns with water-closets. If 
water-closets are not used, the amount of water supplied to towns, and the 
amount of sewer water, are both considerably lessened. 

Looking to all the conditions of the problem, it appears impossible for all 
towns to have the same plan, and the circumstances of each town or village 
must be considered in determining the best method for the removal of 
excreta. London is particularly well adapted for water sewerage, on account 


1 Report of the Birmingham Sewage Inquiry Committee ( 1871), Summary, p. 11. Itshould, 
however, be added that two-thirds of the middens drain into the sewers, 7.¢., allow urine and 
some diffluent fecal matter to passin. In 1875, 128,512 tons of midden refuse were removed 
and sent to country depots, to be afterwards disposed of to farmers. 

2 See evidence of Mr Alderman Avery, Second Report of the Royal Commission on Metro- 
politan Sewage Discharge, 1854. 


COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT METHODS, 129 


of the conformation of the ground north of the Thames, of the number of 
streams (which have all been converted into sewers), and of the comparative 
facility of getting rid of its sewer water. The same may be said of Liverpool 
and many other towns. 

In many towns where land is available, the immediate application to 
land, either by filtration or irrigation, may be evidently indicated by the 
conditions of the case, while in others precipitation may have to be resorted 
to before application to land. It does not appear that precipitation should 
in all cases precede irrigation or filtration, though mechanical arrest of the 
large suspended matters is necessary. There may be some towns, again, 
in which the impossibility of getting water or land may necessitate the 
employment of dry removal; and this is especially the case with small 
towns and villages, where the expense of good sewers and of a good supply 
of water is so great as to render it impossible to adopt removal by water. 
It may, indeed, be said that, in small towns in agricultural districts, the dry 
removal, if properly carried out, will be the best both for the inhabitants 
and for the land. 

The view here taken that no single system can meet all cases, and that 
the circumstances of every locality must guide the decision, is not a 
compromise between opposing plans, but is simply the conclusion which 
seems forced on us by the facts of the case. It does not invalidate the 
conclusion already come to, that, where circumstances are favourable for 
its efficient execution, the water-sewage plan (with or without interception 
of rainfall) is the best for large communities. 


CiH AUEAETEY SIV. 
Jk IL Bey 


é 


Ir might be inferred from the physiological evidence of the paramount im- 
portance of proper aération of the blood, that the breathing of air rendered 
impure from any cause is hurtful, and that the highest degree of health is 
only possible when to the other conditions is added that of a proper supply 
of pure air. Experience strengthens this inference. Statistical mquiries 
on mortality prove beyond a doubt that of the causes of death which are 
usually in action, impurity of the air is the most important. Individual 
observations confirm this. No one who has paid any attention to the 
condition of health, and the recovery from disease of those persons who 
fall under his observation, can doubt that impurity of the air marvellously 
affects the first, and influences, and sometimes even regulates, the second. 


The average mortality in this country increases tolerably regularly with — 
density of population. Density of population usually implies poverty and | 


insufficient food, and unhealthy work ; but its main concomitant condition 


is impurity of air from overcrowding, deficiency of cleanliness, and imperfect — 


removal of excreta, and when this condition is removed a very dense and 
poor population may be perfectly healthy. The same evidence of the effect 
of pure and impure air on health and mortality ‘is still more strikingly 
shown by horses ; for in that case the question is more simple, on account 
of the absolute similarity, in different periods or places, of food, water, 
exercise, and treatment. Formerly, in the French army, the mortality 
among the horses was enormous. Rossignol! states that previous to 1836 
the mortality of the French cavalry horses varied from 180 to 197 per 1000 
per annum. The enlargement of the stables, and the “increased quantity 
of the ration of air,” reduced the loss in the next ten years to 68 per 1000.? 
In 1862-66 the rate of death was reduced to 28} per 1000, and officers’ 
horses (the property of the State) to 20. The admissions for lung diseases 
were, in 1849-52, 105, and in 1862-66, 3:59; for glanders, 1847-52, 23 ; 
1862-66, 74.2. In the Italian war of 1859 M. Moulin, the chief veterinary 
surgeon, kept 10,000 horses many months in barracks open to the external 
air in place of closed stables. Scarcely any horses were sick, and only one 
case of glanders occurred.+* 

In the English cavalry (and in English racing stables) the same facts are 
well known. Wilkinson ® informs us that the annual mortality of cavalry 
horses (which was formerly great) is now reduced to 20 per 1000, of which 
one-half is from accidents and incurable diseases. F. Smith® puts it at 
15 to 25 per 1000, including destructions. Glanders and farcy have almost 
disappeared, and if a case occurs it is considered evidence of neglect. 

The food, exercise, and general treatment being the same, this result has 


1 Traite @W Hygiene Militaire, Paris, 1857. 

2 Wilkinson, Journal of the Agr icultural Society, No. 50, p. 91 et seq. 

3 “ Vital Statistics of Cavalry Horses,” by T. G. Balfour, M.D., F.R.S., Surgeon-General, 
Journal of the Statistical Society, June 1880. 

4 Larrey, Hyyiene des Hop. Mil., 1868, p. 63. 5 Op. cit. 

8 Vetermary Hugiene, 1887. 


< 2 << 4 =" ws — — —= = — . 


COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR. Ilsa 


been obtained by cleanliness, dryness, and the freest ventilation. The 
ventilation is threefold—ground ventilation, for drying the floors; ceiling 
ventilation, for discharge of foul air; and supply of air beneath the horses’ 
noses, to dilute at once the products of respiration. 

In cow-houses and kennels similar facts are well known ; chseaise and 
health are in the direct proportion of foul and pure air. 

The air may affect health by variations in the amount or Son of its 
normal constituents, by differences in physical properties, or by the presence 
of impurities. While the immense effect of impure air cannot be for a 
moment doubted, it is not always easy to assign to each impurity its 
definite action. The inquiry is, in fact, in its infancy; it is difficult, and 
demands a more searching analysis than has been given, although an 
important commencement has been made by means of biological tests. 
When impure air does not produce any very striking disease, its injurious 
effects may be overlooked. The evidences of injury to health from impure 
air are found in a larger proportion of ill health—z.e., of days lost from 
sickness in the year—than under other circumstances ; an increase in the 
severity of many diseases, which, though not caused, are influenced by 
impure air; and a higher rate of mortality, especially among children, 
whose delicate frames always give us the best test of the effect of food and 
air. In many cases accurate statistical inquiries on a large scale can alone 
prove what may be in reality a serious depreciation of public health. 

The quantity of air necessary for perfect health will be considered in the 
section on VenTILATION. In the present chapter the impurities will be 
mentioned, and then the diseases attributable to them. 

The following is the composition of average air :— 


Composition of Atmospheric Air. 


Oxygen, . : : , ‘ . 209°6 per 1000 volumes. 
Nitrogen, . : . 790:0 a 
Caniiontie acid (or onion dioxide), : 5 Oe a 

Watery vapour, . : ; ‘ . varies with temperature. 
Ammonia, . . trace. 


Organic matter (in vapour or suspended, 
organised, unorganised, dead, or living), 
Ozone, : : : : j : variable. 
Salts of sodium, : : 
Other mineral substances, . ; : 


The amount of oxygen is 209°8 in pure mountain air, while in the air of 
towns it may fall to 209-0 or 208:7.2, The mean amount of ozone is given 
by Levy at 1:15 milligrammes per 100 cubic metres at Montsouris.? 

_ The amount of watery vapour varies in different countries greatly, from 

about 30 per cent. of saturation to perfect saturation; or, according to 
temperature, from 1 to 11 or even 12 grains in a cubic foot of air. During 
the rains in the tropics, that amount is not unfrequently exceeded. The 
best ratio for health has not been determined, but it has been supposed it 
Should be from 65 to 75 per cent.; in many healthy climates, however, it 
is much more and in some much less than this. 


1 This, although an average for towns, appears to be too high for country districts. Even 
‘in towns the recent experiments of Carnelley, Haldane, and Ander son, in Dundee and 
assy have shown that the amount is often less. See Phil. Trans. Royal Soc., vol. elxxviii. 

7) 


2 A. Smith, Air and Rain, pp. 335 et seq. 3 Annuaire for 1882. 


1S 4 ATR. 


The amount of carbon dioxide in normal air ranges from 0-2 to 0°5 per 
thousand (or from 2 to 5 volumes in 10,000); it increases slightly up to 
11,000 feet of elevation, then decreases; it is augmented under certain 
circumstances ; as in sea-air by day, though not at night; the difference 
being between 0°54 to 0°33 per thousand (Levy). During the Arctic 
Expedition of 1875, Dr E. L. Moss, of the “ Alert,” found it to range from 
0-483 to 0-641 per thousand ; mean, 0°552,1 in N. lat. 82° 27’. 

Fodor? found the CO, at Buda-Pesth, during the years 1877-89, very | 
constant in quantity, the mean being 0°3886 per 1000 vols. He gives the 
limits as 0-200 to 0-600, outside which cases occur very seldom, or depend | 
upon errors ; the seasonal range is lowest in winter, an increase in spring, 
again a diminution insummer, and the highest point is reached in autumn. 
There is less near the sea-shore and more in the middle of the continent ; 
it appears to increase in snow and frost, but to diminish with rain, thaw, 
and wind ; the north wind brings less CO, with it than the south. Fodor 
attributes the greatest influence on the variation of CO, in the atmosphere 
to its rismg from the ground air, the CO, being always greater at the 
ground level than one metre above it. Levy? gives the mean CO, 
at the observatory of Montsouris at 0-302 per 1000 vols. in a series of five 
years’ observations. In Dundee MM. Carnelley, Haldane, and Anderson 
found an average of 0°390 and a range of 0°220 to 0°560,—the mean of day- 
time being 0°380 and night-time 0-410 ;—this was in open places ; in close 
places at night the mean was 0°420. In the suburbs the mean was only 
0-280, with a range of 0-180 to 0°350; and in the outskirts of Perth a mean 
of 0-310, with a range of 0°290 to 0-350. 

Ammonia and organic matter ought probably to be considered as 
impurities, although they are hardly ever absent. 


SECTION I. 
IMPURITIES IN AIR. 


A vast number of substances, vapours, gases, or solid particles, continually 
pass into the atmosphere. Many of these substances can be detected neither 
by smell nor taste, and are inhaled without any knowledge on the part of 
those who breathe them. Others are smelt or tasted at first; but in a 
short time, if the substance remains in the atmosphere, the nerves lose 
their delicacy ; so that, in many cases, no warning, and in other instances 
slight warning only, is given by the senses of these atmospheric impurities. 

As if to compensate for this, a wonderful series of processes goes on in 
the atmosphere, or on the earth, which keeps the air in a state of purity. 

Gases diffuse, and are carried away by winds, and thus become so diluted | 
as to be innocuous ; or are decomposed if compound, or are washed down 
by rain ; solid substances lifted into the air by winds, or by ascensional 
force of evaporation, fall by their own weight; or if organic, are oxidised 
into simple compounds, such as water, carbon dioxide, nitric acid, and 
ammonia ; or dry and break up into impalpable particles, which are washed 
down by rain. Diffusion, dilution by winds, oxidation, and the fall of rain, 


1 Dr B. Ninnis, of the ‘‘ Discovery,” found much higher amounts, but the conditions may 
not have been quite the same, or some accidental error may have occurred. (See Aeport of the 
Committee on the Outbreak of Scurvy, 1877.) 

2 Hygienische Untersuchungen tiber Luft, Boden u. Wasser, Erste Abtheilung, Die Luft. 
Braunschweig, 1881. 

% Annuaire de Montsouris, 1882. 


IMPURITIES IN AIR—SUSPENDED MATTERS. 133 


are the great purifiers ; and, in addition, there is the wonderful laboratory 
of the vegetable world, which keeps the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere 
within certain limits. If it were not for these counterbalancing agencies, 
the atmosphere would soon become too impure for the human race. As it 
is, it is wonderful how soon the immense impurity, which daily passes into 
the air, is remoyed, except when the perverse ingenuity of man opposes 
some obstacle, or makes too ereat ademand even upon the purifying powers 
of Nature. 

The air passing into the lungs in the necessary and automatic process of 
respiration, is drawn successively through the mouth and nose, the fauces, 
and the air tubes. It may consist, according to circumstances, of matters 
perfectly gaseous (as in pure air), or of a mixture of gases and solid 
particles, mineral or organic, which have passed into the atmosphere. 

The truly gaseous substances will doubtless enter the passages of the lungs, 
and will meet there with that wonderful surface, covered with the most 
delicate tufts of blood-vessels, unshielded even, it is supposed by some, by 
epithelium, which stand up on the surface of 5,000,000 or 6,000,000 air- 
cells, and through which the blood flows with great velocity ; there they will 
be absorbed, and if, as has been calculated, the surface of the air-cells is as 
much as from 10 to 20 square feet (and some have placed these figures much 
higher), we can well understand the ease and rapidity with which gaseous 
substances will enter the blood. 

The solid particles or molecules entering with the air may lodge in the 
mouth or nose, or may pass into the lungs, and there decompose, if of 
destructible nature ; or may dissolve or break down if of mineral formation ; 


or may remain as sources of irritation until dislodged; or perhaps become 


covered over with epithelium like the particles of carbon in the miner’s 
lung, or may pass into the epithelium, and enter the body through the 
lymphatics. 

If such particles lodge in the mouth or nose they may be swallowed, and 
pass into the alimentary y canal, and it is even more probable that this should 
be the case with all except the lightest and most finely divided substances, 
than that they should pass into the lungs. Although incapable of present 
proof, there is some reason to think that some of the specific poisons, which 
float about in an impure atmosphere, such as those which arise from 
enteric or cholera evacuations, may produce their first effects, not on the 
lungs or blood, but on the alimentary mucous membrane, with which they 
are brought into contact when swallowed. 


SUB-SECTION I.—SUSPENDED MATTERS. 


Nature of Suspended Substances.—An immense number of substances, 
organic and inorganic, may be suspended in the atmosphere. From the soil 
the winds lift silica, ‘finely powdered silicate of aluminum, carbonate and 
phosphate of calcium, and peroxide of iron. Volcanoes throw up fine particles 
of carbon, sand, and dried mud, which, passing into the higher regions, may 
be carried over hundreds or even thousands of miles. The eruption of 
Krakatoa is supposed to have scattered fine dust over the greater part of 
the globe,! and, although the eruption took place in August 1883, Professor 
Biokes, ; in his samninel address at the close of 1886, suggested that ie might not 
yet have subsided, from the photographic obscuration of the solar corona. 


1 The vibration of the eruption was traced by self-recording barometers 3} times round 
the earth, and seems to have passed through a great polar circle as well as equatorially. 
See papers by Mr R. H. Scott and Gen. Strachey, “Pr oc. Roy. Soc., vol. Xxxvi. 


» 


134 ATR. 


The animal kingdom is represented by the débris of the perished creatures 
which have lived in the atmosphere, and also it would appear that the ascen- 
sional force of evaporation will lift even animals of some magnitude from 
the surface of marsh water. , 

From the vegetable world pass up seeds and débris of vegetation; pollen, 
spores of fungi, mycoderms, mucedines, which may grow in the atmosphere, 
and innumerable volatile substances, or odours. The germs also of vzbriones, 
bacteria, and monads are largely present, and small eggs of various kinds. 

From the sea the wind lifts spray, and the chloride of sodium becoming 
dried is so diffused through the atmosphere that it is difficult, on spectrum 
analysis, to find a spectrum without the yellow line of sodium. 

The works and habitations of man, however, furnish matters probably of 
much greater importance in a hygienic point of view. 

It is not easy at present to give a complete enumeration of all the sub- 
stances, but the following are the chief facts, divided under the headings of 
suspended substances in the external air; in rooms inhabited by healthy 
persons ; in rooms inhabited by sick persons ; in workshops and factories. 


Suspended Substances in External Avr. 


1. Dust and Sand Showers.—In different parts of Europe there occur from 
time to time showers of dust and sand. Ehrenberg! gives the microscopic 
examination of seventy showers ; in addition to particles of sand and oxide 
of iron, there were numerous organic forms which are classed by Ehrenberg 
under the headings of polygastrica (194 forms), phytolitharie (145 forms), 
polythalamia, &c. In addition there were portions of plants and fragments 
of insects. Ina dust-storm of February 1872, in Sicily, Silvestri? found 
four species of diatoms and living infusoria. These sand-storms are some- 
times called monsoon showers, but it would appear that any violent storm 
of a cyclonic character may lift the dust from sandy wastes, as from the 
African deserts, and transport it great distances. 

The suggested meteoric origin of some dust showers is now generally 
discredited. 

There seems no doubt that atmospheric dust may travel to great 
distances ; the air of Berlin has evidently contained organisms derived from 
the African deserts, and the sails of ships 600 or 800 miles from Africa are 
often quite red with the sand which lodges on them. 

2. Independent of these sand-storms, there are numerous living creatures 
in the atmosphere; some lifted from the ground by winds, others grow- 
ing in the air. Ehrenberg discovered at least 200 forms—vrhizopods, 
tardigrades, and anguillule. These can be dried, and will then retain 
their vitality for months, and even years. 

When the external air is examined either by means of an aéroscope of 
some kind, or by drawing it through previously heated glass tubes 
surrounded by a freezing mixture, many of these organisms can be found. 
The air may also be drawn through tubes lined with nutrient gelatine, or 
other media, and the number of colonies counted. The following are the 
most important kinds :— 

(a2) Extremely small round and oval cells, appearing in pairs or adhering 
together. The cells, described by Lemaire,? Trautman,+ Béchamp, and 


1 Uchersicht der, seit 1847, forgesetzten Untersuchungen ibe das von der Atmosphare 
unsichtbar getragene reiche oe Leben. Berlin, 1871. 

2 Comptes Rendus, 1872, p. 991 

3 Comptes Rendus ‘de VAcad., Oct. 1867, p. 637. 

4 Die Zersetzungsgase als Ursache zur Weiterverbreitung der Cholera, 1869. 


SUSPENDED SUBSTANCES IN AIR. 15) 


others, are exceedingly minute, and it requires a power of 600 to 1000 
diameters to see them properly. Trautman states that they grow faster 
when sulphuretted hydrogen is in the air, and are checked by carbolic acid. 
Lemaire found them in immense quantities in the air of dirty prison cells, 
and in the sweat of the prisoners ; they will occur, however, in the open air. 

These bodies probably correspond to the mcrococct or spherobacterva of 
Cohn. 

Other bacteria are also met with, such as B. termo (Microbacteria), Bacillus 
and wibrio (Desmobacteria), Spirillum, and Spirechaete (Spirobacteria). 
Burdon-Sanderson’s observations threw doubt on the existence of bacteria in 
the air as such: D. D. Cunningham also found bacteria were rarely present 
(that is, recognisable) in dry atmospheric dust, but they were occasionally 
found, as well as a specimen of green spzrdllum; but in the deposit from the 
moist air of sewers distinct bacteria were frequently observed. The truth 
probably is that, although they may be rarely met with in full development, 
this depends on the absence of proper nutriment and favourable conditions 
for growth, but the existence of their spores (perhaps in some cases the so- 
called spheerobacteria) appears to be clearly proved by the cultivation experi- 
ments of Tyndall! and Fodor.? 

The number of bacteria also varies with the season (Fodor,? Miquel?), 
being greatest in autumn (142) and in summer (105), less in spring (85), 
and least in winter (49 per metre cube). Part of this variation is due 
undoubtedly to dryness, for it is observed that in rainy weather they are 
little to be met with, but after some days of dry weather become plentiful 
(Nageli, Fodor, Miquel). 

Fodor* found at Buda-Pesth, in 1878-79, bacterta in 522 out of 646 
observations. Drawing the air through a cultivating solution, he found 
numerous kinds of bacteria developed. Aicrococci or spherobacterva were 
the most frequent, sperobacterva the rarest. Desmobacteria were compara- 
tively rare. One form of microbactervwm he calls M. agile, and attributes 
to it exceptional infective power. Monads were rare. 

(b) Spores of fungi are not infrequent; in the open air they occur most 
commonly in the summer (July and August) ;° they are not in this country 
more frequent with one wind than another; the largest number found by 
Maddox in ten hours was 250 spores ; on some days not a spore can be found. 
Maddox leaves undetermined the kind of fungus which the spores developed 
under cultivation; the spores were pale or olive-coloured and oval, probably 
from some form of smut. Angus Smith found in water through which the 
air of Manchester was drawn innumerable spores. Mr Dancer has calculated 
that in a single drop of the water 250,000 fungoid spores as well as mycelium 
were present, but as the water was not examined for some time there may 
have been growth. Mycelium of fungus seems uncommon in the air, but 
is sometimes found. The cells of Protococcus pluvialis are not uncommon, 
and perhaps of other alge. Blackley ® says the amount of spores collected 
on a slide in four hours amounted to 30,000 or 40,000 per square inch. Dr 
D. D. Cunningham’ states that in the air in the suburbs of Calcutta spores 


1 Floating Matter in the Air in relation to Putrefaction and Infection, by John Tyndall, 
F.R.S. Longman, 1881. 

2 Op. cit. 

3 Annuaire de Montsowris, 1882, pp. 406 e& seqg.; also separate work, Organismes vivants 
de Vatmosphére. See also Cornil and Babes. 

4 Op. cit. 

5 Maddox, Monthly Journal of the Microscopical Society, June 1870 and February 1871. 

6 Experimental Researches on the Causes and Nature of Catarrhus Aestivus, 1873. 

7 Ninth Annual Report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India. 


136 ATR. 


are constantly present, and usually in considerable numbers. He gives a 
large number of beautiful drawings. 

Fodor! found by cultivation that mucedines made their appearance 171 
times, sarcinae 48. Bacteria and fungi seemed to alternate in seasons and 
years. Thus in spring bacterva were most numerous and fungi fewest, whilst 
the opposite was the case in autumn. Snow and rain lessened the quantity 
of both. 

. Carnelley, Haldane, and Anderson found that the average number of 
organisms in Dundee air was less than one per litre, in the proportion of 
three bacteria to one mould.? 

(c) Parts of flowers, especially pollen, in the spring and summer are very 
common,—cuticular scales, vegetable fibres and hairs, seed capsules, 
globular cells, &c. Near habitations are also found bits of wood often 
weathered or burnt, bits of charcoal, starch grains, cotton and wool fibres, «e. 
All these substances appear from Watson’s experiments to be more abundant 
in land than sea air, as might, indeed, be expected.* 

(dZ) Animals, or portions, such as scales from the wings of moths and 
butterflies ; portions of the wings of insects ; legs of spiders, bits of spiders’ 
webs, and similar objects, are not uncommon; but sometimes even living 
animals of some size, apparently rhizopods and amoebiform bodies. 

(¢) Mineral substances, fine particles of sand, clay, and chalk are generally 
met with, even when there is no dust-storm, and are much more common 
when the ground is dry; rain, indeed, appears not only to prevent these 
particles from bein 2 lifted but ‘also to precipitate those in the air. 

In manufacturing districts, or near a railway, there may be even large 
particles of metals, or pottery clay, or stone in the external air; in the 
dust collected from a railway carriage near Birmingham, Mr Sidebotham 3 
found many large particles of iron capable of attraction by a magnet, and 
being, in fact, fused particles of iron often covered with spikes and 
excrescences. 

In towns with macadamised sani dust and remains of horse droppings, 
finely powdered by the trafiic, pass into the air, and as this is more common 
in dry weather, the sanitary importance of watering and washing the 
streets of great traffic is manifest. 

Mr Tichborne published © some analyses of the street dust of Dublin; it 
contained from 29:7 per cent. of organic matter (at the top of a pillar 134 
feet high) to 45-2 per cent. (in the air of a street) ; the organic matter was 
chiefly stable manure finely ground; it acted as a ferment, and reduced 
nitrate of potassium into nitrite; it had, therefore, a strong deoxidising 
power. The plate (No. V.) drawn by Dr J. D. Macdonald, R.N., F.R.S., 
shows some of the substances collected from the external air in the garden 
of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.’ 

(f) It cannot be doubted that various organic substances dried in the 
ground and finely pulverised, may be lifted into the air by winds, and may 
be carried to great distances; under the microscope the particles would 
probably appear formless, and ‘could not be referred to any special class, 


1 Op. cit. 2 Op. cit. 

3 Blackley (op. cit.) shows that pollen is in large quantities, sometimes amounting to 7870 
grains per square inch of slide. In the upper strata of the air (at 400 to 500 feet) he found 
much more than in the lower,—on an average 19 times as much. Cunningham (op. cit.) also 
found pollen in large quantity. 

4 Army Medical “Department Report, vol. xi. p. 529 (1871). 

5 Chemical News, October 1871. 6 Thid., Oct. 1870. 

7 From Three Reports on the Sanitary Condition of St Marys Hospital, Paddington, by 
Surgeon-Major F. de Chaumont, M.D., 1875-76. 


SUSPENDED MATTERS IN ENCLOSED SPACES, 18471 


but would be included under the term of “dust,” or “amorphous matter.” 
In this way it is believed that some diseases may be propagated ; cholera, 
for example, by the particles of dried excreta lifted and carried by the wind, 
and smallpox and scarlet fever by the disintegrated epidermis or dried 
discharges. 

Some of the various particles of different kinds thus suspended in the air 
reflect and scatter the rays of light, and produce the appearance of fine 
motes, which are familiar to every one, as seen in the course of a ray of 
light passing through a dark room, or when an electric beam is transmitted 
through a tube. When the air is kept motionless they subside, so that 
most of them have some weight, though some are so light as to float in 
rarefied air (Tichborne) ; when heated, Tyndall has shown that many of 
them are burnt, and a little bluish mist arising from the combustion can 
even be perceived ; the destructible nature proves, of course, the organic 
origin of those consumed, but does not show whether they are organised 
or not. That is a point, however, which can now be determined, to some 
extent at least, by cultivation experiments. 


Suspended Matters in Enclosed Spaces. 


1. Rooms inhabited by Healthy Persons.—In all inhabited rooms which 
are not perfectly ventilated, the presence of scaly epithelium, single and 
tesselated ; round cells like nuclei, portions of fibres (cotton, linen, wool), 
portions of food, bits of human hair, wood, and coal, can be found in 
addition to the bodies which are present in the external air, though, as 
pointed out by Watson, mineral matters and vegetable matters are not sd 
plentiful, as the comparative stillness of the air allows them to fall.? 
Carnelley, Haldane, and Anderson show that there is an enormous increase 
of bacteria in crowded and ill-ventilated rooms, whilst the moulds do not 
increase to the same extent. When the moulds and bacteria in the external 
air were as | to 3, in houses of four rooms and upwards they were as 4 to 
85, in two-roomed houses as 22 to 430, and in one-roomed houses as 12 to 
580. 

In some cases articles of furniture may furnish certain substances ; the 
flock wall-papers, coloured green by arsenical preparations (especially 
Scheele’s green and Schweinfiirth green), give off little particles of arseni- 
cal dust into the room ;* and it has been shown by Professor Fleck + that 
the arsenious acid in the Schweinfiirth green, when in contact with moist 
organic substances, and especially paste or size, forms arseniuretted 
hydrogen,® which diffuses in the room, and is no doubt the cause of some 
of the cases of arsenical poisoning from green papers. 

2. Sick Rooms.—In addition to being vitiated by respiration, the air of 
Sick-rooms is contaminated by the abundant exhalations from the bodies of 


1 Jn the air of the back-yard of a London hospital I found considerable quantities of 
epithelium ; and in the “dirty linen area,” where the foul linen was kept in crates till 
washed, I found not only epithelium, but even pus globules, and also a quantity of fatty 
crystals, apparently from dressings. There were also bacteria, both free and in the zoogleal 
form.—[F. de C.] 

2 Numerous observations on the air of barracks and military hospitals have been made by 
medical officers of the army, especially by Drs de Chaumont, Frank, Hewlett (of Bombay), 
Stanley, Baynes Reed, Venner, Watson, and many others. (See the Army Medical Depart- 
ment Annual Reports, from 1860-70). 

* Halley and many others. 

4 Zeitsch. fiir Biologie, Bd. viii. p. 445 (1872). 

5 Perhaps other substances are also formed, such as cyanide of kakodyle, which is intensely 
poisonous (Bartlett). 


138 AIR, 


the inmates, and by the effluvia from discharged excretions. The amount 


of organic matter is known to be large, but it is difficult at present to give | 
a quantitative statement. Moscati, who (in 1818) condensed the watery | 


vapour of a ward at Milan, describes it as being slimy, and as having a 
marshy smell. The peculiar smell of an hospital is indeed very remarkable, 


and its similarity in hospitals of different kinds seems to show that the | 
odorous substance has a similar composition in many cases. The reaction | 


of ozone is never given in such an atmosphere. 


Devergie found an “immense amount” of organic matter in the air in | 


the vicinity of a patient with hospital gangrene. 


The dust of a ward in St Louis, in Paris, examined by Chalvet, was | 
found in one experiment to contain 36 per cent. of organic matter, and in | 
another 46 per cent. When burnt, it gave out an odour of horn. The | 
dust collected in hospitals for diseases of the skin is stated by Gailleton to | 
be full of sporules of Zrichophyton. They can be found in the air of the | 


ward when condensed by ice. 


Much interest was excited in 1849 by the discovery by Drs Brittan and | 
Swayne, of Clifton, of bodies very like fungi in the air of a cholera ward ; 
later researches lead to the opinion that this observation was perfectly | 


correct, though the connection between these fungi and cholera is still quite 


uncertain. In 1849, also, Dr Dundas Thomson drew the air of a cholera | 


ward through sulphuric acid: various suspended substances were arrested, 


—starch, woollen fibres, epithelium, fungi or spores of fungi, and wibriones. | 
Mr Rainy also found in the air of a cholera ward in St Thomas’ Hospital | 
the spores and mycelium of fungi and bacteria. Some of these bodies were | 
found, however, in the open air. In hospitals for skin diseases Achorion | 
has been detected in the air where there are patients with favus; and — 
Tilbury Fox! figured the spores (clustered and in chains) and the my-_ 


celium of Trichophyton in a ward with a number of children with Timea 
curcinata. 


In a ward in Netley Hospital (under Brigade-Surgeon Veale, M.S.), where — 


repeated cases of erysipelas occurred, the air was found to be loaded with 


fungi. The ward being emptied, and the floor, walls, and ceiling bemg — 


washed with carbolic acid, the disease ceased. 

The scaly and small round epithelia found in most rooms are in large 
quantity in hospital wards; and probably, in cases where there is much ex- 
pectoration or exposure of pus or puriform fluids to the air, the quantity 
would be still larger. 

In the well-ventilated wards of the Dundee Royal Infirmary Carnelley, 
Haldane, and Anderson found a very small number of micro-organisms.” 

Considering that the pleuro-pneumonia of cattle is probably propagated 
through the pus and epithelium cells of the sputa passing into the air cells 


of other cattle; that even in man there is evidence of a pneumonic or — 
phthisical disease being contagious,® the floating of these cells in the air is_ 


worthy of allattention. In the air of a phthisical ward at Netley, Dr Watson 
not only found pus cells, but bodies which were not found in the external 
air or in the rooms of healthy persons, and which are very like the cells 
seen in tuberculous matter. In military granular conjunctivitis (grey 
granulations), the remarkable effect of ventilation in arresting the spread 
(Stromeyer) seems to show that we have here a similar case, and that 
ventilation acts by diluting, oxidising, and drying the cells thrown off 


1 Lancet, January 1872. 2 Op. cit. 
3 Bryson, Cases in the Mediterranean Fleet. 


IMPURITIES IN AIR—-GASEOUS SUBSTANCES. 139 


from the conjunctive. In smallpox wards, Bakewell found unequivocal 
evidence of minute scales of smallpox matter in the air. It seems probable 
that the discovery of suspended matters of this kind will lead to most im- 
portant results|. The possibility of a direct transference from body to 
body of cells undergoing special chemical or vital changes is thus placed 
beyond doubt, and the doctrine of contagion receives an additional elucidation. 
It is now generally admitted that protophytes like Protococcus pluvialis 
may be dried, and yet retain their vitality even for years, and may be blown 
about in atmospheric currents ; and, should contagion be proved to depend 
upon minute organisms, these might easily be carried about in a similar 
way, either alone or carried by epithelium or other particles thrown off from 
the bodies of patients. The success which has sometimes attended the 
treatment of pleuro-pneumonia in cattle by means of carbolic acid (Crookes), 
and the apparent advantage of inhaling disinfectants in human phthisis, 
seem to point to a similar active cause in those maladies ; and this appears 
in some sort confirmed by the observations of Koch on the bacillus of 
phthisis, which is said to have been found in the breath of phthisical 
patients. 

3. Workshops, Factories, and Mines.—Grinding of steel and iron, and 
stones ; making metallic and pearl buttons; melting zinc ; melting solder ; 
carding and spinning textile fabrics of all kinds; grinding paint ; making 
cement, and in fact almost innumerable trades cause more or less dust, 
derived from the fabrics and materials, to pass into the air. 

Dr Sigerson 2 found a black dust composed of carbon, iron (in the shape 
of small jagged pieces and also as hollow balls 5455 of an inch in diameter), 
and ash, in metal shops. In the air of a printing office there was enough 
antimony to be chemically detected. In the air of stables were equine 
hairs, epithelium, moth-cells, ovules, and various fungi. 

In addition to these suspended matters, which vary with the kind of 
work, the air of workshops is largely contaminated by respiration and by 
the combustion of gas. 

In mines the suspended matters are made up of the particles of the par- 
ticular substance which is being worked, or of rock excavated to obtain 
metals, of sooty matters from lamps and candles, and of substances derived 
from blasting. 


Sup-Secrion I].—Gaszous SUBSTANCES. 


A great number of gases may pass into the atmosphere either from 
natural causes or from the works of man. 

Compounds of Carbon.—Carbon dioxide (abnormal if exceeding 5 in 
10,000 parts), carbon monoxide, carburetted hydrogen or methane, and 
peculiar substances (gaseous) in sewer air. 

Compounds of Sulphur.—Sulphur dioxide, sulphuric acid, hydrogen 
sulphide, ammonium sulphide, and carbon disulphide. 

Compounds of Chlorine.—Hydrochloric acid from alkali works. 

Compounds of Nitrogen—Ammonia and ammonium acetate, sulphide, 
and carbonate (normal in small amount’), and nitrous and nitric acids. 

Compounds of Phosphorus.—Hydrogen phosphide. 


.1 In the accident ward of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, I found pus cells in the air, near 
some beds which had a bad reputation for erysipelas. See plate drawn by Dr Macdonald 
(Report on St Mary’s, op. cit.).—[F. de C. | 

2 British Medical Journal, June 1870, from Memoirs of the Royal Irish Academy, in which 
publication are some excellent observations by the same writer, 


140 ATR. 


Organic Vapours.—Of the exact composition of the vapours, often foetid, | 
which arise from various decomposing animal matters, little is known. 


Sus-Section IIJ.—NaturRE OF IMPURITIES IN CERTAIN SPECIAL CASES. 


Air Vitiated by Respiration. 


Carbon Dioxide.—An adult man, in a state of repose, gives off in 
twenty-four hours from 12 to 16 cubic feet or more, according to weight, 
of carbon dioxide, the most of it from the lungs, although he also emits 
an undetermined quantity by the skin. On an average an adult man, 
of say 12 stone weight, in a state of rest, may be considered to give to the 
atmosphere every hour not less than °72 cubic foot of CO,. Women give 
off less, about 0°6; and children and old people also give off a smaller 
amount. The amount given off by women, say 0-6, may be Eup for 
a mixed community. 

The amount of CO, in pure air being assumed to be on an average 
0-4 per 1000," or four volumes per 10, 000, the quantity in the air of the 
rooms vitiated by respiration varies within wide limits, and many analyses — 
will be found in books. The following table is a part of the numerous 
experiments on barrack-rooms by Dr de Chaumont on this point, in which 
the amount of CO, in the external air was simultaneously determined. The 
analyses were made at night, when the men were in the rooms. The cubic | 
space per head was 600 feet in the barracks and from 1200 to 1600 in the 
hospitals :— 


Amount of Carbon Dioxide in 1000 Volumes of Air (de Chaumont). 


CO, in Room. 


CO, in Mean 
External Largest Mean Respiratory 
Air. eee Asari? Impurity. 
BARRACKS. 
Gosport New Barracks, . : ; . *430 1°846 645 "215 
Anglesey Barracks, : 5 : : 393 egy7il 1°404 1011 
Aldershot, : ; ; : 3 ; 440 1°408 ‘976 536 
Chelsea, ; s ‘ ‘ F ; 470 Waly) 718 "248 
Tower of London, . F ; : : 420 197/331 1°338 898 
Fort Elson (Casemate), . 5 : : 425 1°874 1:209 784 
Fort Brockhurst (Casemate), . : : "422 1:027 838 416 
MILITARY AND Ciyin HospirALs. 
Portsmouth Garrison Hospital, : ; 306 2°057 ‘976 670 
Portsmouth Civil Infirmary, . , 3 322 1°309 928 606 
Herbert Hospital, . 2 : : : 424 ‘730 “472 048 i} 
Hilsea Hospital, . ‘ ; : : "405 ‘741 ‘578 173° 
St Mary’s, Paddington, . : : ; 560 1°534 847 287 
MILitary AND CIvIL Prisons. 

Aldershot Military Prison—Cells, . : 409 3°484 1°651 1°242 
Gosport Military Prison—Cells, : 555 2°344 1°335 “780 
Chatham Convict Prison—Cells, ; "452 3°097 1°691 1-239 7m 
Pentonville Prison—Cells_—Jebb’ $ sy stem, "420 2 1°926 "989 "569 


1 The average at the park of Montsouris, at Paris, is only 0°33; see L’ Annuaire; perhaps 
0°35 would be more correct for country air. 
2 Assumed at ‘420. | 


AIR VITIATED BY RESPIRATION. 141 


The last column of the table shows the condition of the ventilation as 
measured by the CO,; it is very satisfactory in the newer barracks (Gos- 
port and Chelsea), but is much less so in the older barracks and casemates. 
The Herbert and Hilsea military hospitals show excellent ventilation, 
while the old-fashioned Portsmouth garrison hospital is in this respect very 
bad. The prison cells show, in all cases, a very high degree of respiratory 
impurity, and this must be one of the depressing influences of long cell 
confinement. Wilson! gives some important information on this point. 
In cells (in Portsmouth Convict Prison) of 614 cubic feet, always occupied, 
he found the CO, = 0-720 per 1000; the prisoners were healthy and had a 
good colour. In cells of 210 cubic feet, occupied only at night by prisoners 
employed outside during the day, he found 1:044 per 1000 of CO,; the 
occupants were all pale and anzmic. 

The CO, of respiration is equally diffused through the air of a room 
(Lassaigne, Pettenkofer, Roscoe); it is very rapidly got rid of by open- 
ing windows, and in this respect differs from the organic matter, and 
probably from the watery vapour; neither appears to diffuse rapidly or 
equably through a room. 

The amount of CO, is often much greater than in the above instances. 
In a boys’ school with 67 boys and 4640 cubic feet (=69 cubic feet per 
head) Roscoe found 3-1 parts of CO, per 1000. In one-roomed houses in 
Dundee 3-21 per 1000 was found as a maximum by MM. Carnelley, 
Haldane, and Anderson ;? this was 2°63 above the external air. In a 
schoolroom, naturally ventilated, with an average of 168 cubic feet per 
head, the mean CO, was 1°86 and the maximum 3°78; in another, with 
the same space but mechanically ventilated, the average was 1°23 and the 
maximum 1°96. In the Dundee Royal Infirmary (space per head from 
1034 to 3182) the CO, ranged from 0-41 to 0°78, or a range of respiratory 
impurity between 0-06 and 0° 37.+ In Leicester, in a room with six persons, 
and only 51 cubic feet of space per head, and with three gas lights burning 
Mr Weaver?’ found the CO, to be 5 28 parts per 1000; while in a sirls’ 
schoolroom (70 girls and 10,400 cubic feet, or 150 ooltie feet per head), 
Pettenkofer found no less than 7-230 parts per 1000. In many schools, 
workrooms, and factories the amount of respiratory impurity must be as 
great as this, and doubtless a constant unfavourable effect is produced on 
health. Dr Hayne (in H.M. ship “ Doris”) found the CO, to range from 
1:03 to 3:21 between decks, the latter quantity being in the ward-room 
with the scuttles in.6 In the Arctic Expedition of 1875-76, Dr Moss 
found as much as 4°82 in the ward-room of the “Alert,” “room feeling 
very close;” and Dr Ninnis found 5°57 in the lower deck of the “ Dis- 
covery.” 

Gartner’ found in the army corvette “ Jackson” about 1-0 between decks, 
as much as 6°42 in the sick-bay, 5°54 in the cells, and no less than 50 in 
the powder magazine. 

In a horse stable at the Ecole Militaire the amount was 7 per 1000. At 
Hilsea, with a cubic space of 655 cubic feet per horse, the amount was 1:053 ; 
and in another stable, with 1000 cubic feet per horse, only 0°593 per 1000 


1 Handbook of Hygiene. 2 Op. cit. 
® Op. cit. 4 Op. cit. 
5 Mr Weaver gives several good analyses in different public and private rooms in Leicester. 
Lancet, Jaly and August 1872. 
6 Med. Chir. Trans. , vol. lvii. 
7 Deutsche Vierteljahrschrift fir Offentliche Gesundheitspflege, Bd. xiii. p. 369, 1881. 


oe 


142 ATR. 


(de Chaumont). Marcker found 8-5 in a stable in Gottingen, and no less — 


than 17-07 in a byre. 


Mr Fred Smith (Army Veterinary Department) has shown that the CO, | 
determinations in stables are greatly influenced by the amount of ammonia | 


in the air interfering with the reaction, thus indicating a factitious purity 
of atmosphere. 
Moisture.— Organic Matter.—By the skin and lungs pass off from 25 to 40 


ounces of water in twenty-four hours, to maintain which in a state of vapour | 


211 cubic feet of air per hour are necessary on an average. Of course, 


however, temperature and the hygrometric condition of the air greatly | 


modify this. Organic matter is also given off from the skin and lungs, the 
amount of which has never been precisely determined. Nor is it possible, 


at present, to estimate it correctly. This organic matter must be partly — 
suspended, and is made up of small particles of epithelium and fatty matters — 


detached from the skin and mouth, and partly of an organic vapour from 


the lungs and mouth. The organic matter from the lungs, when drawn — 


through sulphuric acid, darkens it; through permanganate of potash, 


decolorises it; and through pure water, renders it offensive. Collected — 
from the air by condensing the watery vapour on the sides of a globe — 


containing ice (as by Taddei in the wards of the Santa Maria Novella), it 
is found to be precipitated by nitrate of silver, to decolorise potassium 
permanganate, to blacken on platinum, and to yield ammonia. It is 
therefore nitrogenous and oxidisable. It has a very foetid smell, and 
this is retained in a room for so long a time, sometimes for four hours, even 
when there is free ventilation, as to show that it is oxidised slowly. It is 
probably in combination with water, for the most hygroscopic substances 
absorb most of it. It is absorbed most by wool, feathers, damp walls, and 
moist paper, and least by straw and horse-hair. The colour of the substance 
influences its absorption in the following order :—black most, then blue, 


yellow, and white. It is probably not a gas, but is molecular, and floats in — 


clouds through the air, as the odour is evidently not always equally diffused 
through a room. In a room, the air of which is at first perfectly pure, but 
is vitiated by respiration, the smell of organic matter is generally perceptible 
when the CO, reaches 0-7 per 1000 volumes, and is very strong when the 
CO, amounts to 1 per 1000.4 From experiments made at Gravesend, 
Netley, Aldershot, and Hilsea, by various medical officers,? it has been 
shown that the amount of potassium permanganate destroyed by air drawn 
through its solution is generally in proportion to the amount of CO, of 
respiration. 

When the air of inhabited rooms is drawn through pure water, and the 
free ammonia got rid off, distillation with alkaline permanganate, in the 
method of Wanklyn, gives a perceptible quantity of ‘albuminoid ammonia.” 
In a bed-room at 9 p.m., A. Smith? found 0°1901 milligrammes in 1 cubic 
metre of air; at 7 a.m. there were 0°3346 milligrammes in each cubic 
metre. 

The average of eight observations in the external air (at Portsmouth) 
gave 0:0935 of free NH., and 0:0886 of albuminoid NH, in milligrammes 
per cubic metre. In the Portsmouth General Hospital the free NH, was as 
high as 0°855, and the albuminoid 1°307.4 


1 On this point see table at page 193. 2 See note, p. 137. 

* Air and Rain, p. 436.—If expressed as grammes per million cubic metres, the amount 
is 190°114 and 334°601; in grains, in 1 million cubic feet, the numbers are 83'074 and 
146°210. 

4 Moss, Lancet, Nov. 8, 1872. 


AIR VITIATED BY COMBUSTION. 143 


The following is from Dr de Chaumont’s Reports on the Ventilation 
Experiments at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington :— 


Milligrammes per Cubic Metre. 


Total 
Free NH3. a een pay Eeuiioy Remarks. 
matter. 
External air, eae ay ; Air damp and still, wind 
July 1875, Use |) Wrecew se ee S.W., slight. 
Wards, ‘ 0°6680 0°4710 “or 1°4900 
Dore bs 0°6669 0°6770 srg 1°5100 
Do. . . 0°3519 0°6915 me 1°3600 
External air, : : : fe Airidry and warm, wind 
August 1876, . ee Eee i Opie S.E. by E., fresh. 
Wards, 5 0°0497 0°4622 0°3747 0°5621 
IDs F ‘ nil 0°2824 0°2571 0°5142 
Dow. ; 0:0310 0°3576 0°3101 0°3567 
IDO, 4 A 0°0127 0°5259 0°2225 0°4451 
IDG, ¢ : 0-0100 03684 0°4420 0°6315 


It is evident that the condition of the external air, with regard to move- 
ment and humidity, has a great deal to do with the amount of organic 
matter. The nitrogen acids are also met with; in one instance, in the 
above experiments, they reached in a ward 28-484 per metre, of which 
0:7392 was nitrous and the rest nitric acid. 

The Dundee experiments already cited state the organic matter in vols. 
of oxygen required to oxidise it per 1,000,000. This is equal to c.c. per cubic 
metre, each c.c. of oxygen weighing 1°43 of a milligramme. The results are 
much higher than those in the above table, the mean oxygen for organic 
matter in the external air in the town being 8°9, and in the suburbs 2°8 
vols. per 1,000,000; they would equal 12-7 and 4 milligrammes respectively. 
In dwellings it was found to increase, but not to the marked extent that 
was observed in bacteria, but the increase was sufficiently proportionate to 
the CO, to support the view that they are generally coincident, although 
yarying much in individual cases. On the other hand, there seems little 
relation between the CO, and the number of micro-or vanisms.! 


Air vitiated by Combustion. 


The products of firing pass out into the atmosphere at large; those of 
lighting are for the most part allowed to diffuse in the room. 

Coal of average quality gives off in combustion— 

1. Carbon.—About 1 per cent. of the coal is given off as fine carbon and 
tarry particles. 

2. Carbon dioxide.—In Manchester, Angus Smith calculated some years 
ago that 15,000 tons of carbon dioxide were daily thrown out, and the 
quantity must now be still larger. In London over 30,000 tons of coal a 
day are consumed, and this would yield nearly 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide. 

3. Carbon monoxide.—Theamount depends on the perfection of combustion. 

4. Sulphur, sulphur dioxide, and sulphuric acid.—The amount of sulphur 
in coal varies from 4 to 6 or 7 percent. In the air of Manchester, A. Smith 
found 1 grain of sulphuric acid in 2000 and 1076 cubic feet. 


1 Phil. Trans., loc. cit. See also “The Determination of Organic Matter in the Air,” by 
Professor Thos. Carnelley, D.Se.,and Wm. Mackie, M.A., University College, Dundee.—Proc. 
Royal Society, vol. xli. p. 238. 


144 ATR, 


5. Carbon disulphide. 

6. Ammonium sulphide or carbonate. 

7. Hydrogen sulphide (sometimes). 

8. Water. 

From some manufactories there pour out much greater quantities of SO,’ 
(copper works), arsenical fumes, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide, &c. 

For complete combustion | Ib of coal demands about 240 cubic feet of air. 

Wood produces carbon dioxide and monoxide and water in large quantity, 
but few compounds of sulphur. 1 tb of dried wood demands about 120, 
cubic feet of air for complete combustion. 


Coal-gas, when fairly purified, is tas of— in 100 parts 
Hydrogen, . 40 to 45°58 
Marsh gas (light car bnrereedl hy drogen or 

methane), ; 3D ~=— to’: 40 
Carbon monoxide, 4 3 | tome 050 
Olefiant gas (ethylene or ethene), 3 to 4 
Acetylene (or ethine), ; Diy | LOM gS 
Hydrogen sulphide, 0-29 to 1 
Nitrogen, : 2 oe 45) 
Carbon dioxide, : : s ; 3 (tol asH5 
Sulphur dioxide, : ; : [tO ak 
Ammonia or ammonium sulphide, A (or in the best cannel- 
Carbon disulphide, : : : ; coal gas only traces). 


In some analyses the carbon monoxide has been as high as 11 per cent., 
and the light carburetted hydrogen 56; in such cases the amount of 
hydrogen is small. As much as 60 grains of sulphur have been found in | 
100 cubic feet of gas.! The parliamentary maximum is 20 grains in 100 
cubic feet. In badly purified gas there may be a great number of substances 
in small amount, especially hydrocarbons and alcohols, such as propylene, 
butylene, amylene, benzole, xylol, some of the nitrogenous oily bases, such 
as pyrrol, picoline, &c.? 

When the gas is partly burnt, the hydrogen and light and heavy 
carburetted hydrogens are almost destroyed ; nitrog en (67 per cent.), water 
(16 per cent.), carbon dioxide (7 per cent.), and carbon monoxide (5 to 6 
per cent.), with sulphur dioxide and ammonia, being the principal resultants. 
And these products escape usually into the air of rooms. With perfect 
combustion there will be little carbon monoxide. 

According to the quality of the gas, 1 cubic foot of gas will unite with 
from 0°9 to 1:64 cubic feet of oxygen, and produces on an average 2 cubic 
feet of carbon dioxide, and from 0-2 to 0°5 grains of sulphur dioxide. In other 
words, 1 cubic foot of gas will destroy the entire oxygen of about 8 cubic 
feet of air, One cubic foot of gas will raise the temperature of 31,290 cubic 
feet of air 1° Fahr. 

Oil.—A lamp with a moderately good wick burns about 154 grains of oil 
per hour, consumes the oxygen of about 3:2 cubic feet of alr, and produces 
a little more than 4 a cubic foot of carbon dioxide ; 1 tb of oil demands from 
140 to 160 cubic feet of air for complete combustion. 

A candle of 6 to the fb burns per hour about 170 grains. 

The products of the combustion of coal and wood pass into the atmosphere, 


1 Chemical News, March 1865, p. 154. 
2 For a fuller list of these substances, which do not appear very important, see Pappen- 
heim’s Handbuch der San. Pol., Band iii. Supp. p. 261. 


THE PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION. 145 


and usually are at once largely diluted. Diffusion and the ever-moving air 
rapidly purify the atmosphere from carbon dioxide. 

It is not so, however, with the suspended carbon and tarry matters, which 
are too heavy to drift far or to ascend high. As a rule, the particles of car- 
bon are not found higher than 600 feet ; and the way it accumulates in the 
lower strata of the atmosphere can be seen by looking at any lofty building 
in London. The air of London is so loaded with carbon, that even when 
there is no fog, particles can be collected on Pouchet’s aéroscope when only 
avery small quantity of air is drawn through. 

It is apparently chiefly from combustion, and in some cases from chemical 
works, that the air of towns contains so much acid as to make rain-water 
acid. In Manchester, in 1868, Angus Smith found the rains to contain 
from 8 to 2 of sulphuric acid (free and combined), and from 1°824 to 0-041 
of hydrochloric acid per 100,000 parts. In Liverpool and Newcastle air 
the same thing occurs; the sulphuric acid is always larger in amount than 
the hydrochloric. 

Sulphurous and sulphuric acids also appear to be less rapidly removed, as 
Angus Smith found a perceptible quantity in the air of Manchester ; and the 
rain-water is often made acid from this cause. 

The products of gas combustion are for the most part allowed to escape 
into rooms, but certainly this should not be allowed when gas is burnt in 
the large quantities commonly used. The immense quantity of gas often 
used causes great heat, humidity of the air, and there is also some sulphur 
dioxide, an excess of carbon dioxide, and, probably, a little carbon monoxide, 
to which some of the effects may be due. Weaver! found as much as 5°32 
volumes of carbon dioxide per 1000 in the room of a frame-work knitter in 
Leicester, with 14 gas-lights burning. In other workrooms the amounts 
were 5:28, 4:6, down to 2°11 volumes per 1000. This amount has a very 
injurious effect on health, as shown long ago by Dr Guy. Ina workshop 
in Paris, with 400 men and 400 gas-burners, the health of the men was 
very bad. General Morin introduced good ventilation, and the number of 
cases of illness was reduced one-third. The appetite of the men, formerly 
very bad, greatly improved. According to Dr Zock,? coal gas gives off 
rather more carbon dioxide for an equal illuminating power than oil, but less 
than petroleum. Dr Odling found, for equal illuminating power, that candles 
gave more impurity to the air than gas.2 Gas gives “out, however, more 
water. 

Carnelley and Mackie* show that the combustion of coal exercises a 
marked effect on the organic matter in the air of towns; but that the 
combustion of coal gas in a room has not much effect in increasing the 
organic matter, whereas a burning oil lamp has a marked effect. 

In tobacco smoke are contained particles of nicotine or its salts (Heubel), 
and probably of picoline bases. There is also much carbon dioxide, 
ammonia, and butyric acid. 

Dr Ripley Nichols has investigated the air in smoking cars on American 
railways, and found the CO, to range from 0°98 to 3°35 per 1000, with a 
mean of 2°278 : in ondinesey non- -smoking cars the CO, varied from 1-74 to 
3°67, with a mean of 2°32, so that there was not much difference as far as 
FP. went. As regards afattanoraRe, however, the difference was great, for 
(taking the external air ratio as 100) he found i in the smoking car from 310 


1 Lancet, July 1872. 2 Zeitsch. fiir Biol., Band ii. p. 117 (1866). 
3 Medical Times and Gaz zette, Jan. 9, 1869, i 
4 Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xi. 


K 


146 AIR. 


to 575, whilst in the ordinary cars it was only 135 to 175. None of the 
peculiar products of the combustion*of tobacco were found. 1 


Air vitiated by Effluvia from Sewage Matter and Air of Sewers. 


Air of Cesspools.—The air of cesspools, and especially of the cemented 


pits which are still common in many continental towns, and which receive 


- 


little beyond the solid and liquid excreta and some of the house water, is 
generally highly impure. Lévy? refers to an extreme case, in which the 
oxygen was lessened to 20 per 1000, the nitrogen being 940 and the CO, 
40. In this case apparently no other gases were present ; but in most 
instances there is a variable amount of hydrogen sulphide,? ammonium 
sulphide, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbur etted hydrogen, in addition to 
foetid organic matters. These organic matters are in large amount; 62 
feet of the air of a cesspool destroyed, in Angus Smith’s experiments, as 
much potassium permanganate as 176,000 cubic feet of pure air, though 
perhaps some hydrogen sulphide may have been also present. Oesterlen + 
states that these gases will pass easily through walls; and M. Hennezel? 
noticed that in the “ fosses d’aisances” in Paris, even in those covered with 


stone slabs and earth, the wind blowing down the ventilating tube will 


force the gas through the neighbouring walls, and then perhaps into the 
house. 

The Air of Sewers.—In sewers the products of decomposition are variable, 
as not only solid and liquid excreta and house water, but the washings and — 
débris of the streets, the refuse of trades, &c., pass into the sewers. As a 
rule, the products of decomposition of the sewer water appear to be much — 
the same as noted above—viz., feetid organic matters, carbo-ammoniacal © 
substances condensing with the water of the air on the cold walls, carbon — 
dioxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulphide. The proportions of these gases 
are variable ;’ the most common are carbon dioxide and nitrogen; marsh — 
gas is found when oxidation is impeded, and hydrogen sulphide and am- 
monium sulphide, which form in the sewer water in most cases, are liberated 
from time to time. The gases, however, are, as a rule, of far less importance 
than the foetid organic matters, the exact nature of which it would be most 
desirable to examine more thoroughly. 

The organic vapour is carbo-ammoniacal; the putrid substance in the 
sewer water appears, from Odling’s observations, to be allied to the compound 
ammonias ; it contains more carbon than methylamine (NH,(CH,)) and 
less than ethylamine (NH,(C,H.) ). 

The composition of sewer air will, of course, vary infinitely with the 
amount of gases disengaged and the degree of ventilation in the sewer. The 
quantity of oxygen is sometimes in normal amount; it may, however, be 
diminished in very badly constructed sewers. Parent-Duchatelet gave an 
analysis of the air of a choked sewer in Paris, which contained only 137-9_ 
per 1000 of oxygen,® and no less than 29:9 per 1000 of hydrogen sulphide. 


1 Reprint from the Sixth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Board of Health. 

2 Traité d Hygiene, 3rd edit.,; p. 636. 

® Barker, On Malaria and Miasmata, p. 245. 4 Oesterlen, Hygiene, 1857, p. 445. 

> Ann. W@ Hygiene, Oct. 1868, p. 178. 

6 Oesterlen, Handb. der Hyg., 2nd edition, p. 445. 

7Dr Letheby’s experiments, 2 as given in his official Report, in his article in the Ency- 
clopedia Britannica, 8th edition (Sanitary Science), &c., and in a letter to Dr. Adams (given 
by Dr Adams in his pamphlet, The Sanitary Aspect of the Sewage Question, 1868, p. 34), are’ 
the most complete on this subject. 

8 Hyyiene publ., t. i. p. 209, footnote, and p. 390. 


AIR OF SEWERS. 147 


Excluding this analysis, the greatest impurity in the old Parisian sewers, as 
determined by Gaultier de Claubry, in 19 analyses! in 1829, was 34 per 
1000 of carbon dioxide and 12-5 per 1000 of hydrogen sulphide (in different 
samples ofair). The lowest amount of oxygen was 174 per 1000. Hydrogen 
sulphide was present in 18 out of 19 cases, the mean of the whole 19 cases 
being 8:1 per 1000. The mean amount of CO, in 19 cases was 23 per 1000. 
In the present London sewers of good construction the air is much less 
impure. Dr Letheby found only 5°32 per 1000 of CO,, a good deal of 
ammonia, and only traces of hydrogen sulphide and marsh gas. Dr Miller’s 
experiments in 18677 gave a mean of only 1:06 per 1000 of CO, in 18 
analyses, and 3-07 per 1000 in 6 other instances, the’ oxygen 207-1 per 1000. 
No hydrogen sulphide was present. Dr Russell examined the air in the 
sewers of Paddington in August; the most impure air contained 207 
oxygen, 787-98 nitrogen, and 5:1 volumes of CO, per 1000; there was very 
little ammonia, and no hydrogen sulphide. 

It is evident that, if we take the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide 
as indices, sewer air has no constant composition. It is sometimes almost 
as pure as the outside air, while at other times it may be highly impure. 
But these gases are probably the least important ingredients of sewer air ; 
that organic matters are present is evident from the peculiar fcetid smell, 
and in some cases they are in large amount ; 8000 cubic feet of the air of 
a house into which sewer air had penetrated destroyed more than 20 
times as much potassium permanganate as the same quantity of pure air 
(Angus Smith). Fungi and bacteria grow rapidly in such air, and meat and 
milk soon taint when exposed to it. When the sewer air passes through 
charcoal these substances are absorbed ; they may be partly oxidised, as Dr 
Miller found some nitric acid in the charcoal, but they also collect in the 
charcoal, and can be recovered (in part at any rate) from it by distillation.* 

We must also suppose, for facts leave us no other explanation, that the 
unknown agencies (perhaps bacteria) which produce enteric fever may also 
be present, and there can be little doubt that cholera+ may occasionally 
spread in the same way. The poison of yellow fever (as appears likely 
from the epidemic in Madrid) may also exist in sewer air. Whether small- 
pox, scarlet fever, &c., can own a similar channel of distribution is uncertain, 
although they are no doubt aggravated by it; that dysentery and diarrhea 
may also be caused by exhalations proceeding from a foul sewer we cannot 
doubt, but the precise agency is here also unknown. 

The experiments of Professor Frankland ® show that solid or liquid matter 
is not likely to be scattered into the air from the sewage itself by any 
agitation it is likely to undergo, until gas begins to be generated in it. He 
found that no ordinary agitation (even greater than sewer water is likely 
to meet with) would scatter particles of lithia solution into the air, but 
that the bursting of bubbles of carbon dioxide was sufficient to effect it. 
Hence he argues (with apparent truth) that sewage becomes dangerous in 
this way only after the setting in of decomposition, so that if we take 
proper steps to carry away sewage at once the danger becomes reduced to 
a minimun. 

Dr D. D. Cunningham found large quantities of bacteria in the air of 
the Calcutta sewers. 


1 Parent-Duchatelet’s Hyg. publique, t. i. p. 389. 

2 Abstract in Chemical News, March 1868. * Miller, Chemical News, March 1868. 

4 A case in which sewers probably played a part in the dissemination of cholera is given in 
Dr Parkes’ Report on the Cholera in Southampton in 1866 to the Medical Officer of the Privy 
Council. > Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1877. 


148 ATR. 


Avr of Churchyards and Vaults. 


The decomposition of bodies gives rise to a very large amount of carbon 
dioxide. It has been calculated that, when intramural burial was carried 
on in London, 24 millions of cubic feet of CO, were disengaged annually 
from the 52 000° bodies then buried. Asnoconosata and an. offensive putrid 
vapour are also given off. The air of most cemeteries is richer in CO, than 

* ordinary air (0°7 to 0°9 per 1000, Ramon da Luna), and the organic matter is 
perceptibly larger when tested by potassium permanganate. In vaults, the 
air contains much CO,, carbonate or sulphide of ammonium, nitrogen, 
hydrogen sulphide, and organic matter (Pellieux). Waller Lewes found 
little SH, or CH,, or cyanogen, or hydrogen phosphide. In his experi- 
ments the gas always extinguished flame. 

Fungi and germs of infusoria abound. 


Air vitiated by certain Trades. 


Hydrochloric acid gas, from alkali works. 

Sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid, from copper works—bleaching. 

Hydrogen sulphide, from several chemical works, especially of ammonia. 

Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hy drogen sulphide, from brick-_ 
fields and cement- works, 

Carbon monoxide (in addition to above cases), from iron furnaces, may 
amount to from 22 to 25 per cent. (Letheby) ; from copper furnaces, 15 to 
19 per cent. (Letheby). 

Organic vapours, from glue refiners, bone-burners, slaughter-houses, 
knackeries. 

Zinc fumes (oxide of zinc), from brassfounders. | 

Arsenical fumes, from copper-smelting. | 

Phosphoric fumes, from manufacture of matches. 

Carbon disulphide, from some india-rubber works. 


Air of Towns. 


The air of towns may be vitiated by respiration, combustion, effluvia 
from the soil, sewers, and trades. The movement of the air tends, however, 
to continually dilute and remove these impurities, and the heavier particles 
deposit, so that the air even of manufacturing towns is purer than might 
have been anticipated. The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere in the 
purest air near the surface of the earth, being taken as from 209 to 209-9 
per 1000 volumes, and the carbon dioxide being from 0°3 to 0°45 per 
1000, with a mean of 0-4, it would appear, from Angus Smith’s observations, | 
that in a crowded part of Manchester, exposed to smoke, the amount of 
oxygen was from 208°68 to 201°79 per 1000; the average of the street air 
taken from the laboratory front door was, in Manchester, 209-43; of the 
closet, a midden behind the laboratory, 207. Jn the London air, in the 
open spaces, the oxygen amounted to 209'5 ; in the crowded eastern districts 
to 208°57.2 In a foggy frost, in Manchester, when the smoke was not 
moving much, the amount was 2091. In Glasgow the average was 
209-092. The variations are, therefore, within narrow limits. 

The percentage lessening of oxygen in atmospheric air is partly made up 


1 Air and Rain, p. 24. 2 A. Smith, op. cit., p. 30. 


AIR OF TOWNS. 149 


by an increase in the carbon dioxide; but if a town is well built, the 
increase is trifling ; the mean amount of CO, for London, in Roscoe’s experi- 
ments, was only 0°37 per 1000 volumes; in Manchester, in usual weather, 
A. Smith found the amount 0-403 per 1000; during fogs, 0°679 ; in the air 
above the middens, 0-774 per 1000. It is stated that there is a difference 
between close and open spaces in towns ; thus, in the open spaces (parks) in 
London, the mean amount in A. Smith’s experiments was 0°301 per 1000 ; 
in Newgate Street (in the City), it was 0-413; in Lower Thames Street 
(City), 0°428 per 1000. It is not, however, stated whether the observations 
were made simultaneously. In the neighbourhood of St Mary’s Hospital, 
Paddington, Dr de Chaumont found the mean CO, to be 0°560, in damp 
still weather, July 1875; the same locality in dry, hot weather, with a good 
deal of movement of air, 0-416 per 1000 (Aug. 1876); in the neighbour- 
hood of University College Hospital, damp weather, 0°736 per 1000, in 
February 1877. In Glasgow, the average CO, was 0°502, and in Perth 
0-416 per 1000.1 In Dundee it was 0°390, there being a slight difference 
between night and day, but only 0:280 in the suburbs (Carnelley, Haldane, 
and Anderson). In foreign cities the amount is greater, and surpasses the 
normal limit in air. In Madrid, Ramon da Luna found 0°517 as a mean 
average, and in some cases 0°8 per 1000; in Munich, the amount is 0°5 
per 1000. These numbers seem, after all, significant, but they are not 
really so, as the aggregate difference, if only 0-1 per 1000, is considerable. 
Jn the air of towns which burn coal there are also, as noted, an excess of 
acidity (sulphuric and hydrochloric acids), and various suspended matters, 
which no doubt have injurious effects.? 

The air of most towns, in addition to ammonia, also contains a nitro- 
genous substance which, when condensed in pure water, can be made to 
yield albuminoid ammonia by Wanklyn’s method. In various places in 
London A. Smith? found the amount to average 0°1509 milligrammes of 
albuminoid ammonia in 1 cubic metre. The greatest amount was in a field 
2 miles past Clapham Junction (viz., 0°27108 milligrammes per cubic metre), 
and the least was in Westminster Abbey yard (0°0855 milligrammes). 
At the shore at Innellan (Firth of Clyde), the amount was 0:1378 milli- 
grammes, and the mean in the streets of Glasgow was 0°3049 milligrammes 
per cubic metre. In the air of the Underground Railway, in London, the 
amount was 0°3734 milligrammes. In the garden of St Mary’s Hospital, Pad- 
dington, Dr de Chaumont found 0°5280 and 0°5206 mems. per c.m.(see p. 143) 
In the back yard of University College Hospital, 0°2060 and 0°3675. The 
mean of Mr Moss’s experiments in the open air of Portsmouth was rather 
less, viz., 0°0886 milligrammes of albuminoid ammonia per cubic metre. 
This ammonia may be derived from the living beings in the air, or from 
dead organic matter ; and to bring out the full meaning of such researches, 
the chemical must be supplemented by amicroscopical examination with culti- 
vation experiments. Ozone is generally absent in town air, but Maric-Davy 
found at Montsouris an average of 0°0115 milligrammes per cubic metre.* 
This, however, depends very much upon the situation of the observatory 
and the direction of the prevailing winds. The wind blowing from the 
open country is richer in ozone than that coming from the town.? 


1A. Smith, Air and Rain, p. 50 et seq. 

2 There are also nitrous and nitric acids, due probably to the oxidation of organic matters. 

3 Air and Rain, p. 437. The results are stated in milligrammes per cubic metre, instead 
of grammes per million cubic metres. 

4 Annuaire de V Observatoire de Montsouris pour Van 1882. 

5 See Fodor, Die Luft, p. 84, 1881, 


150 AIR. 


These observations prove how important it is to build towns in such a 
way as to ensure good perflation and movement of air everywhere, and to 
provide open spaces in all the densely-crowded parts. The great powers of 
nature, winds, and the fall of rain, will then, for the most part, keep the 
atmospheric impurities within limits not injurious to health. 


Aur of Marshes. 


The air of typical marshes*contains usually an excess of carbon dioxide, 
which amounts perhaps, to 0°6 or 0°8 or more per 1000 volumes. Watery 
vapour is usually in large quantity. Hydrogen sulphide is present, if the 
water of the marsh contains sulphates, which in presence of organic matter 
are converted into sulphides, from which SH, is derived by the action of 
vegetable acids. Marsh gas is also often present, and occasionally free 
hydrogen and ammonia, and, it is said, hydrogen phosphide.! 

Organic matter also exists in considerable quantity. Discovered by 
Vauquelin (1810 and 1811, in the air collected over the Languedoc marshes), 
by De Lisle, and again by Moscati (1818, in the air of a Lombardy rice- 
field), and examined more recently by Boussingault (1829, 1839), Gigot 
(1859), and Becchi (1861), the organic matter seems to have much the 
same character always. It blackens sulphuric acid when the air is drawn 
through it; gives a reddish colour to nitrate of silver; has a flocculent 
appearance, and sometimes a peculiar marshy smell, and, heated with soda- 
lime, affords evidence of ammonia. The amount in Becchi’s experiments 
was 0:00027 grammes in a cubic metre of air (=0-000118 grains in 1 cubie 
foot). Ozone, led through a solution of this organic matter, did not destroy 
it. It is said to destroy quinine. Besides the organic matter, various 
vegetable matters and animals, floating in the air, are arrested when the 
air of marshes is drawn through water or sulphuric acid, and débris of 
plants, ¢nfusoria, insects, and even, it is said, small crustacea are found ; 
the ascensional force given by the evaporation of water seems, indeed, to be 
sufficient to lift comparatively large animals into the air. Dr M. P. Balestra ? 
has described spores and sporangia of a little algoid plant in the air of 
Rome and its vicinity, and the same plant is found abundantly in the 
water of the marshes near Rome. Balestra is inclined to attribute marsh 
fever to this widely-diffused “‘ microphyte granule”; whilst the researches of 
Klebs and Tommasi-Crudeli have led them to attribute it to a form of 
bacillus, which they have called B. malariew.? It has been stated that 
ozone is deficient in the air over marshes, but the observations of Burdel + 
do not confirm this. He often found as much ozone as in other air. In 
the air collected from the surface of lakes containing some aquatic plants, 
especially Chara, there is a large proportion of oxygen, and this air gives, 
near the surface, the reaction of ozone (Clemens), while at some feet above 
the reaction is lost. This is usually ascribed to the oxidation of organic 
matter, which rises simultaneously from the water. 


Air in the Holds of Ships. 


The air in the holds of ships is compounded of exhalations from the wood, 
leeway gad cargo. Owing to the goin pant Sanuiaela hy of tne alr, it 


1 Toropoff (of St persue) oon malaria poison gaseous; after removing water, 
oxygen, and carbon dioxide, he found marsh air still yielded 84 to 89 per cent. of gaseous 
matter, whilst hill air gave only 81. 2 Comptes Rendus, 1870, No. 3, July, p. 235. 
3 Studii sulla Natura della Malaria, Roma, 1879. 

4 Recherches sur les fievres paludéennes, 1858. 


DISEASES PRODUCED BY IMPURITIES IN AIR. WS 


often becomes extremely foul. The composition is not known, but the smell 
of hydrogen sulphide is very perceptible, and white paint is blackened. In 
some cases, when the water-tanks are filled with condensed water from the 
engines, which is not well cooled, the hold may become extremely hot (100° 
to 120° Fahr.), and decomposition be much increased. 


Air in Mines. 


In the metalliferous mines the air, according to Angus Smith,! is poor in 
oxygen (205 per 1000 sometimes) and very rich in carbon dioxide (7°85 
per 1000 volumes on a mean of many experiments). It also contains 
organic matter, giving, when burnt, the smell of burnt feathers, in uncer- 
tain amount. These impurities arise from respiration, combustion from 
lights, and from gunpowder biasting. This latter process adds to the air, 
in addition to carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and hydrogen 
sulphide, various solid particles, consisting of suspended salts, which may 
amount to as much as 6 or 7 milligrammes in each cubic metre of air. 
These suspended substances are principally potassium sulphate, carbonate, 
hyposulphite, sulphide, sulphocyanide, and nitrate, carbon, sulphur, and 
ammonium sesquicarbonate. 

Much of this may hereafter be avoided by the new process of getting coal, 
by means of compressed quicklime, which is slaked in holes drilled in the 
coal. 


SECTION II. 
DISEASES PRODUCED BY IMPURITIES IN AIR. 
Sus-Section [.—SusepENDED Souip MarTTeErs. 


1. Inorganic and Inanimate Substances.—The effect which is produced 
on the respiratory organs by substances inhaled into the lungs has long been 
known. Ramazzini and several other writers in the last century, and 
Thackrah more than fifty years ago in this country, directed special atten- 
tion to this point, and since that time a great amount of evidence has 
accumulated,” which shows that the effect of dust of different kinds in the 
air is a far more potent cause of respiratory diseases than usually ad- 
mitted. Affections of the digestive organs are also caused, but in a much 
slighter degree. The respiratory affections are frequently recurring catarrhs 
(either dry or with expectoration) and bronchitis, with subsequent emphy- 
sema, although this sequence appears from the figures given by Hirt to be 
not quite so frequent as was supposed, perhaps from the cough not being 
violent. Acute pneumonia, and especially chronic non-tubercular phthisis, 
are also produced. The suspended matters in the air which may produce 
these affections may be mineral, vegetable, or animal; but it would seem 
that the severity of the effects is chiefly dependent on the amount of dust, 
and on the physical conditions as to angularity, roughness, or smoothness 
of the particles, and not on the nature of the substance, except in some 
special cases. A large number of the unhealthy trades are chiefly so from 


1 Report on Mines, Blue Book, 1864, 

* The whole subject has been very carefully investigated by Hirt. Die Krankheiten der 
Arbeiter, Urste Theil, Staubinhalations-Krankheiten, von Dr L. Hirt, 1871. See also 
Eulenberg, Gewerbe Hygiene, 1876. Also Pettenkofer and Ziemssen’s Handbuch der Hygiene 
und Gewerbe Krankheiten. 


152 ATR. 


this cause ; this is the case, in fact, with miners of all kinds.!_ Sir J. Simon? 
states that, with one exception, the 300,000 miners in England break down 
as a class prematurely from bronchitis and pneumonia caused by the atmo- 
sphere in which they live. The exception is most important. The colliers 
of Durham and Northumberland, where the mines are well ventilated, do 
not appear to suffer from an excess of pulmonary disease, or do so in a 
slight degree only. In different mines, also, the amount of pulmonary 
* disease is different, apparently according to the amount of ventilation. 
The following table is given by the Registrar-General :?— 


Average Annual Deaths per 1000 from Pulmonary Disease during the 
Years 1860-62 inclusive. 


| Metal Miners Metal Miners Metal Miners ae Beets: 
ae | in Cornwall. in Yorkshire. in Wales. a ae 
| | | 
Between 15 and 25 years, | 3°77 3°40 3°02 3°97 
5 25 ,, 35 4, | 415 6°40 4-19 Piles 
ees aie we Ma 7°89 11°76 10°62 3°52 
fe UR RA ee) eager IE msopale 14°71 5-21 
o> nO 0 el A el 722 
Pe ODie eT Ds asa || 45-04 53°69 48°31 17°44 


The enormous increase of lung diseases among the miners after the age of 
35 is seen at a glance. 

In the pottery trade all classes of workmen are exposed to dust, especially 
however the flat-pressers. So common is emphysema that it is called “the 
potters’ asthma.” 

So also among the china scourers ; the light flint dust disengaged in great 
quantities is a “terrible irritant.” Dr Greenhow states that a// sooner or 
later become ‘‘asthmatical.” 

The grinders of steel, especially of the finer tools, are perhaps the most 
fatally attacked of all, though of late years the evil has been somewhat 
lessened by the introduction of wet-grinding in some cases, by the use of 
ventilated wheel-boxes, and by covering the work with linen covers when 
practicable. The wearing of masks and coverings for the mouth appears to 
be inconvenient, otherwise there is no doubt that a great amount of the 
dust might be stopped by very simple contrivances.* 

Button-makers, especially the makers of pearl buttons, also suffer from 
chronic bronchitis, which is often attended with hemoptysis. So also pin- 
pointers, some electro-plate workmen, and many other trades of the like 
kind, are more or less similarly affected. 


In some of the textile manufactures much harm is done in the same way. | 
In the carding rooms of cotton, and wool, and silk spinners, there is a great 


1 Thackrah enumerates the following in his work on the Effects of Arts, Trades, and Pro- 
Fessions on Health, 1832, p. 63 :—The workmen who were afiected injuriously by the dust of 
their trades 50 years ago, and the same list will almost do for the present day: Corn- 
tillers, maltsters, teamen, coffee-roasters, snuff-makers, papermakers, flock-dressers, feather- 
dressers, shoddy-grinders, weavers of coverlets, weavers of harding, dressers of hair, hatters 
employed in the bowing department, dressers of coloured leather, workers in flax, dressers of 
hemp, some workers in wood, wire-grinders, masons, colliers, iron miners, lead miners, grinders 
of metals, file-cutters, machine-makers, makers of firearms, button-makers. Hirt (op. cit.) 
also gives an éxtended table. 

2 Fourth Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 1862, p. 15 et seq. See also 
Arlidge, in B. and F. Med. Chir. Rev., July 1864, for the effects of the pottery trade. 

® Report of the Commissioners on Mines, Blue Book, 1864. 

+ See for further particulars and much interesting information Dr Hall’s paper read at the 
Social Science Congress in 1865. 


AIR VITIATED BY DUST AND FUMES. 153 


amount of dust and flue, and the daily grinding of the engines disengages 
also fine particles of steel. Since the cotton famine, a size composed in part 
of china clay (35:35 grains of clay in 100 of sizing on an average) has been 
much used in cotton mills, and the dust arising seems certainly to be pro- 
ducing injurious effects on the lungs of the weaver.! 

In flax factories a very irritating dust is produced in the process of hack- 
ling, carding, linespreparing, and tow-spinning. Of 107 operatives, whose 
eases were taken indiscriminately by Dr Greenhow, no less than 79 were 
suffering from bronchial irritation, and in 19 of these there had been 
hemoptysis. Among 27 hacklers, 23 were diseased.?_ In shoddy factories, 
also, the same thing occurs. These evils appear to be entirely and easily 
preventible. In some kinds of glass-making, also, the workmen suffer from 
floating particles of sand and felspar, and sometimes potash or soda-salts. 

The makers of grinding-stones suffer in the same way; and children 
working in the making of sand-paper are seriously affected, sometimes in a 
yery short time, by the inhalation of fine particles of sand into the lungs. 

In making Portland cement, the burnt masses of cement are ground down 
and then the powder is shovelled into sacks ; the workmen doing this cough 
a great deal, and often expectorate little masses of cement. Some of them 
have stated that if they had to do the same work every day it would be 
impossible to continue it on account of the lung affection. Sir Charles 
Cameron has called attention to the fatal effects of vapours of silicon 
fluoride in making superphosphate; it forms a gelatinous deposit on the 
mucous membrane of the air passages, and causes death by suffocation.? 

The makers of matches, who are exposed to the fumes of phosphorus, 
suffer from necrosis of the jaw, if there happens to be any exposed part on 
which the fumes can act. This, however, is now obviated by the use of 
amorphous or red phosphorus, which is harmless. 

In making bichromate of potash, the heat and vapour employed carry up 
fine particles, which lodge in the nose and cause great irritation, and finally 
ulceration, and destruction of both mucous membrane and bone. ‘Those 
who take snuff escape this. The mouth is not affected, as the fluids dissolve 
and get rid of the salt. The skin is also irritated if the salt is rubbed on it, 
and fistulous sores are apt to be produced. No effect is noticed to be pro- 
duced on the lungs. Washing the skin with subacetate of lead is the best 
treatment. 

In the process of sulphuring vines the eyes often suffer, and sometimes 
(especially when lime is used with the sulphur) decided bronchitis is 
produced. 

In some trades, or under special circumstances, the fumes of metals, or 
particles of metallic compounds, pass into the air. Brassfounders suffer 
from bronchitis and asthma, as in other trades in which dust is inhaled ; 
but in addition they also suffer from the disease described by Thackrah as 
“brass ague,” and by Dr Greenhow as ‘brassfounder’s ague.” It appears 
to be produced by the inhalation of fumes of zinc oxide ;° the symptoms 


1G. Buchanan’s Report on certain Sizing Processes used in the Cotton Manufacture at 
Todmorden. Ordered to be printed by the House of Commons, May 1872. 

* Sir J. Simon’s Fourth Report, p. 19. 

® On the Toxicity of Silicon Fluoride, by Sir Charles A. Cameron, M.D., &c., reprinted 
from the Dublin Journal of Medical Science, January 1887. 

4 Chevallier, Ann. d’Hygiene, July 1863, p. 83. 

® Some doubt has been expressed as to those symptoms being produced by pure zinc fumes ; 
see Hirt (op. cit.), who says that inen employed in making zinc houses, where they inhale pure 
zine fumes without copper, never suffer from brassfounder’s ague. On the other hand, he 
describes very graphically the effect of the metallic fumes (copper?) on himself. The workmen 
think that drinking large quantities of milk lessens the severity of the attacks. 


154 ATR. 


are tightness and oppression of the chest, with indefinite nervous sensations, 
followed by shivering, an indistinct hot stage, and profuse sweating, 
These attacks are not periodical. | 

Coppersmiths are affected somewhat in the same way, by the fumes | 
arising from the partly volatilised metal, or from the spelter (solder). 

Tinplate workers also suffer occasionally from the fumes of the soldering. | 

Plumbers inhale the volatilised oxide of lead which rises during the | 
process of casting. Nausea and tightness of the chest are the first | 
symptoms, and then colic and palsy. 

Manufacturers of white lead inhale the dust chiefly from the white beds 
and the packing. 

House painters also inhale the dust of white lead to a certain extent, 
though: in these, as in former cases, much lead is swallowed from want of | 
cleanliness of the hands in taking food. | 

Workers in tobacco factories suffer in some cases, and there are persons 
who can never get accustomed to the work; yet with proper care and - 
ventilation it appears! that no bad effects ordinarily result. | 

Workers in mercury, silverers of mirrors, and water gilders (men who | 
coat silver with an amalgam of mercury and gold) are subject to mercurial 
ismus. But electricity has rendered gilding with the aid of mercury to’ 
some extent obsolete ; and the making of mirrors with nitrate of silver may | 
perhaps ultimately abolish all the horrors of mercurial labour. 

Workmen who use arsenical compounds, either in the making of wall 
papers or of artificial flowers, &c., suffer from slight symptoms of arsenical 
poisoning, and many persons who have inhaled the dust of rooms papered | 
with arsenical papers have suffered from both local and constitutional effects, 
—the local being smarting of the gums, eyes, nose, cedema of the eyelids, 
and little ulcers on the exposed parts of the body; the constitutional being | 
weakness, fainting, asthma, anorexia, thirst, diarrhoea, and sometimes even | 
severe nervous symptoms.? Arsenic has been detected in the urine of such | 
persons. ; | 

A. Manouvriez? gives an account of the diseases among workmen in) 
France employed in making patent fuel, a mixture of coal-dust and pitch. 
He says they suffer from melanodermy, cutaneous eruptions, and epi- 
thelial cancers, affections of the eyes, ears, and nose; bronchitis with pul- 
monary pseudomelanosis ; and gastro-entero-hepatic disorders. Hirt also’ 
mentions some of the diseases produced among workmen by the various) 
tar-products. : 

2. Living Substances, as Infusoria, Fungi, Alge, or their Germs, or Pollen’ 
or Eiluvia of Flowers.—That summer catarrh or hay-fever is produced in’ 
many persons by the pollen from grasses (especially Anthoxanthum odoratum), | 
trees, or flowers is now generally admitted. The researches of Dr Blackle ie 
of Manchester (himself a sufferer), have placed the matter beyond a doubt. 
Tn his case, at least, it was pollen that produced the disease, and not the’ 
effluvia merely. Coumarin had no effect. Grass-pollen (which constitutes 
95 per cent. of the pollen floating in the atmosphere) and the pollen from| 
pine-trees were the most powerful in effect. Curiously enough, the pollen’ 
of poisonous plants, such as the Solanaceze, was often comparatively 
innocuous. It is also known that the spores of certain fung?, in falling on 
a proper soil, may cause disease of the skin in men, and that Zinea and Lavus 
are thus sometimes spread seems certain. There is a growing belief in the 


1 Hirt, op. cit., p. 162, 163. Lees " 
See paper by Mr Jabez Hogg, Sanitary Record, April 25,1879. 
® Annales d Hygiene, March 1876. 4 Op. cit. 


LIVING BODIES IN THE AIR-—THE CONTAGIA. 15) 


connection of the specific diseases with low vegetable forms. Dr Salisbury, of 
Ohio, attempted to trace ague to a Palmella ; others have ascribed it to the 
Oscillarinee generally; Dr Balestra believes that a special alga is the 
efficient cause, and Klebs and Tommasi-Crudeli attribute it to Bacillus 
malarie. 

Dr Salisbury has also affirmed that the prevalence of measles in the 
Federal army arose from fungi from mouldy straw. He inoculated himself, 
his wife, and forty other persons with the fungi, and produced a disease like 
measles in from twenty-four to ninety-six hours. It is stated also that 
this disease was protective against measles. Dr Woodward (United States 
Army) has repeated Dr Salisbury’s experiments, but does not confirm them.! 

Professor Hallier, of Jena, has to some extent adopted the view that fungi 
give rise to some of the specific diseases, and that the spores float in the air, 
and are thus communicated, but the proofs are not satisfactory.” 

Dr D. D. Cunningham says that he was unable to connect any disease, in 
Calcutta, with the occurrence of bacteria or other bodies in the air, either as 
regards variation in kind or in quantity. 

Blackley found that Chaetonium elatum (bristle mould) produced nausea, 
fainting, and giddiness, and the spores of Penicillium (inhaled) brought on 
hoarseness, going on to complete aphonia: the condition lasted two days, and 
ended in a sharpish attack of catarrh. 

Pettenkofer, Von Nigeli, Fodor, and many others distinctly attribute 
specific diseases to bacteria of certain kinds. The connection of the wool- 
sorters’ disease with the existence of a bacillus (Bacillus anthracis) in the 
body of the patient has been established, and this is in all probability 
inhaled from the atmosphere in which the men work. 

Koch has recently demonstrated the presence of a bacillus (Bacillus 
tuberculosis) in cases of phthisis, and has apparently succeeded in cultivating 
it, and propagating the disease by that means. 

3. The Contagia.—Under this head it will be convenient to include the 
unknown causes of the specific diseases. That these in some cases (scarlet 
fever, smallpox, measles, typhus, enteric fever, plague, pertussis, yellow 
fever, influenza, &c.) reach the person through the medium of air (as well 
as in some cases through water or food) cannot be doubted. Some of these 
contagia have in some way a power of growth and multiplication in the 
body of a susceptible animal, but whether they can find nourishment, and 
thus grow, in the air is yet doubtful. It seems clear, however, that they 
can retain the powers.of growth for some time, as the smallpox and scarlet 
fever poisons may infect.the air of a room for weeks, and cattle plague and 
enteric fever poisons will last for months,’ and in this they resemble Protococer 
and other low forms of life, which can be dried for years and yet retain 
Vitality. 

The exact condition of the agency is unknown; whether it is in the form 
of impalpable particles, or moist or dried epithelium and pus cells, is a point 
for future inquiry ; and whether it is always contained in the substances 
discharged or thrown off from the body (as is certainly the case in smallpox), 
or is produced by putrefactive changes in those discharges, as is supposed to 


1 Camp Diseases in the U.S. Army, p. 27. The fungus is a Penicillium. 

2 Many papers on this subject by Hallier and others are contained in Hallier’s Zeitschrift 
fir Parasitenkunde. 

8 The long retention of power by the enteric fever poison is shown by a case related by Dr 
Becher (Army Medical Department Report, vol. x. p. 237). The enteric poison appears to have 
adhered to the walls and ceiling, and to have retained its power to excite disease in another 
person for a month; it was not destroyed by the heat of a very hot Indian station (Gwalior) 
in February. 


156 ATR. 


be the case in cholera and dysentery, is also a matter of doubt. Bakewell? 
collected dust deposited at a height of 7 or 8 feet in smallpox wards, which 
contained the minute scabs with the epidermic scales and variolous cor puscles 
which are thrown off from the skin in smallpox. Some modern expositors Oi 
the old doctrine of fomites would consider these organic matters to be incon: 
ceivably minute particles of living, or to use Dr ‘Beale’s phrase, bioplastic 
matter, which is capable, he believes, of wonderfully rapid growth under 
proper conditions.? But it is also probable that some, if not all, the disease 
poisons are really living organisms, a view very widely received now both 
in this country and elsewhere. 

The specific poisons manifestly differ in the ease with which they are 
oxidised and destroyed. The poison of typhus exanthematicus is very readily 
got rid of by free ventilation, by means of which it must be at once diluted 
and oxidised, so that a few feet give, under such circumstances, sufficient pro- 
tection. This is the case also with the poison of oriental plague, while, on 
the other hand, the poisons of smallpox and scarlet fever will spread in spite 
of very free ventilation, and retain their power of causing the same disease 
for along time. In the case of malaria the process of oxidisation must be 
slow, since the poison can certainly be carried for many hundred yards, even 
sometimes for more than a mile in an upward direction (up a ravine, for 
instance), or horizontally, if it does not pass over the surface of water. The 
poison of cholera, also, some have supposed, can be blown by the winds for 
some distance; but the most recent observations on its mode of spread lead 
to the conclusion that the portability of the poison in this way has bee 
greatly overrated. The poison of diphtheria appears also to be transported 
some distance by wind. 

But the specific poisons are not the only suspended substances which thus 
float through the atmosphere. 

There can be no doubt that while purulent and granular ophthalmia mest 
frequently spread by direct transference of the pus or epithelium cells, by 
means of towels, &c., and that erysipelas and hospital gangrene, in surgical 
wards, are often carried in a similar way, by dirty sponges and dressings, 
another mode of transference is by the passage into the atmosphere of disin- 
tegrating pus cells and putrefying organic particles, and hence the great; 
effect of free ventilation in militar y ophthalmia (Stromeyer), and in erysipelas? 
and hospital gangrene. In both these diseases great evaporation from the 
walls or floor seems in some way to aid the diffusion, either by giving a great 
degree of humidity or in some other way. The practice of frequently wash- 
ing the floors of hospitals is well known to increase the chance of erysipelas, 
and this might be explained, as Von Nigeli suggests, by the moisture and 
subsequent drying helping the development and “subsequent dissemination 
of minute organisms. 


Sus-Secrion IJ.—Gasreous MATTERS. 


(a) Carbon’ Dioxide—The normal quantity of CO, being 0°3 to 0-4 
volumes per 1000, it produces fatal results when the amount reaches from 
50 to 100 per 1000 volumes ; and at an amount much below this, 15 to 20 
per 1000, it produces, in some persons at any rate, severe headache. Other 
persons can Dae for a brief period, considerable quantities of carbon 


1 Med. Times and Gazette, Dec. 7, 1872. . 
2 See chapter on DISINFECTION for a fuller notice of these points. | 


3 See Dr F. de Chaumont’s Reports on St Mary’s Hospital, loc. cit. 


EFFECTS OF CARBON DIOXIDE AND CARBON MONOXIDE. 157 


dioxide without injury ;! and animals can be kept for a long time in an 
atmosphere highly charged with it, provided the amount of oxygen be also 
increased. In the air of respiration, headache and vertigo are produced 
when the amount of CO, is not more than 1:5 to 3 volumes per 1000; but 
then organic matters, and possibly other gases, are present in the air, and 
the amount of oxygen is also lessened. Well-sinkers, when not actually 
disabled from continuing their work by CO,, are often affected by headache, 
sickness, and loss of appetite; but the amount of CO, has never been 
determined. 

The effect of constantly breathing an atmosphere containing an excess of 
CO, (up to 1 or 1°5 per 1000 volumes) is not yet perfectly known. Dr 
Aneus Smith? attempted to determine its effect per se, the influence of 
the organic matter of respiration being eliminated. He found that 30 
yolumes per 1000 caused great feebleness of the circulation, with, usually, 
slowness of the heart’s action; the respirations were, on the contrary, 
quickened, but were sometimes gasping. These effects lessened when the 
amount was smaller, but were perceptible when the amount was as low as 
1 volume per 1000—an amount often exceeded in dwelling-houses. At the 
same time, this is not the case always, for in the air of a soda-water manu- 
factory, when CO, was 2 per 1000, Smith found no discomfort to be pro- 
duced. The effects noticed by Smith have not been observed in experiments 


on animals by Demarquay, W. Miiller, and Eulenberg,’ nor in other cases 


in men, as in the bath at Oeynhausen, where no effect is produced by the 
air of the room in which the bathers remain for 30 to 60 minutes, although 


it contains a large percentage. It has been supposed that lung diseases, 


especially phthisis, are produced by it; but as this opinion has been drawn 
merely from the effects of the air of respiration, which is otherwise vitiated, 
it cannot be considered to stand on any sure basis. Hirt finds no symptoms 
of chronic poisoning by CO,, even in trades where acute poisoning occasion- 
ally occurs.* 

The presence of a very large amount of CO, in the air may lessen its 
elimination from the lungs, and thus retain the gas in the blood, and in 
time possibly produce serious alterations in nutrition. 

(6) Carbon Monoxide.—Of the immense effect of carbon monoxide there 
isnodoubt. Less than one-half per cent. has produced poisonous symptoms, 
and more than one per cent. is rapidly fatal to animals. It appears from 
Bernard’s and from Lothiir Meyer’s observations ° that the gas, volume for 
volume, completely replaces the oxygen in the blood, and cannot be again 


displaced by oxygen, so that the person dies asphyxiated ; but Pokrowsky 


has shown® that it may gradually be converted into carbon dioxide, and be 
got rid of. It seems, in fact, as Hoppe-Seyler conjectured, to completely 
paralyse, so to speak, the red particles, so that they cannot any longer be 
the carriers of oxygen. The observations of Dr Kleber’ show that, in 
addition to loss of consciousness and destruction of reflex action, it causes 
complete atony of the vessels, diminution of the vascular pressure, and 
slowness of circulation, and finally paralysis of the heart. A very rapid 
parenchymatous degeneration takes place in the heart and muscles gene- 


1 It is stated that Sir R. Christison employed air containing 20 per cent. of carbon dioxide 
as an anzsthetic. (Taylor’s Jurisprudence, 1865, p. 713.) 

2 Air and Rain, p. 209 et seq. 3 Quoted by Roth and Lex, op. cit., p. 176. 

4 Die Krankheiten der Arbeiter, Erste Abtheilung, 2te’ Theil, 1873. 

> De Sanguine Oxydo-carbonico Infecto, 1858. Reviewed in Virchow’s Archiv, Band xv. 
309. See also Letheby, Chemical News, April 1862. 

6 Virchow’s Archiv, Band xxx. p. 525 (1864). 

7 Virchow's Archiv, Band xxxii. p. 450 (1865). 


158 ATR, 


rally, and in the liver, spleen, and kidneys. Hirt! says that at high 
temperatures (25° to 32° Cent.=77° to 90° Fahr.) it produces convulsions, 
but not at low temperatures (8° to 12° Cent. = 46° to 54° Fahr.). 

(c) Hydroyen Sulphide.—The evidence with regard to this gas is contra- 
dictory. While dogs and horses are affected by comparatively small 
quantities (1-26 and 4 volumes per 1000 volumes of air), and suffer from 
purging and rapid prostration, men can breathe a larger quantity. Parent- 
Duchatelet inhaled an atmosphere containing 29 volumes per 1000 for some 
short time.” 

When inhaled in smaller quantities, and more continuously, it has 
appeared in some cases harmless, in others hurtful. Thackrah, in his 
inquiries, could trace no bad effects. It is said that in the Bonnington 
chemical works, where the ammoniacal liquor from the Edinburgh gas- 
works is converted into sulphate and chloride of ammonium, the workmen 
are exposed to the fumes of ammonium and hydrogen sulphides to such an 
extent that coins are blackened ; yet no special malady is known to result. 
The same observations have been made at the Britannia-metal works, where 
a superficial deposit of sulphide is decomposed with acids. 

Hirt® has no doubt of the occurrence of chronic poison among men 
who work among large quantities of the gas. The symptoms are chiefly 
weakness, depression, perfect anorexia, slow pulse, furred tongue, mucous 
membrane of the mouth pale, as is also the face. Sometimes there is 
furunculoid eruption in different parts of the body. In some cases there 
are vertigo, headache, nausea, diarrhcea, emaciation, and head symptoms, 
“like a case of very slow running typhus.” He notices differences of 
susceptibility, which is also sometimes increased with custom. 

So large a quantity of SH, is given out from some of the salt marshes at 
Singapore that slips of paper moistened in acetate of lead are blackened 
in the open air; yet not only is no bad effect found to ensue, but Dr Little 
has even conjectured (on very disputable grounds, however) that the SH, 
may neutralise the marsh miasma. 

On the other hand, some of the worst marshes in Italy are those in 
which SH, exists in large quantity im the air; and, in direct opposition to 
Little, it has been supposed that the highly poisonous action of the marsh 
gas is partly owing to the SH,. Again, in the making of the Thames 
Tunnel, the men were exposed to SH,, which was formed from the decom- 
position of iron pyrites: after a time they became feeble, lost their 
appetites, and finally passed into a state of great prostration and anemia. 
Nor, so far as is known, was there anything to account for this except the 
presence of SH,.4 

Drs Josephson and Rawitz® have also investigated in mines effects 
produced apparently by SH,; two forms of disease are produced—pure 
narcotic, and convulsive and tetanic symptoms. In the first case, the men 
became pale, the extremities got cold. There was headache, vertigo, a 
small weak pulse, sweating, and great loss of strength. On this spasms 
and tremblings sometimes followed; and even tetanus. The symptoms 
were acute, and not, as in the Thames Tunnel case, chronic. When these 
attacks occurred, the temperature was high and the air stagnant. 


1 Op. cit. 

2 On dogs, Herbert Barker found a larger quantity necessary than that stated above, viz., 
4:29 per 1000 is rapidly fatal, 2°06 per 1000 may be fatal, but 0°5 per 1000 may produce serious 
symptoms. 3 Op. cit. 

4 Taylor’s Med. Jurisp., 1865, p. 727. 

5 Schmidt's Jahr., Band cx. p. 334, and Band exvii. p. 85. 


EFFECTS OF VARIOUS GASES AND VAPOURS IN AIR. 159 


The observations of Clemens, also, on the development of boils from 
the passage of SH, into the drinking water from the air, if not convincing, 
cannot be overlooked. 

The symptoms produced by ammonium sulphide in dogs are said, by 
Herbert Barker,! to differ from those of SH,. There is vomiting without 
purging, quickened pulse, and heat of skin, followed by coldness and rapid 
sinking. When hydrogen and ammonium sulphides, dissolved in water, 
are injected into the blood,? they, and especially SH, produce the same 
symptoms as the injection of non-corpuscular putrid fluids, viz., profuse 
diarrheeal evacuations, with sometimes marked choleraic symptoms and 
decided lowering of the temperature of the body, congestions of the lungs, 
liver, spleen, and kidneys, irritation of the spine, and opisthotonos. But, 
in this case a much larger quantity will be introduced than by inhalation 
through the lungs. 

(d) Carburetted Hydrogen.—A large quantity of carburetted hydrogen 
can be breathed for a short time,—as much, perhaps, as 200 to 300 volumes 
per 1000. Above this amount it produces symptoms of poisoning, head- 
ache, vomiting, convulsions, stertor, dilated pupil, &e. 

Breathed in small quantities, as it constantly is by some miners, it has 
not been shown to produce any bad effects ; but there, as in so many other 
cases, it is to be wished that a more careful examination of the point were 
made. Without producing any marked disease, it may yet act injuriously 
-on the health. Hirt says that cases of chronic poisoning are not un- 
common. Corfield has also noticed this. 

(e) Ammoniacal Vapours.—An irritating effect on the conjunctiva seems 
to be the most marked effect of the presence of these vapours. There is no 

evidence showing any other effect on the health.? 
_ (f) Sulphur Dioxide.—The bleachers in cotton and worsted manufactories, 
and storers of woollen articles, are exposed to this gas, the amount of which 
in the atmosphere is, however, unknown. The men suffer from bronchitis, 
and are frequently sallow and anemic. 

When SO, is evolved in the open air, and therefore at once largely 
diluted, as in copper smelting, it does not appear to produce any bad 
effects in men, and indeed persons living in volcanic countries have some- 
times a notion that the fumes of SO, are good for the health; Dr F. de 
Chaumont was told so by people in the neighbourhood of Vesuvius. When, 
however, it is washed down with rain, it affects herbage, and, through the 
herbage, cattle ; it is then said to cause affections of the bones, falling off of 
the hair, and emaciation. 

(9) Hydrochloric Acid Vapours in large quantities are very irritating to 
the lungs ; when poured out into the air, as was formerly the case in the 
alkali manufactures, they are so diluted as apparently to produce no effect 
on men, but they completely destroy vegetation. In some processes for 
making steel, hydrochloric, sulphurous and nitrous acids, and chlorine are 
all given out, and cause bronchitis, pneumonia, and destruction of lung 
tissue, as well as eye diseases.* 

(h) Carbon Disulphide.—In certain processes in the manufacture of 
vuleanised india-rubber a noxious gas is given off, supposed to be the vapour 
_ of carbon disulphide. It produces headache, giddiness, pains in the limbs, 


1 On Malaria and Miasmata, p. 212. 

Weber, Syd. Soc. Year-Book for 1874, p. 227. 

See Schloesing, Comptes Rendus, 1875, vols. i. and ii. 
4 Jordan, Canstatt’s Jahresb. for 1863, Band vii. p. 76. 


2 
3 


160 AIR. 


formication, sleeplessness, nervous depression, and complete loss of appetite. 
Sometimes there is deafness, dyspnoea, cough, febrile attacks, and even 
amaurosis and paraplegia (Delpech). The effects seem due to a direct 
anesthetic effect on the nervous tissue. 


Sus-Section II].—Errects or Arrk IMPURE FROM SEVERAL SUBSTANCES 
ALWAYS Co-EXISTING, 


The examination of the effects of individual gases, however important, 
can never teach us the results which may be produced by breathing air 
rendered foul by a mixture of impurities. The composite effect may pos- 
sibly be very different from what would have been anticipated from a 
knowledge of the action of the isolated substances. 

(a) Air rendered Impure by Respiration.—The effect of the feetid air 
containing organic matter, excess of water and CO,, produced by respira- 
tion, is very marked upon many people ; heaviness, headache, inertness, and 
in some cases nausea, are produced. From experiments on animals in which 
the carbon dioxide and watery vapour were removed, and organic matter 
alone left, Gavarret and Hammond have found that the organic matter is 
highly poisonous. Hammond found that a mouse died in forty-five minutes, 
and cases have been known in which the inhalation of such an atmosphere 
for three or four hours produced in men decided febrile symptoms (increased 
temperature, quickened pulse, furred tongue, loss of appetite, and thirst), 
for even twenty-four or forty-eight hours subsequently (Parkes). 

When the air is rendered still more impure than this it is rapidly fatal, 
as in the cases of the Black Hole at Calcutta; of the prison in which 300 
Austrian prisoners were put after the battle of Austerlitz (when 260 died 
very rapidly) ; and of the steamer “ Londonderry.” The poisonous agencies 
are probably the organic matters (and perhaps minute organisms), and the 
deficient oxygen, as the symptoms are not those of pure asphyxia. If the 
persons survive, a febrile condition is left behind, which lasts three or 
four days, or there are other evidences of affected nutrition, such as boils, 
&e. 

When air more moderately vitiated by respiration is breathed for a 
longer period, and more continuously, its effects become complicated with 
those of other conditions. Usually a person who is compelled to breathe 
such an atmosphere is at the same time sedentary, and, perhaps, remains in 
a constrained position for several hours, or possibly is also under-fed or 
intemperate. But allowing the fullest effect to all other agencies, there is 
no doubt that the breathing the vitiated atmosphere of respiration has a 
most injurious effect on the health! Persons soon become pale, and 
partially lose their appetite, and after a time decline in muscular strength 
and spirits.2 The aération and nutrition of the blood seem to be interfered 
with, and the general tone of the system falls below par. Of special 
diseases it appears pretty clear that pulmonary affections are more common. 

Such persons do certainly appear to furnish a most undue percentage of 
phthisical cases, that is, of destructive lung-tissue disease of some kind. 
The production of phthisis from impure air (aided most potently, as it often 
is, by coincident conditions of want of exercise, want of good food, and 


1 See, among a number of other instances, Guy’s Lvidence before the Health of Towns Com- 
mission, vol. i. p, 89 et seg.; and 8. Smith, zbid., p. 37 et seq. 
2 See Wilson's Observations on Prisoners, already cited, p. 141. 


EFFECTS OF IMPURE AIR—PHTHISIS. 161 


excessive work) is no new doctrine.! Baudelocque long ago asserted that 
impure air is the great cause of scrofula (phthisis), and that hereditary 
predisposition, syphilis, uncleanliness, want of clothing, bad food, cold and 
humid air, are by themselves non-effective. Carmichael, in his work on 
scrofula (1810), gave some most striking instances, where impure air, bad 
diet, and deficient exercise concurred together to produce a most formidable 
mortality from phthisis. In one stance, in the Dublin House of Industry, 
where scrofula was formerly so common as to be thought contagious, there 
were in one ward 60 feet long and 18 feet broad (height not given), 38 
beds, each containing four children ;? the atmosphere was so bad that in 
the morning the air of the ward was unendurable. In some of the schools 


examined by Carmichael the diet was excellent, and the only causes for 


the excessive phthisis were the foul air and the want of exercise. This was 
the case also in the house and school examined by Neil Arnott in 1832. 
Lepelletier ? also recorded some good evidence. Professor Alison, of Edin- 
burgh, and Sir James Clark, in his invaluable work, laid great stress on it. 
Neil Arnott, Toynbee, Guy, and others, brought forward some striking 
examples before the Health of Towns Commission. Dr Henry MacCormac 
insisted with great cogency on this mode of origin of phthisis; and Dr 


' Greenhow ® also enumerated this cause as occupying a prominent place. 


Carnelley, Haldane, and Anderson show that in Dundee the ratio of phthisis 
and other disorders of a similar character increases with the crowding and 
foulness of the air ; thus, taking houses of four rooms and upwards as 10, 


_ the other ratios are 3 rooms, 17 ; 2 rooms, 20; and 1 room, 23. 


In prisons, the great mortality which formerly occurred from phthisis, as 
for example at Millbank (Baly), seemed to be owing to bad air, conjoined 
with inferior diet and moral depression. 

Two Austrian prisons, in which the diet and mode of life were, it is 
believed, essentially the same, offer the following contrast :— 

In the prison of Leopoldstadt, at Vienna, which was very badly ventilated, 
there died in the years 1834-47 378 prisoners out of 4280, or 88 per 1000, 
and of these no less than 220, or 51-4 per 1000, died from phthisis ; there 
were no less than 42 cases of acute miliary tuberculosis. 

In the well-ventilated House of Correction in the same city there were in 
five years (1850-54) 3037 prisoners, of whom 43 died, or 14 per 1000, and 
of these 24, or 7:9 per 1000, died of phthisis. The comparative length of 


Sentences is not given, but no correction on this ground, if needed, could 


account for this discrepancy. The great prevalence of phthisis in some of 
the Indian jails appears to have been owing to the same cause, combined 
with insufficient diet. 

The now well-known fact of the great prevalence of phthisis in most of 


the European armies (French, Prussian, Russian, Belgian, and English) can 


scarcely be accounted for in any. other way than by supposing the vitiated 


atmosphere of the barrack-room to have been chiefly in fault. This is the 


1 The following statistics (Ransome, Sanitary Record, vol. vi.) are instructive :—Death- 
tate from diseases of the respiratory organs for all England, 3°54 (1865-76) ; for Salford, 5°12 ; 
for registration district of Manchester, 6°10; for township of Manchester in 1874, 7:7: for 
Westmoreland (one of the healthiest counties), 2°27 ; for North Wales, 2°51. For diagrams 
showing the effects of aggregation of population on the ratio of respiratory diseases, see 
Dr F. de Chaumont’s Lectures on State Medicine, table v. p. 48. 

* This would give only 72, square feet per child, and if the ward was 12 feet high only 85 
cubic feet. To ventilate such a space properly the air would have had to be changed about 
30 times in the hour, a manifest impossibility. 

® Traité Complet dela Maladie Scrophuleuse. 

4 First Report, 1844, vol. i. pp. 52, 60, 69, 79, &e. 

> Report on the Health of the People of England. 


162 AIR. 


conclusion to which the Sanitary Commissioners for the army came in their 
celebrated report. And if we must also attribute some influence to the 
pressure of ill-made accoutrements, and to the great prevalence of syphilis, 
still it can hardly be doubted that the chief cause of phthisis among soldiers 
has to be sought somewhere else, when we see that, with very different duties, 
a variable amount of syphilis, and altered diet, a great amount of phthisis 
has prevailed in the most varied stations of the army, and in the most 
beautiful climates ; in Gibraltar, Malta, Ionia, Jamaica, Trinidad, Bermuda, 
&c. (see history of these stations), in all which places the only common con- 
dition was the vitiated atmosphere which our barrack system everywhere 
produced. And, as if to clench the argument, there has been of late years 
a most decided decline of phthisical cases in these stations, while the only 
circumstance which has notably changed in the time has been the condition 
of the air. So also the extraordinary amount of consumption which has 
prevailed among the men of the Royal and Merchant Navies, and which, in 
some men-of-war, has amounted to a veritable epidemic, is in all probability 
attributable to the faulty ventilation.! 

The deaths from phthisis in the Royal Navy averaged (3 years) 2°6 per 
1000 of strength, and the invaliding 3-9 per 1000. The amount of consump- 
tion and of all lung diseases was remarkably different in the different ships. 
These inferences received the strongest corroboration from the outbreak of 
a lung disease leading to the destruction of lung tissue in several of the 
ships on the Mediterranean station in 1860. Dr Bryson traced this clearly to 
contamination of the air, and noticed that in several cases the disease appeared 
to be propagated from person to person.2 It may be inferred that pus cells 
were largely thrown off during coughing, and, floating through the air, were 
received into the lungs of other persons. 

The production of phthisis in animals confirms this view. The case of the 
monkeys in the zoological gardens, narrated by Dr Arnott, is a striking 
instance. Cows in close stables frequently die from phthisis, or at any rate 
from a destructive lung disease (not apparently pleuro-pneumonia) ; while 
horses, who in the worst stables have more free air, and get a greater amount 
of exercise, are little subject to phthisis. But not only phthisis may reason- 
ably be considered to have one of its modes of origin in the breathing an 
atmosphere contaminated by respiration, but other lung diseases, bronchitis 
and pneumonia, appear also to be more common in such circumstances. Both 
among seamen and civilians working in confined close rooms, who are other- 
wise so differently circumstanced, we find an excess of the acute lung affec- 
tions. The only circumstance which is common to the two classes is the 
impure atmosphere. (Compare especially Gavin Milroy and Greenhow.) 
The favourite belief that these diseases are caused by transitions of tempera- 
ture and exposure to weather has been carried too far. 

In the South Afghanistan field force the artillery wintered at Kandahar 
(1880-81) in tents, and remained free from pneumonia, whilst the disease 
was prevalent among the infantry who were overcrowded in barracks. The 
63rd, which was more crowded than the other corps, suffered most, having 
30 cases in hospital at one time ; one company, however, quartered in large 
airy rooms near the residence of the General commanding, had no case. On 
the 25th of March a part of the regiment was turned out into tents and the 
remainder were distributed in barracks, so that each man had a minimum 
of 609 cubic feet of ape from ae time no more paeumonie occurred.? 


1 Statistical Reports on the Health of the Navy, eit iene Gavin Milroy’s pamphlet on 
the Health of the Royal Navy, 1862, pp. 44 and 54. : 
2 Trans. of the Epidem. Soc., vol. ii. p. 142. 3 Report by Dept. Surg.-General Simpson. 


EFFECTS OF IMPURITIES IN AIR. 163 


In addition to a general impaired state of health, arising, probably, from 
faulty aération of the blood, and to phthisis and other lung affections, which 
may reasonably be believed to have their origin in the constant breathing of 
air vitiated by the organic vapours and particles arising from the person, it 
has long been considered, and apparently quite correctly, that such an atmo- 
sphere causes a more rapid spread of several specific diseases, especially typhus 
exanthematicus, plague, smallpox, scarlet fever, and measles. This may arise 
in several ways: the specific poison may simply accumulate in the air so 
imperfectly changed, or it may grow in it (for though there may be an 
analogical argument against such a process, it has never been disproved, and 
it is evidently not impossible) ; or the vitiated atmosphere may simply render 
the body less resisting or more predisposed.? 

(6) Air rendered Impure by Exhalations from the Sick.—The air of a sick 
ward, containing as it does an immense quantity of organic matter, is well 
known to be most injurious. The severity of many diseases is increased, 
and convalescence is greatly prolonged. This appears to hold true of all 
diseases, but especially of the febrile. At a certain point of impurity, 
erysipelas and hospital gangrene appear. The occurrence of either disease 
is, in fact, a condemnation of the sanitary condition of the ward. It has 
been asserted that hospital gangrene is a precursor of exanthematic typhus,? 
but probably the introduction at a particular time of the specific poison of 
typhus was a mere coincidence. But, doubtless, the same foul state of the 
air which aids the spread of the one disease would aid also that of the other. 

When hospital gangrene has appeared, it is sometimes extremely difficult 
to get rid of it. Hammond? states that in a ward of the New York City 
Hospital, where hospital gangrene had appeared, removal of the furniture 
and patients did not prevent fresh patients being attacked. Closing the 
ward for some time and white-washing had no effect. The plastering was 
then removed, and fresh plaster applied, but still cases recurred. At 
last the entire walls were taken down and rebuilt, and then no more cases 
occurred. 

It is now well known that by the freest ventilation, 7.e., by treating men 
in tents or in the open air, hospital gangrene can be entirely avoided.* 
The occurrence of hospital gangrene in a tent is a matter of the rarest 
occurrence. 

(c) Air rendered Impure by Combustion.—Of the products of combustion 
which pass into the general atmosphere, the carbon dioxide and monoxide 
are so largely and speedily diluted that it is not likely they can have any 
influence on health. The particles of carbon and tarry matter, and the 
sulphur dioxide, must be the active agents if any injury results. It has 
been supposed that the molecular carbon and the sulphur dioxide, instead of 
being injurious, may even be useful as disinfectants, and we might a priori 
conclude that toa certain extent they must so act ; but certainly there is 
no evidence that the smoky air of our cities, or of our colliery districts, is 
freer from the poisons of the chief specific diseases than the air of other 
places. It has been supposed, indeed, that the air of large cities is parti- 
cularly antagonistic to malaria, and it is true that they have less diphtheria, 
in this country, than the rural districts, but there are probably other 


1 For Dr Lawson’s views on the effects of clothing, see Chapter on PREVENTION OF DISEASE, 

2 See Guillemin, Recueil de Mémoires de Med. Ch. and Pharm. Militaires, No. 159, 1874. 

® On Hugiene, p. 172. ¥ 

4 See Chapter on HospiTats, and Professor Jiingken’s Address on Pyxmia, in the Sydenham 
Society Year-Book for 1862, p. 213; and Report on Hygiene, by Dr Parkes, in the Army 
Medical Report for 1862 (vol. iv.). 


164 AIR. 


causes acting in those cases. The solid particles of carbon, and the sulphur 
dioxide, may, on the other hand, have injurious effects. It is not right to 
ignore the mechanical effect of the fine powder of coal so constantly drawn 
into the lungs, and even the possibility of irritation of the lungs from 
sulphur dioxide. Certain it is, that persons with bronchitis and emphysema 
often feel at once the entrance into the London atmosphere ; and individual 
experience will probably lead to the opinion that such an atmosphere has 
some effect in originating attacks of bronchitis and in delaying recovery. 
But statistical evidence of the effect of smoky town atmospheres in pro- 
ducing lung affections on a large scale cannot be given, so many are the 
other conditions which complicate the problem. There is, however, no 
doubt of the evil effect of the London atmosphere during dense fogs: 
witness the effect upon the animals at the cattle show at Islington in 
December 1873, and the increased mortality from lung diseases during 
fogey weather. 

The effect of breathing the products of combustion, of gas especially, is 
more easily determined. In proportion to the amount of contamination of 
the air, many persons at once suffer from headache, heaviness, and oppres- 
sion. 

Bronchitic affections are frequently produced, which are often attributed 
to the change from the hot room to the cold air, but are really probably 
owing to the influence of the impure air of the room on the lungs. 

The effects of constantly inhaling the products of gas combustion may be 
seen in the case of workmen whose shops are dark, and who are compelled 
to burn gas during a large part of the day; the pallor, or even anzemia and 
general want of tone, which such men show is owing to the constant inhala- 
tion of an atmosphere so impure. 

(d) Air rendered Impure by the Gas and Effluvia from Sewers and 
House Drains.—Cases of asphyxia from hydrogen sulphide, ammonium 
sulphide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen (or possibly rapid poisoning from 
organic vapours), occasionally occur both in sewers and from the opening 
of old cesspools. In a case at Clapham, the clearing out of a privy pro- 
duced in twenty-three children violent vomiting and purging, headache, and 
great prostration, and convulsive twitchings of the muscles. Two died in 
twenty-four hours.! 

These are instances of mephitic poisoning in an intense degree ; but 
when men have breathed the air of a newly opened drain in much smaller 
amounts, marked effects are sometimes produced; languor and loss of 
appetite are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, colic, and prostration. The 
effuvia which have produced these symptoms are usually those arising 
from a drain which has been blocked for some time. When the air of 
sewers penetrates into houses, and especially into the bed-rooms, it 
certainly causes a greatly impaired state of health, especially in children. 
They lose appetite, become pale and languid, and suffer from diarrhea ; 
older persons suffer from headaches, malaise, and feverishness ; there is 
often some degree of anemia, and it is clear that the process of aération of 
the blood is not perfectly carried on.? 

In some cases decided febrile attacks lasting three or four days, and 
attended with great headache and anorexia, have been known. Houses 
into which there has been a continued escape of sewer air have been so 


1 Health of Towns Report, vol. i. p. 139. : 1 
2 Health of Towns Report. See especially the evidence of Rigby, vol. i. p. 151, and of 
Aldis, vol. i. p. 115. 


EFFECTS OF SEWER AIR ON HEALTH. 165 


notoriously unhealthy that no persons would live in them and this has 
not been only from the prevalence of fever, but from other diseases. Dr 
Marston (Medical Staff), in his excellent paper on the Fever of Malta,! tells 
us that when enteric fever broke out at the Fort of Lascaris, from the 
opening of a drain, other affections were simultaneously developed, viz., 
“diarrhoea, dysentery, slight pyrexial disorders, and diseases of the primary 
assimilative organs.” A close examination and analysis of the affections 
produced by the inhalation of sewer air would probably much enlarge this 
list ; and the class of affections resulting from this cause, to which it may be 
difficult to assign a nosological name, will be found to be essentially con- 
nected with derangement of the digestive rather than with the pulmonary 
system. 

Dr Herbert Barker? attempted to submit this question to experiment by 
conducting the air of a cesspoo] into a box where animals were confined. 
The analysis of the air showed the presence of CO,, hydrogen sulphide, and 
ammonium sulphide. The reaction of the gas was usually neutral, some- 
times alkaline. The gas was sometimes offensive, so that organic vapours 
were probably present ; but no analysis appears to have been made on this 
point. Three dogs and a mouse were experimented on; the latter was let 
down over the cesspool, and died on the fifth day. The three dogs were 
confined in the box; they all suffered from vomiting, purging, and a febrile 
condition, which, Dr Barker says, ‘‘ resembled the mrrilcice fornis of continued 
fever common to the dirty and ill-ventilated homes of the lower classes of 
the community.” But the effects required some time and much gas for 
their production. Dr Barker attributes the results, not to the organic 
matter, but to the mixture of the three gases, and specially to the latter 
two. 

The effect on the men who work in sewers which are not blocked, or 
temporarily impure from exceptional disengagement of hydrogen sulphide 
from any cause,*® has been sale) ae tomuch debate. The air in many sewers 
in London is not very impure; the analyses of Letheby and Miller have 
shown that generally the amount of CO, is very little in excess of that in 
the external air, and that there is hardly a trace of hydrogen sulphide or 
of foetid organic effluvia. The air in the house drains is often, in fact, 
more impure than that of the main sewers. This is the case also in other 
places, and is to be accounted for by the numerous openings in the sewers, 
from the porosity of the walls, from the continual ventilation produced by 
the air being drawn into houses, and from the amount of water in the 
sewers being often so great, and its flow so rapid, as to materially lessen 
the chances of generation of gas. The evidence is, on the whole, opposed 
to the view that sewer-men suffer in health in consequence of their occupa- 
tion. Thackrah stated+ that sewer-men were not subject to any disease 
(apart from asphyxia) and were not short-lived. He cited no evidence. 
Parent-Duchatelet ° came, on the whole, to the same conclusion as regards 
the sewer-men of Paris in 1836. He said that there were some men so 


lArmy Med. Report for 1861, p. 486. 2 Malaria and Miasmata, 1863, p. 176 ef seq. 

* Fatal cases have occurred bath 3 in London and Liverpool sewers from ‘the rapid evolution 
of SH,, either from gas liquid, or, in Liverpool, from the action of acids passing into the 
sewers, and meeting with sulphide of calcium in the refuse derived from alkali manufactories. 

4 The Effects of Arts, Trades, and Professions on Health, 1832, p. 118. 

5 Hygizne Publique, vol. i. p. 247 (1836). The conclusions of Parent-Duchatelet are not 
entirely justified by his evidence. The number of men he examined was small, and many of 
them had been employed for a short time only in the sewers ; it also appeared that a consider- 
able number had actually suffered from bilious and cerebral affections. (See the former 
editions of this work.) 


166 AIR. 


affected by the air of sewers that they could never work in them; but 
those who could remain suffered only from a little ophthalmia, lumbago, 
and perhaps sciatica. They considered otherwise their occupation not 
only innocent, but as favourable to health. The only fact adverse to this 
seemed to be that the air of the sewer greatly aggravated venereal disease, 
and those who persisted in working with disease on them inevitably 
perished. The working in deep, old sewage matter produced an eruption 
on the parts bathed by the mud, which resembled itch sometimes, or was 
phlyctenoid in character. 

A more recent inquiry conducted into the health of the sewer-men in 
London did not detect any excess of disease among them,! and in Liverpool 
also the sewer-men are said to have good health. The workmen employed 
at the various sewage outfalls, who, though not in the sewers, breathe the 
effluvia arising from the settling tanks, do not find it an unhealthy occupation. 

It does not, appear, therefore, that at present the workmen connected 
with fairly ventilated sewers show any excess of disease ; at the same time, 
it must be allowed that the inquiry has not been very rigorously prosecuted, 
and that the length of time the men work in sewers, their average yearly 
mortality, discharge from sickness, loss of time from sickness, and the effect 
produced on their expectation of life, have not been perfectly determined. 

The airof sewers passing into houses ageravates most decidedly the severity 
of all the exanthemata—erysipelas, hospital g gangrene, and puerperal fever 

(Rigby); and it has probably an injurious “effect on all diseases. That 
pneumonia may be produced is shown by the case of the East Sheen School. 

Two special diseases have been supposed to arise from the air of sewers 
and feecal emanations, viz., diarrhea and enteric fever. 

With regard to the production of diarrhcea from fecal emanations, it 
would seem that the autumnal diarrhcea of this country is intimately con- 
nected with temperature,? and usually commences when the thermometer 
is persistently above 60°, and when there is, at the time, a scarcity of rain- 
fall. It is worst in the badly-sewered districts, and is least in well-drained 
districts, and in wet years. It has been checked in London by a heavy fall 
of rain. All those points seem to connect it with feecal emanations reaching 
a certain rapidity of evolution in consequence of high temperature, deficient 
rain, and perhaps relative dryness of the atmosphere. At the same time, 
there is a connection between this disease and impure water. It may own 
a double origin, and in a dry season both causes may be in operation. 

That enteric fever may arise from the effluvia from sewers is a doctrine 
very generally admitted in this country, and is supported by strong 
evidence. There are several cases on record in which this fever has con- 


stantly prevailed in houses exposed to sewage emanations, either from bad, 


sewers or from want of them, and in which proper sewerage has completely 
removed the fever. Many of these cases occurred before the water-carriage 


1 Tn reference to this point, however, a writer in the Lancet (April 1872) very justly pointed 
out that the statistics are very imperfect in taking no notice of men who have been discharged 
or who have died. 

2 Ransome and Vernon, Influence of Atmosph. Changes on Dis., p. 3. 

2 In Health of Towns Repor ts and Bvidence, Sir J. Simon’s Repor: ts, Dr Letheby’s Reports, 
Sir H. Acland’s Reports on Fevers in Agricultural Districts, and the Reports of the Medical 
Officer to the Privy Council, will be found abundant evidence in support of this assertion. 
Many provincial towns in England could give similar evidence,as Norwich. (See Dr 
Richardson’s Report, Medical Times and Gaz zette, Jan. 1862.) The case of Calstock, in 
Devonshire, may be also noted. It used to be also liable to outbreaks of enteric fever, but 
after the drainage of the place the fever disappeared. (Bristowe, in Z’rans. of Epid. Soc., vol. 
i. p. 396.) Murchison not only adopted this view, but even proposed to give the term “ pytho- 
genic fever” to enteric. 


EFFECTS OF SEWER AIR ON HEALTH. 167 


of enteric fever was recognised, but yet the connection between the sewage 
emanation and the fever seems undoubted. 

This evidence is supported by cases in which the opening of a drain has 
given rise to decided enteric fever,! as well as to a very fatal disease (pro- 
bably severe enteric) in which coma is a marked symptom. So also in 
some instances (Windsor and Worthing)? the spread of enteric fever has 
evidently been owing to the conveyance of effluvia into houses by the 
agency of unyentilated sewers. In a case from private information, an 
outbreak of enteric fever in a training-school was localised in certain parts 
of the school (whereas the drinking water was common to all), and was 
traced to imperfection of traps in those parts of the house which were 
affected. In this case the drains Jed down to a large tank at some distance, 
and at a much lower level, and the smell of the effluvia was so slight that 
at first it was not believed that the drains could be out of order. A very 
good case is given by Surgeon Page,® late 6th Dragoons, in his description 
of an outbreak of enteric fever at Newbridge, following discontinuance of 
the use (on account of repairs) of a ventilating shaft for the sewers. Sewer- 
air got into the barracks, and several cases (some fatal) of enteric fever 
occurred. Other possible causes were carefully inquired into and elimin- 
ated.* These two classes of facts seem decidedly to show a causal connec- 
tion between the efiluvia from sewers and enteric fever, and they are 
supported by the statistical evidence which proves that the prevalence of 
enteric fever stands in a close relation to the imperfection with which 
sewage matters are removed. The army statistics give excellent imstances 
of this, and the evidence produced by Dr Buchanan of the prevalence of 
enteric fever before and after sewerage of a town is to the same effect.? 

The persistent existence of enteric fever at Eastney barracks, Portsmouth, 
appears to have been traceable to sewer air driven back into the quarters by 
the tide, there being no traps or ventilating openings. Since October 1878, 
when the drains were put in better order, and better flushed and ventilated, 
there has been no fever.° 

German writers have lately commented much upon the view that there 
is a connection between sewer air and enteric fever, and reference may be 
specially made to the papers of Soyka, Renk, A. de Rozsahegyi, and Lissauer.’ 
Their contention is that enteric fever is not due to the influence of sewer 
air, because it is rare that such air gets into houses; and experiments are 
cited to prove this. It is, however, admitted and demonstrated by Soyka, 
in the tables which he gives, that a similar improvement in the health of 
towns has followed the introduction of proper drainage in the cities of 
Germany as has been observed in this country. This is attributed to the 
cleansing of the soil and the atmosphere by the removal of the sewage 
matter, although they still insist upon the essentially local or topical 
character of the disease. Von Niageli® positively denies the possibility of 


1 For references to illustrative cases, see 5th edition of this work, p. 128, note. 

2 Ninth Report of Medical Officer to the Privy Council, p. 44. 

® Army Med. Report, vol. xv. p. 301. 

4 An outbreak at Kinsale, apparently due to sewer efiluvia, is narrated by Surgeon-Major 
Pe atace, Army Med. Reports, vol. xvii. p. 55. The inquiry seems to have been very carefully 
made. 

5 Ninth Report of Medical Officer to the Privy Council, p. 44. In twenty-one English towns 
the average reduction of enteric mortality after sewerage was 45°4 per cent. In many of the 
towns an improved water supply was introduced at the same time, but the purification of the 
air by sewerage and cleanliness has, it is believed by Buchanan, “ been most uniformly followed 
by a fall in the prevalence of typhoid.” 

6 See “ Report on Hygiene,” A.M.D. Reports, vol. xx. p. 222. 

7 Deutsche Vierteljahrschrift fir offentliche Gesundheitspflege, 1881. 

8 Die Niederen Pilz, 1877, p. 215 et sez. 


168 ATR. 


specific disease being conveyed through emanations from drains or cess- 
pools. 

Although it seems difficult not to admit that the effluvia from the sewers 
will produce enteric fever, there are yet some remarkable facts which can 
be cited on the other side. 

It has been denied by Parent-Duchatelet and by Guy ! that enteric fever 
Js more common among sewer-men than others, and later inquiries among 
the sewer-men of London seem to bear out the assertion. But, as already 
stated, the air of London sewers is really tolerably pure; and some of the 
men may be protected by previous attacks, for enteric fever is a most 
common disease among the poorer children in London. Murchison? and 
Peacock also stated, on the other side, that enteric fever was not uncommon 
among sewer-men. This argument, therefore, is not of great weight. 

The evidence is very strong that the men employed at the sewage tanks 
and on the sewage farms, and their families, do not show an unusual amount 
of enteric fever; nor do the persons living in adjacent houses. Now, if 
sewage emanations can cause enteric fever, it might be expected that we 
should by this time have had plenty of evidence of this special effect. 
Again, in our rural villages, and in many farm houses, the excreta of men 
and animals literally cover the ground, and it might have been anticipated 
that enteric fever would never beabsent. If this is the case in this country, 
it is still more so in China, where the excreta are so carefully stored and 
applied to land. In a report made by various medical officers, the writers 
state that, in Chinese villages surrounded with excreta, where the contamina- 
tion of the air by feecal emanations is very great, there is no enteric fever. 
And as enteric is well known in other parts of China, the absence is not 
owing to any peculiarity of climate preventing the appearance of the 
fevers, 

We have, then, counter-facts which must be allowed to be of considerable 
weight. Any explanation, to be satisfactory, must not ignore one set of 
facts, but must impartially include both. 

The possibility that the adult persons submitted to sewage emanations 
may have had enteric fever in early life, and are therefore insusceptible, 
may explain some cases of escape, even when feecal emanations are constantly 
breathed. But it would be impossible to extend this argument to the cases 
of immunity in children, unless we suppose that enteric fever in children 
is constantly overlooked, and is as common as measles, which seems 
unlikely. 

It has been supposed that there is an essential difference when animal 
and vegetable substances are decomposing in covered places and in the open 
air.t It is evident that the physical conditions will be widely different in 
the two cases. In underground channels there is greater mean temperature, 
more moisture, and a more stagnant atmosphere. In the open air, while 
there may be heat from the sun’s rays, this may restrain putrefaction ; 
while the coldness of the nights and the much greater movement and dry- 
ness of the air may hinder the formation or lessen the chance of reception 
of any fever-causing substance developed during the putrefaction. At first 
sight, there appears to be much in favour of this view, and it would explain 


1 Journal of the Statistical Society, 1848. 2 On Fevers, p. 453. 

3 See Reports by Drs Miller and Manson, for Shanghai and Amoy, in the Customs Gazette 
of China, July-Sept. 1871. 

4 Thisis the view taken in the Second Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts. 
From an inquiry in most of the large cities of that state, the conclusion is drawn that it is 
putrefaction of animal and vegetable substances, under cover, which gives enteric fever. 


EFFECTS OF SEWER AIR ON HEALTH. 169 


the greater chance there appears to be of efiluvia coming from sewers 
causing enteric fever than when the effluvia came from excreta in the open 
air. But it does not meet two undoubted facts, viz., that there are cases 
in which sewer air is breathed without causing enteric fever, and the 
occasional severe outbreaks of it in villages without sewers, and where there 
is no putrefaction under cover. 

That the importation of enteric fever into places previously free for years 
is followed by outbreak! is quite certain. In many of these cases, as in the 
excellent instance at Steyning, recorded by Whitely,? all the conditions of 
accumulated sewage, &c., which are supposed to produce enteric fever, were 
present for years, and yet no fever resulted. Then a patient came from a 
distance with enteric fever, and the disease spread through the village, 
either through the medium of the water (as is perhaps most common) or 
through the air. These instances are so numerous that the entrance of a 
fresh agent must be admitted, and if so, the series of events becomes quite 
intelligible. 

The doctrine that a specific cause is necessary for the production of enteric 
fever ; that this cause is present in the intestinal discharges, and that sewers 
and feecal effluvia, and feecal impregnation of water, are thereby the channels 
by which this specific cause reaches the body of a susceptible person (2.e., 
of a person who has not previously had the disease), will be found to explain 
almost all the events which have been recorded in connection with the origin 
of enteric fever. 

There are, however, still some difficulties. There are instances in which 
enteric fever arises from sewer air without any possibility of tracing the 
entrance of a person with the disease.? Sometimes, as in the case of an 
isolated house in the country, it seems most difficult to believe that any 
such entrance could have taken place. It must, however, be remembered 
that the carriage of the “contagion” takes place in so many ways that it 
is impossible always to trace it. In the case of enteric fever, the stools are 
not only infectious during the height of the disease, but probably during 
the early period of recovery; and the disease itself is also often so slight 
that persons move about, and believe they have only an attack of diarrheea. 
Again, the frequent journeying from place to place exposes all persons to a 
greater chance of inhaling the enteric effluvia, and the real source of the 
disease may be far removed from the place which is actually suspected. 

There are, again, cases in which enteric fever occurs in persons who have 
not been exposed apparently to sewer air, or feecal emanations, or to the 
charge of any enteric contagion. Dr Gordon Hardie has recorded two cases 
of this kind in soldiers attacked during imprisonment. Such cases can only 
be explained either by supposing an incubative period of extraordinary 
length, or an origin apart altogether either from feecal emanations or a prior 
case of the disease. 

Admitting, however, that there are still difficulties to be explained by 
future observation, it seems clear that the theory of a specific cause repro- 
ducing itself in the intestines and contained in the discharges, and naturally, 
therefore, connected more or less closely with excreta and sewers, and some- 
times with drinking water, is that which best meets the facts which have 
been most faithfully reported in outbreaks of enteric fever. The evidence 


1 The cases recorded sixty years ago by Bretonneau have been confirmed by many observa- 
tions since. 

2 From the Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, p. 43. 

3 Ranke admits the possibility of spontaneous origin of enteric fever, but thinks it spreads 
more frequently through air than any other way. 


L7G AIR. 


of the carriage of a cause of this kind in water strongly supports this 
view. 

(e) Emanations from Fecal Matter thrown on the Ground.—Owing, 
doubtless, to the rapid movement of the air, there is no doubt that the 
excreta of men and animals thrown on the ground and exposed to the 
open air are less hurtful than sewer air, and probably in proportion to 
the dilution. 

When there are accumulations in close courts, small back-yards, &e., the 
same effects are produced as by sewer air, and many instances are recorded 
in the Health of Towns Report. When fecal matters are used for manure, 
and are therefore speedily mixed with earth, they seldom produce bad effects. 
Owing, doubtless, to the great deodorising and absorbing powers of earth, 
effluyia soon cease to be given off. An instance is, however, on record in 
which two cases of enteric fever were supposed to arise from the manuring 
of an adjacent field. Dr Clouston has also shown by evidence, which seems 
very strong, that dysentery was produced in an asylum by the exhalations 
from sewage, which was spread over the ground (a stiff brick clay subsoil) 
about 300 yards from the asylum. The case seems a very convincing one, 
as the possibility of the action of other causes (impure water, bad food, &c.) 
was excluded. This is a point on which more evidence is desirable. It is 
stated in some works that disease is frequently produced by the manuring 
of the ground, but there seems to be no satisfactory evidence of this. On 
the other hand, Dr A. Carpenter showed, from the history of Beddington 
sewage farm, that no harm to the neighbourhood had accrued from the 
irrigation with the Croydon sewage during twenty years, and subsequent 
experience has only confirmed his statements. It has been said that if the 
sewage matter can be applied while perfectly fresh to the ground, no harm 
results ; but if decomposition has fully set in, it is not so completely 
deodorised by the ground.? In China, where feecal matter is so constantly 
applied in agriculture, the air is often filled with very pungent effluvia, yet 
no bad effect is produced.? 

(f) Emanation from Streams polluted by Fecal Matter.—The evidence 
on this point is contradictory. Parent-Duchatelet, in 1822,+ investigated 
the effect produced on the health of the inhabitants of the Faubourg St 
Marceau, in Paris, by the almost insupportable effluvia arising from the 
Riviere de Biévre, which received a large portion of the sewage of the 
quarter. He asserts that the health was not at all damaged, though he 
admits that there is truth in the old tradition at the Hotel Dieu, that the 
cases from St Marceau were more severe than from any other place. 

Dr M‘William found that the emanations from the Thames in 1859- 60 
had no deleterious effect on the health of the Custom-House men employed 
on the river. The amount of diarrhcea was even below the average. 

Sir R. Rawlinson states® that a careful house-to-house visitation had 
been made in some of the worst districts of Lancashire (in Manchester, on 
the banks of the Medlock, for instance) without finding any great excess of 
disease. 

On the other hand, in the reports of Sir H. De la Beche and Dr Lyon 
Playfair ® is some strong evidence that the general health of the people 


; 


1 The Utilisation of Town Sewage by Surface Irrigation, by A. Carpenter, M.D., Trans. 


Internat. Medical Congress, London, 1881, vol. iv. 2 See chapter on SEWAGE. 
> Dr A. Jamieson’s ‘‘ Report on the Health of Shanghai for the half-year ending September 
1870, ” China Customs Gazette for 1870, Shanghai, 1871. 4 Hugiéene Publique, p. 98. 


® Report of Committee on Sewage, 1864, p. 174, Question 3997. 
6 Second Report of the Health of Towns Commission, pp. 261 and 347. 


EFFECTS OF SEWAGE IMPURITIES IN STREAMS. el 


suffered from the emanations of the putrid streams of the Frome and the 
tributaries of the Irk and Medlock; that they were pale, in many cases 
dyspeptic ; that fevers (enteric) prevailed on the banks is asserted by 
some observers, but rather doubted by others ; but none seem to have any 
doubt that the fevers when they occurred were much worse. Cholera in 
Manchester was severe along the banks of some of these streams, but that 
might have been from the water being drunk. In 1858, also, Dr Ord! 
observed that a large number of the men employed on the Thames were 
affected by the effluvia, the symptoms being languor and depression, followed 
by nausea and headache, aching of the eyeballs, and redness and swelling 
of the throat. Diarrhoea was rare. In 1859 these symptoms were not 
observed, though the state of the river was worse. Were they then really 
caused by the effluvia in 1858 ? 

It is very likely that the discrepancy of evidence may arise from the 
amount of water which dilutes the feecal matter being much greater in 
some cases than others. In the case of the Thames, the dilution was after 
all very great, and this was the case, in part at any rate, in the Bievre, as 
the stream was in some places 6 and 7 feet deep. The evaporation from 
such a body of water, however offensive it may be, must be a very different 
thing from the effluvia coming off from the masses of organic matter laid 
bare by the almost complete drying up of streams into which quantities of 
feecal matter are discharged. When sewage matter is poured into the sea, 
and washed back by the tide, it becomes a source of danger. 

It was remarkable in the evidence given before the Royal Commission 
on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, 1882-84, how little direct proof of 
specific disease, due to the pollution of the Thames, was obtained, although 
there was no doubt about the production of nausea and diarrheea, and other 
minor evils. Indeed, the Commissioners themselves had good proof of this, 
for, after a trip of inspection from Woolwich to Greenhithe in July 1884, 
three of them and their clerk were seized with griping pains and smart 
diarrhoea the same night, caused apparently by the offensive state of the 
fiver.” 

(g) Effect of Manure Manufactories.—The manure manufactories at 
present existing in this country do not appear to produce any bad effects. 
They are generally at some little distance from towns, and the effluvia are 
soon diluted. The Secretary of the Hyde Manure Company stated that 
while the works were in operation no bad effects were observed. But if 
situated in towns they are nuisances, and may be hurtful. In 1847 evi- 
dence was given to show that a manure manufactory situated in Spitalfields, 
and about 100 feet from the workhouse, caused bad diarrhoea whenever 
the wind blew in that direction, and 12 cases of ‘‘spontaneous gangrene ” (!) 
which had appeared among children were attributed to it. The cases 
of disease in the workhouse infirmary also acquired, it is said, a malignant 
and intractable character.’ In France the workmen engaged in the making 
of “poudrette” do not in any way suffer, except from slight ophthalmia.* 
Parent-Duchatelet® (on very slight evidence indeed) thought the emanations 


1 Trans. Social Science Association, 1859, p. 571. 

2 See Appendix to Second Report, &c., op. cit.; 

% Medical Gazette, December 1847. 

4 Parent-Duchitelet; Patissier. See also Tardieu, Dict. d’ Hygiene, t. iv. p. 453. Tardieu, 
in 1862, writes—‘‘ We do not hesitate to affirm that the exhalations from these manufactories 
(voiries) exercise no injurious action either on man or vegetation.” But it must be remem- 
bered that these places are excellently conducted; ventilation is good, and the fecal matter 
is soon subjected to processes which prevent its decomposition. 

5 Hyg. Publique, t. ii. p. 276. 


Lz AIR. 


were even beneficial in some diseases, and Tardieu seems inclined to support 
this opinion. When the poudrette is decomposing, and large quantities 
are brought into small spaces, as on board ship, serious consequences may 
certainly result. Parent-Duchatelet records two cases of outbreaks on 
board ships carrying poudrette which fermented on the voyage ; one vessel, 
the “‘ Arthur,” lost half her crew (number not known), and the rest were 
in a state of deplorable health ; the men who unloaded the cargo were also 
affected. ‘The symptoms are not recorded ; but, in a smaller vessel, where 
all on board (5) were similarly affected, the disease put on the appearance 
of “‘an adynamic fever.” There was intense pain of the head and of all the 
limbs, vomiting, g ereat prostration, and in two cases severe diarrhoea. These 
symptoms are very similar to those already mentioned as produced in the 
children at Clapham by the opening of a privy. In bone manure factories 
it has been shown that arsenic is given off in the fumes in considerable 
quantity, arising from the use of impure sulphuric acid. 

(h) The Air of Graveyards.—There is some evidence that the disturbance 
of even ancient places of sepulture may give rise to disease. Vicq d’Azyr 
refers to an epidemic in Auvergne caused by the opening of an old cemetery ; 
the removal of the old burial-place of a convent in Paris produced illness in 
the inhabitants of the adjoining houses.2 In India, the cantonment at 
Sukkur was placed on an ancient Mussulman burial-ground, and the station 
was most unhealthy,’ especially from fevers. : 

The effect of effluvia from comparatively recent putrefying human bodies 
has been observed by many writers. Rammazzini+ states that sextons 
entering places where there are putrefying corpses are subject to malignant 
fevers, asphyxia, and suffocating catarrhs ; Fourcroy remarks that there are 
a thousand instances of the pernicious effects of cadaveric exhalations ; and 
Tardieu ® has collected a very considerable number of cases, not only of 
asphyxia, but of several febrile affections produced by exhumations and dis 
turbance of bodies. Mr Chadwick,® and the General Board of Health,‘ 
also summed up evidence, which showed that in churchyards thickly crowded 
with dead, vapours were given off which, if not productive of any specific 
disease, yet increased the amount both of sickness and mortality. In some 
instances, this might have been from contamination of the drinking water ; 
but in other cases, as in the houses bordering the old city graveyards, 
where the water was supplied by public companies, the air also must have 
been in fault. In the houses which closely bordered the old city yards, 
which were crowded with bodies, cholera was very fatal in 1849,° and, 
according to some practitioners, no cases recovered. All other diseases in 
these localities were said to have assumed a very violent and unfavourable 
type. Hirt says, on the other hand, that when grave-diggers are protected 
from the acute effects of carbon dioxide, their calling is not unhealthy ; 
their death-rate he gives at 17 per 1000, and their mean duration of life 
at 58-60 years. This, however, is in Germany, where, as he admits, there 
is less crowding of graveyards than in England or France. Nigeli, arguing 
probably from ‘similar data, thinks that graveyards may exist in the midst 
of towns without danger to health, provided precautions be taken with 


1 Ona the Presence of Arsenic in the Vapours of Bone Manure, by James Adams, M.D., 1876, 


Xe. 2 Tardieu, Dict. @W@ Hygiene, i. p. 517 
* Norman Chevers, Luropean Soldiers in India, p. 404. 
4 Maladies des Artizans, p. 71. 5 Dict. @ Hygiene, 1862, t. iii. p. 463 et seq. 
6 Report on Interments in Towns. 7 Report on Latramural Sepulture, 1850. 


8S. Smith and Sutherland’s Reon ts on Extramural Interment, p. 12. See also Suther- 
land’s #eport on Cholera, 1850, p. 27. 


EFFECTS OF EFFLUVIA FROM DECOMPOSING ANIMALS. 73 


reference to the drainage and ventilation of the soil. Some writers have 
attributed the origin of Dengue to decomposing dead bodies insuticiently 
buried (Christie). 

(‘) Effluvia from Decomposing Animals.—On this pot there is some 
discrepancy of evidence. 

In 1810 Deyeux, Parmentier, and Pariset gave evidence to show that 
the workmen in knackeries are in no way injured. Parent-Duchatelet, 
from his examination of the health of the men employed at the knackery 
and slaughter-house at Montfaucon, came also to the conclusion that their 
health was not affected. It should be mentioned that this knackery is 
remarkably well placed for ventilation, and is excellently conducted ; putrid 
remains, in the proper sense of the word, do not now exist in any knackery 
in or near Paris ; the workmen are well paid and well fed, and are therefore 
prepared to bear the effect of any injurious effluvia. It has been stated, 
however, that in the Hétel Dieu the patients used to suffer when the wind, 
loaded with effluvia, blew from Montfaucon (Henry Bennet). Tardieu, 
from a late re-examination of the question, confirms Parent’s conclusions,! 
except as regards glanders and malignant pustule, touching which Parent- 
Duchatelet’s evidence was as usual negative. Tardieu,? however, states 
that many examples occur in the French knackeries of the transmission of 
these diseases, though glanders and farcy are less frequently caught in 
knackeries than in stables. No analysis has yet been made of the air of 
knackeries. i 

Parent-Duchatelet*® is also often quoted as having proved that the 
exposure of the remains of 4000 horses, killed in the battle of Paris in 1814, 
produced no bad effects. These horses were killed on the 30th March, and 
were burnt on the 10th and 12th April. They gave out “‘une odeur 
infecte,” which produced no bad results on those who collected the bodies. 
Parent-Duchatelet inquired particularly whether typhus was produced by 
the effluvium, and proved that it was not,—a conclusion conformable to our 
present doctrine. He did not, however, do more than examine the registers 
of deaths of the three years before, during, and after the battle, and found 
no evidence for increased mortality. The utmost this observation shows is, 
that no typhus was produced, and that the amount of decomposition, 
caused by eleven days of hot weather, did not affect those concerned in 
collecting and burning the bodies. 

On the other hand, the experience of many campaigns, where soldiers 
have been exposed to the products of an advanced putrefaction of horses, 
shows that there is a decided influence on health. Pringle especially 
noticed this; and in many subsequent campaigns this condition has been 
one of the causes of insalubrity. Diarrhoea and dysentery are the principal 
diseases ; but all affections are increased in severity. At the siege of 
Sebastopol, where, in the French camp, a great number of bodies of horses 
lay putrefying on the ground, Reynal* describes the effect as disastrous, 
and even conjectures that the spread of typhus was connected with this 
condition, though this is unlikely. 

(k) Air of Brickfields and Cement Works.—The peculiar smell of brick- 
fields cannot be owing to carbon dioxide or monoxide, or to hydrogen 
sulphide or sulphur dioxide (the gases evolved from the kilns) ; but its 
exact cause is not known. The air, at its exit from the chimneys of fur- 
naces and kilns, is rapidly fatal ; but so rapid is its ascension, dilution, and 


1 Dict. d Hygiene, t. iv. p. 468, 2 Op. cit., t. iv. p. 468. 7 
2 Dict. d Hygiene, t. i. p. 47. 4 Tardieu, Dict. d’Hygiene, t. ii. p. 121. 


174 ATR. 


diffusion, that at a little distance it is respirable. In almost all the actions 
against the owners of brickfields nothing more than a nuisance has been 
established, and this not in the legal sense. The smoke and gases from 
cement works, however, destroy neighbouring vegetation. The smell can 
be perceived for several hundred yards. In the north of France it is 
ordered that no kilns shall be within 50 metres (543 yards) of a public 
road ; and the kilns are lighted only at night. 

(1) Air of Tallow-Makers, Boneburners, §c.—In many trades of this kind 
large quantities of very disagreeable animal vapours are produced, which 
spread for a long distance, and are most disagreeable. Although a nuisance, 
it is dificult to bring forward positive evidence of insalubrity. But the 
odour is so bad that in France rules are in force to oblige the vapours to be 
condensed or consumed,? and if in the process any water is contaminated 
with fatty acids, it is neutralised with lime. M. Foucon has figured an 
apparatus which completely burns the animal vapours.? 

(m) Air of Marshes.—It seems scarcely necessary to allude to this point, 
except to notice that, in addition to paroxysmal fevers, it has been supposed 
that serous diarrhoea (a sort of dysenteria incruenta) and true bloody 
dysentery, are produced by malaria. Also that there is perhaps some 
connection between malaria and liver abscess (?). The breathing of marsh 
air also may produce an imperfect condition of nutrition, in which enlarged 
spleen plays a prominent part, and the mean duration of life is shortened. 

(n) Unknown Conditions of the Atmosphere.—Occfsionally, outbreaks of 
disease occur from impurities of the atmosphere, the nature of which is not 
known, though the causes giving rise to them may be obvious. Dr Majer 
records a case of a school at Ulm, of sixty or seventy boys, where the 
greater number were suddenly affected, on a warm day in May, with 
similar symptoms—giddiness, headache, nausea, shivering, trembling of the 
limbs, sometimes fainting. The attack occurred again the next day, and a 
common cause was certain. The room was enclosed by walls, in a narrow 
space, where the snow had lain all the winter: the wall was covered with 
fungous vegetation, and with salts from the mortar. From the sudden 
entrance of warm weather, fermentation had set in, and a strong marshy 
smell was produced; the substances of whatever kind generated in this 
way accumulated in the narrow, ill-ventilated space. Removal to a 
healthier locality at once cured the disease. 


At Southampton the smell is perceptible at a distance of two miles. 
Vernois, Hygiene Indus., t. ii. p. 60. 
3 Pappenheim’s Beit. der Sanitat. Pol., Heft ii. 


no 


CHAPTER V. 
VENTILATION. 


Tue term ventilation is not always used in the same sense. By some it is 
applied to the dilution and removal of all impurities which can collect in 
the air of inhabited rooms. The most common causes of such impurities are 
the respiration and cutaneous transpiration of men, the products of combus- 
tion of lights, the effluvia of simple uncleanliness of rooms or persons, the 
products of the solid or liquid excreta retained in the room, or, in hospital, 
discharges from the body or from dressings. In addition there may be special 
conditions which allow impure air to flow into a room, as from the basement 
of a house, from imperfectly trapped soil and waste pipes, or from other 
impurities outside a house. 

It will be desirable, however, to restrict the term ventilation to the removal 
or dilution, by a supply of pure air, of the pulmonary and cutaneous exhala- 
tions of men, and of the products of combustion of lights in ordinary dwell- 
ings, to which must be added, in hospitals, the additional effluvia which 
proceed from the persons and discharges of the sick. All other causes of 
impurity of air ought to be excluded by cleanliness, proper removal of solid 
and liquid excreta, and attention to the conditions surrounding dwellings. 

The subject of ventilation may be conveniently considered under the 
following heads :— 

1. The quantity of fresh air required for the purposes defined above. 

2. The mode in which this quantity may be supplied. 

3. The method of examining whether ventilation is sufficient or not; in 
other words, ascertaining that the air of inhabited rooms is pure according 
to a certain standard. This will form the subject of a separate section. 


SECTION I. 
QUANTITY OF AIR REQUIRED. 


1. Quantity required to dilute or remove the respiratory impurities 
caused by healthy persons. 


The impurities added to the air by respiration have been already enume- 
rated. 

The CO, which a human being adds to the air he dwells in is not in 
itself an important impurity, the amount being too small to exercise much 
influence on health ; but it is practically in a constant ratio with the more 
important organic matter of respiration ;—and, as it is readily determined 
with sufficient accuracy for practical purposes, it is taken as a convenient 
index to the amount of the impurities.? 


1 For Army Regulation on Ventilation, see Book II. Chap. II. 

2 One of the earliest observers to recognise the value of carbonic acid as an index of purity 
appears to have been F. le Blane, whose memoir, Récherches sur la Conposition de V Air 
Conjiné (1842), is cited by General Morin. He appears to have had clearer notions as to 
the amount of air necessary than most of his contemporaries. 


176 VENTILATION. — 


Pettenkofer, whose experiments are still the most trustworthy, ascertained 
that a man of twenty-eight years of age, weighing 132 ib avoir., evolved per 
hour at night during repose 0°56 of a cubie foot of CO,, and 0°78 in the day 
time, using very moderate exertion :—during hard work the same man 
evolved 1°52 per hour. These amounts give the following :-— 


In repose, . . 0:00424 cub. ft. of CO, per tb of body-weight. 
In gentle exertion, 0:00591 is a4 at 
In hard work, . 0:01227 * a i 


These figures are nearly in the ratio of 2, 3, and 6, and this may serve as 
a guide to the proportions of fresh air required. If we now take the average 
weight of adult males at 150 Ib to 160 tb, adult females at 100 tb to 120 tb, 
and children at 60 tb to 80 tb, we should have the following amounts of 
CO, evolved per hour in repose :-— 


Adult males, t . 0:636 to 0°678 cubic foot. 
», females, . . 0°424 to 0-509 M 
Children, . : . 0254 to 0:339 ' 


The estimate for children is probably too little, as tissue change is more 
active in their case. 

For a mixed community a general average of 0°6 of a cubic foot per hour 
may be adopted ; but for adult males, such as soldiers, it is advisable to 
adopt 0-7 to 0°72. 

Taking the CO, as the measure of the impurity of the air vitiated by 
respiration and transpiration, in short, from the person in any way, we have 
to ask, What is to be considered the standard of purity of air in dwelling 
rooms? We cannot demand that the air of an inhabited room shall be 
absolutely as pure as the outside air; for nothing short of breathing in the 
open air can insure perfect purity at every respiration. In every dwelling- 
room there will be some impurity of air. 

The practical limit of purity will depend on the cost which men are 
willing to pay for it. If cost is disregarded, an immense volume of air can 
be supplied by mechanical contrivances, but there are comparatively few 
cases in which this could be allowed. 

Without, however, attempting too much, it may be fairly assumed that the 
quantity of air supplied to every inhabited room should be great enough to 
remove all sensible impurity, so that a person coming directly from the ex- 
ternal air should perceive no trace of odour, or difference between the room 
and the outside air in point of freshness. This is now pretty generally 
admitted as the most convenient practical standard, precautions being taken 
that the air space be entered directly from the external air, or as nearly so 
as possible, for the sense of smell is rapidly dulled. 

In a paper by Dr de Chaumont ? it is shown, from a large number of 
observations (473 analyses), that the sense of smell carefully employed gives 
a very fair idea of the amount of impurity in an air-space. In these experi- 
ments the amount of CO, in the external air was determined at the same 
time, so that the respiratory impurity was accurately known. Dividing 
the observations into groups, the following results were obtained :— 


1 Thus the carbonic acid in the air being taken at ‘04 per cent., and the carbonic acid of 
respiration being placed at ‘6 cubic feet in an hour, a man placed in a room of 1000 cubic feet 
of air must receive no less than 1,000,000 cubic feet of outside air in an hour to reduce the 
carbonic acid to the standard (nearly ‘0401 per cent.) of the fresh air.—‘ On Ventilation and 
Cubic Space,” by Dr de Chaumont, Assistant Professor of Hygiene, Army Medical School, 
Edinburgh Med. Jour., May 1867. 

2 “On the Theory of Ventilation,” Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 168, p. 187, 1875, 
and No. 171, 1876. 


AMOUNT OF AIR NECESSARY FOR VENTILATION. Wi 


4. Very close. 
1. Fresh, or not | 2. Rather close. 3. Close Organic matter 
differing sen- | Organic matter Onesie as offensive and Op- 
Sibly from the becoming disagreeable pressive ; limit of 
outer air. perceptible. * | differentiation by 
the senses. 
Mean CO, per 1000 vols. re- 
duced to 0° Cent.(=32°F.), 01948 0°4132 06708 0°9054 
due to respiratory impurity, 


It will thus be seen that the smell of organic matter is, on an average, 
perceptible to the sense of smell when the coincident CO,, due to respiratory 
(or personal) impurity, reaches 01943 per 1000; and that when it exceeds 
09054, smell is no longer able to detect shades of difference. We may 
therefore take 0:2 per 1000 in round numbers as the maximum amount of 
respiratory impurity admissible in a properly ventilated air space. 

Adopting, then, this standard as the measure of the permissible maximum 
of impurity, the next point is the quantity of pure external air which 
should pass through the air of a room, vitiated by respiration, per head per 
hour, in order to keep the CO, at this ratio, assuming a general average of 
0°6 of a cubic foot per head per hour to be given out. The following table 
gives the answer to this question, under different conditions of cubic space :— 
TABLE to show the degree of Contamrination of the Air (in terms of CO,) by Respiration, 


and the amount of air necessary to dilute to a given standard of 0°2 per 1000 volumes of 
air, exclusive of the amount originally present in the air. 


t Rati r 1000 A 
Be ies pacubie Gee) oa Amount of air necessary Ano Seen Q 
for one serson “in the end of one hour, if | to dilute to standard of 0°2 SinGleSRGl @HOAF MONEE 
eapicncers there pee no change during the first hour. after the first. 
100 6°00 2900 3000 
200 3°00 2800 3000 
300 2°00 2700 3000 
400 1°50 2600 3000 
500 1°20 2500 3000 
600 1°00 2400 3000 
700 0°86 2300 3000 
800 0°75 2200 3000 
900 0°67 2100 3000 
1000 0°60 2000 3000 


For the sake of simplicity, the CO, naturally in the air has been disregarded, 
but, of course, there would be actually in the air from 0°3 to 0°4 volumes per 
1000 more from this source. Thus (if we take it at 0-4), in the room of 100 
cubic feet, there would at the end of an hour (-04 + °6) =0°64 volumes, or 6°4 

per 1000, and in the room of 200 cubic feet there would be 0°34 volumes per 
cent., or 3°4 per 1000. The above table is calculated from this formula,! 


(pi=P)e_ gy 
| 


where p, = Respiratory impurity per 1000 volumes existing in the air space 
c, stated in terms of CO,. 

| p =Admissible limit of respiratory impurity, that is, 0:2 per 1000 
| volumes. 

| e = Air space, in cubic feet. 

d =Amount of fresh air required, in cubic feet. 


? See Dr F. de Chaumont’s papers in the Lancet, Sept. 1866, and Edin. Med. Journal, May 
1867 ; also Professor Donkin’s Memorandum in the Blue Book of the Committee on the Cubic 
Space of the Metropolitan Workhouses (1867). 


M 


178 VENTILATION. 


Thus the difference between the actual ratio of vitiation and the ad- 
missible limit, multiplied by the capacity of the air space and divided by 
the admissible limit, gives the amount of fresh air required. 


Example: Let p»=1. and ¢=600: then = ae =e = 4, and 4 x 600 = 


0-2 


2400 cubic feet of air required. 

This formula is, however, inconvenient in form, and gives to cubic space 
an apparent importance which, as we shall’ see further on, it does not 
possess. The following is therefore better, as it is of general application. 


e 
—=d 


where e= the amount of CO, exhaled by one individual in an hour, p= the 
limit of admissible impurity (stated per cubic foot), and d=the required 
delivery of fresh air in cubic feet per hour. If p be expressed per 1000 
volumes, then d must be taken to represent the number of thousands of 
cubic feet of air. If now we take e at the general average of 0-6 of a cubic 
foot, then : 


0-6 0°6 
00002 > = 3000 or —5 2 a 3 =number of thousands of cubic feet of air required. 


This formula may also be used conversely, in order to find from the con- 
dition of the air the average amount of fresh air which has been hitherto 
supplied and utilised. For this purpose we simply substitute for p (the 
admissible limit) p,, the observed ratio. Thus, let us suppose that p,, the 
observed ratio of vitiation, was 0°7 per 1000 vols., we should have: 

0-6 

07 = 0°857 =number of thousands of cubic feet, 
or 857 cubic feet of air per head per hour had been supplied and utilised 
during the time of occupation. 

We can also calculate the probable condition of an air space in which a 


given quantity of air is supplied: thus, ra =p,; taking the amount directed | 


for soldiers in barracks, viz., 1200 per hour, we have (assuming that ¢ re-_ 
presents in this case 0°72) ) 
0-72 | 

7200 = 0:0006 CO, per cubic foot, or 0°6 per 1000 vols. , 

Where the quantity ¢ is less than the above amounts, as for instance in the | 
d 

| 


case of children, we should have, assuming children to evolve 0:4 of a cubic | 


foot 0-4 d : : 
; 09> 2=number of thousands of cubic feet of air required. 


For a long time after this subject first attracted attention the amount of — 
fresh air supposed to be necessary was put at too low a figure. Even the | 
figures of General Morin,! which were a great advance at the time, are 
insufficient. He proposed 2118 cubic feet (60 cub, metres) for barracks at 
night, and Ranke adopts the same figures. 

toth and Lex? adopt the maximum of total impurity at 0°6 per 1000, | 
which includes 0-4 of initial CO,; and as they estimate the expired CO, as’ 
20 litres,? or 0:706 cubic feet (Eng.), per hour, they give the hourly | 


quantity of air as 100 cubic metres, or 3533 cubic feet, | 


1 Rapport de la C. ommission sur le Chauffage et la Ventilation des Batimens du Palais de 
Justice, Paris, 1860; also Manuel Pratique du Chauffage et de la Ventilation, 1874. 
2 Op. cit., p. 221,” % This amount is also adopted by General Morin, 


AMOUNT OF AIR REQUIRED FOR VENTILATION. 179 


It is highly desirable that some general agreement should be come to as to 
the amount of air necessary, even if it be admitted that the desired amount 
cannot always be obtained. If we adopt the followmg amounts of CO, as 
being evolved during repose, we shall not be far from the probable truth :— 


Adult males (say 160 tb weight), . . 0:72 of a cubic foot. 
meremalesi(.., I20 ib 7), y 0-6 a 

Children (a eSIONIDF ch sas . 0-4 Ms 

Average of a mixed community, . 52 WHO a 


Under those conditions the amount of fresh air to be supplied in health 
during repose ought to be— 


For adult males, . . 3600 cubic feet per head per hour=102 c.m. 
Pee) females, 9: . 3000 4 S i = OD .. 
» children, ; 2000 . i * = D7 .. 
> @ mixed community, 3000 = 8) 


23 99 9) bb] 

The amount for adult males as above given is just over 100 cubic metres, 
or, if we state it at 3600 cubic feet, it is just one cubic foot per second. 
These numbers are easy to remember. 

When we have to deal with places, the inmates of which are actively 
employed, such as workshops and the like, the amount of air supplied must 
be proportionately increased. We have seen that in light work the CO, 
evolved per hour is nearly 0-006 of a cubic foot per tb of body-weight, and 
in hard work more than double that amount,—so ,that for a man of 160 Tb 
weight we should have— 


In light work, . . . 0:95 ofa cubic foot of CO, evolved per hour. 
imehard work, . ... 1:96 


This would argue a delivery of fresh air as follows :— 


In light work, . : . 4750 cubic feet. 
In hard work, . . 9800 ae 

Carnelley, Haldane, and Anderson! point out that the test by the sense of 
smell is liable to be influenced by many conditions, and that it not in- 
frequently happens that a more overpowering odour is perceptible with a 
small than with a larger amount of CO,. ‘They propose the following 
standards :—0-6 CO, respiratory impurity -for dwellings and 0°9 for schools ; 
for organic matter 2°86 mgrms. of oxygen used per cubic metre (over outside 
air): total micro-organisms 20 per litre over outside air, the ratio of Bacteria 
to moulds not to exceed 30 to 1. This is a liberal margin, which certainly 

ought not to be transgressed, arguing as it does not more than 1000 cubic 
feet of air per head per hour in dwellings and about 550 in schools. 

It was stated long ago, from extensive observations, that in mdnes, if it 
was wished to keep up the greatest energies of the men, no less than 100 
cubic feet per man per minute (=6000 per hour) must be given; if the 
quantity were reduced to one-third, or one-half, there was a serious dimi- 
-nution in the amount of work done by the men. This amount included, of 

course, all the air wanted in the mine for horses, lights, 4vc.? 
| The amount for animals is an important question which has been little 
‘studied. Miarcker® gives the following from experiments : — 
For large cattle (viz., oxen, &c.) 30 ‘to 40 cubic metres per hour for every 
1000 tb weight, or 1 to 14 cubic foot for every tb weight. 

For small cattle see —_ &e. ey) 40 to 50 cubic metres per hour for every 


9 ” bp} 


| 


| 


1 Phil. hin: loc. cit. 
2 Proceedings of the Inst. of Civil Engineers, vol. xii. pp. 298 and 308. 3 Op. cit. 


180 VENTILATION. 


1000 tb weight, or 14 to 1? cubic foot for every bh weight; the higher 
quantity being given on account of the more rapid tissue change in the 
smaller animals. These quantities seem absurdly small, and the chief 
reason for so limiting them seems to have been the fear of lowering the 
temperature too far. This is an erroneous view: animals properly fed will 
thrive better in a well-ventilated place at a low temperature than in a 
\warmer place ill-ventilated. There seems no reason why the same rule 
should not apply to animals as to man, in which case something like 20 to 
25 cubic feet per hour per fb of body-weight ought to be supplied. A horse 
or a cow ought, therefore, to have from 10,000 to 20,000 cubic feet per 
hour,—in short, it ought to be practically in the open air. 


: é : 
F. Smith,! using Dr de Chaumont’s formula, —=d, where e (in a horse 
b) fo) p >] 


equals 6°5, shows that the amount ought to be 32,500 cubic feet per hour, 
if the limit of respiratory impurity be assumed at 0-2 per 1000 :—20,000 
cubic feet would argue a limit of 0°325, and 10,000 feet would give 0°65. 
From the experiments given in Mr Smith’s work (p. 44) the amount of air 
supplied ranged from 38,000 cubic feet per hour to 2900; in the latter 
case the smell is described as abominable. It is clear, therefore, that 
the amount of air ought to be as large as possible, and fortunately in the 
case of animals this can be accomplished without any great difficulty ; 
as F. Smith considers that with proper feeding and attention the air about 
a horse may be changed every three minutes, or twenty times an hour, 
without danger, although the coat may not turn out so glossy as in a 
warmer stable. 


2. On the Quantity of Air required for Lights if the Air is to be kept 
pure by Dilution. 


Air must be also supplied for lights if the products of combustion are 
allowed to pass into the room. Wolpert has calculated that, for every — 
cubic foot of gas, 1800 cubic feet of air must be introduced to dilute 
properly the products of combustion; and this is not too much if we re- — 
member that a cubic foot of good coal gas produces about 2 cubic feet of © 
carbon dioxide, and that sulpbur dioxide and other substances may be also — 
formed. A common small gas-burner will burn nearly 3 feet per hour, and 
will consume 10 or probably 12 cubic feet in an evening (4 hours), and 
therefore from 18,000 to 21,600 cubic feet of air must be introduced for this 
purpose alone in the 4 hours, unless the products of combustion are removed 
by a special channel.2_ The power of illumination being equal, gas does not 
produce more CO, than candles (Odling), but usually so much more gas is 
burnt that the air is much more deteriorated ; there is also greater heat and — 
more watery vapour. The products should never be allowed to escape into — 
the air of the room. Weaver has shown how important a source of impurity — 
this is; and the bad effects of breathing the products of gas combustion are | 
well known. 

One tb of oil demands, for complete combustion, 138 cubic feet of air; and, — 
to keep the air perfectly pure, nearly as much air must be introduced for 1 — 
Ib of oil as for 10 feet of gas. In mines, 60 cubic feet per hour are allowed | 
for each light ; the lights generally are dim, and the amount of combustion — 
is slight ; but this seems an extremely small amount. 


1 Veterinary Hugiene, 1887. 
2 See an elaborate table by M. Layet, Revue d’Hygiene, vol. ii. pp. 1096, 97. 


QUANTITY OF AIR REQUIRED FOR THE SICK. 181 


If gas is not burnt in a room, or in a very small amount, or if only candles 
or oil lamps are used, it is seldom necessary to take them into account in 
estimating the amount of air. 


3. On the Quantity required for the Respiration and Dilution of the 
Emanations of Sick Men. 


In making differential experiments among the healthy and the sick, it 
has been found! that among the former the smell of organic matter was 
still imperceptible when the air contained 0-208 per 1000 of respiratory 
impurity as CO,; but in hospitals contaiming ordinary cases it was quite 
distinct when the CO, reached 0:166. From this we may conclude that the 
minimum amount of fresh air for hospitals ought to exceed that required 
in health by at least one-fourth. If 3000 cubic feet per hour be admitted 
as a general average in health, we may demand in round numbers 4000 in 
sickness ; and if we have to deal with adult males only, such as soldiers, 
4500 per head per hour. When we have to deal with serious cases, a still 
greater amount must be given, reaching 5000, 6000, or even more if pos- 
sible,—in fact, the supply should be unlimited. These views are in accord- 
ance with the results of experimental inquiry (Grassi in Paris; Sankey in 
London ; Sutherland). 

In some diseases, so much organic substance is thrown off, that scarcely 
any ventilation is sufficient to remove the odour. In some of the London 
hospitals Dr de Chaumont found that there was still a close smell when 
5000 cubic feet and even more were supplied, but the distribution was not 
perfect. Even when 3600 feet were supplied and utilised (as calculated 
from the CO,), the ward was not free from smell. The best surgeons now 
consider an almost complete exposure of pyzemia patients to the open air 
the best treatment ; and it is well known that in typhus fever and (to a less 
extent) in enteric, and also in smallpox and plague, this complete exposure 
of patients to air is the most important mode of treatment, before even 
diet and medicines. Even temperature must be sacrificed to a considerable 
extent, in order to obtain fresh air, if a choice requires to be made between 
the two. 

Humidity.—The condition of the air as regards humidity is a matter of 
some importance, but has not hitherto been much considered. In Dr de 
Chaumont’s experiments the mean humidity, in rooms having less than 
0-2 per 1000 of respiratory impurity (reckoned as CO,), was 73 per cent., 
at a temperature of 63° Fahr. This might be taken, provisionally, as a 
standard,? at least for climates like our own. In drier climates, however, 
as in America, such a condition would not be attainable in many cases, 
when the external air has a mean humidity of 40 or even 30 per cent. In 
Germany 50 per cent. is looked upon as an average humidity, whilst in 
England this would indicate an exceptionally dry atmosphere. 


i “The Theory of Ventilation,” by Dr F. de Chaumont, Proc. Roy. Soc., loc. cit. 

2 From the state of the air as regards humidity, information may sometimes be obtained 
which might take the place of the CO, determination, in the absence of means for carrying out 
the latter. For instance, at St Mary’s Hospital, the air of the wards was found to have 78 per 
cent. of humidity, or 5’8 per cubic foot; to reduce it to 73 per cent., or 55 grains per cubic 
58-55 _0°3 
55-52 03 
quire to add to the existing delivery of air at least as much more per hour as would equal the 
total cubic space. In the case referred to this was about 2256 cubic feet. The actual supply 
was ae total 4336 per head, or just about the quantity demanded for proper hospital 
ventilation. 


foot, while the external air contained 5°2, we should have =1, or we should re- 


182 VENTILATION. 


SECTION II. 


THE MODE IN WHICH THE NECESSARY QUANTITY OF FRESH 
AIR CAN BE SUPPLIED. 


. This is an engineering problem, and there can be no doubt that in time 
to come it will be as carefully considered by engineers as the supply of 
water, or the removal of the solid and liquid excreta. Ventilation is, in fact, 
the problem of the removal of the gasiform excreta of the lungs and skin. 


SUB-SECTION ].—PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 


1. Cubic Space.—A certain amount of fresh air has to pass through a 
given air space in a fixed time in order to maintain a certain degree of 
purity ; the amount has been fixed at 3000 cubic feet for each healthy 
person in an hour; before considering the appliances for moving this air, 
we must consider what should be the minimum size of the air space through 
which the fresh air has to pass. 

This will entirely depend on the rate at which air can be taken through 
the space without the movement being perceptible or injurious. The size 
of the space is of consequence, chiefly, in so far as it affects this condition. 
The larger the air space the less is the necessity for the frequent renewal 
of air, and the less the chances of draught. Thus a space of 100 cubic 
feet must have its air changed thirty times in an hour, if 3000 cubic feet 
of air are to be given, while a space of 1000 cubic feet need only have it 
changed three times in an hour for an equal ventilation. 

When the most perfect mechanical means are employed, the air of even 
a small air space can be changed sufficiently often without draught. Thus, 
in Pettenkofer’s experimental room at Munich, the air space is 424 cubic 
feet, and 2640 cubic feet can be drawn through by a steam engine in an 
hour without perceptible movement ; in other words, the change is six 
times per hour nearly. With the best mechanical contrivances, and with 
disregard of cost, we are therefore certain that a cubic space of 600 feet 
would be sufficient, and there is every probability that engineers could 
ventilate even a smaller space without perceptible movement. 

But if the mechanical contrivances are of an inferior kind, and parti- 
cularly if natural ventilation is used, the difficulties of ventilating a small 
space are considerable, and are caused not so much by the rate of move- 
ment of the greater part of the air in the room, as by the rate at the 
openings where the fresh air comes in very quickly, and causes currents in 
the room. Suppose, for example, a space of 500 cubic feet occupied by 
one person, who has to be supplied with 3000 cubic feet in an hour ; if the 
inlet opening be 12 square inches, the rate of movement through it would 


1 In the metropolitan lodging-houses, 30 superficial and 240 cubic feet are allowed; in the 
section-houses of the metropolitan police 50 superficial and 450’ cubic feet are given. The 
Poor-law Board allows 500 cubic feet for every healthy person in dormitories, and from 850 
cubic feet and upwards, according to circumstances, as far as 1200 cubic feet, for every sick 
person. In Dublin, an allowance of 300 cubic feet is required in the registered lodging-houses. 
—(From an excellent pamphlet, entitled Lssentials of a Healthy Dwelling, p. 18.) In the 
Prussian army the allowance is 495 cubic feet (Prussian measurement, which is nearly the same 
as English), the superficial space being 42 to 45 square feet ; in the old Hanoverian army the 
cubic space was 700 to 800 cubic feet (Prussian). The London School Board have given, in a 
general schoolroom, 19 square feet per scholar, and in graded schools 9 square feet; the 
height was ordered to be 13 feet—imaking 130 and 117 cubic feet respectively. This seems 
very small. 


MODE OF SUPPLYING FRESH AIR. 183 


be 10 feet per second, or nearly 7 miles per hour ; if 24 square inches, it 
would be 5 feet, or about 3-4 miles per hour.! In either case, in such a 
small room, the air could not be properly distributed before reaching the 
person, and a draught would be felt. If instead of 500 cubic feet of space 
1000 be given, the problem is easier, for the small current of fresh air 
mixing with the larger volume of air in the room is more easily broken up, 
and the inmate being further from the opening, the movement is less felt. 
The question, in fact, turns in great measure on the power of introducing 
the air without draught. 

Ifthe renewal of air is carried on by what is termed natural ventilation, 
under the ordinary conditions of this climate, a change at the rate of six 
times per hour, as in Pettenkofer’s room, could not be attempted. Even 
five times per hour would be too much; for, in barracks with 600 cubic 
feet per head, the rooms are cold and draughty when anything approach- 
ing to 3000 cubic feet per head per hour are passing through, that is, a 
change of five times per hour for each 600 cubic feet of air space. A 
change equal to three times per hour is generally all that can be borne 
under the conditions of warming in this country, or that is practically 
attainable with natural ventilation, and if this be correct, from 1000 to 
1200 cubic feet should be the minimum allowance for the initial air space. 

With good warming and an equable movement, which, however, are not 
always easy to get, there might be larger inlets, and therefore more easy 
distribution and a smaller air space to begin with. If the inlets are 
48 square inches, the rate through them to supply a space of 500 cubic 
feet with 3000 cubic feet per hour would be only 24 feet per second ; and 
if, as should be the case in artificial ventilation, the inlet is 72 or 80 square 
inches in size, the rate would only be a little over 14 foot per second, 
which would be imperceptible even at the orifice. But there is an argu- 
ment against a small cubic space, even with good mechanical ventilation, 
viz., that if anything arrests the mechanism for a time, the ratio of im- 
purity from respiration increases much faster in a small than in a large 
space.? 

The warmth of the moving air influences the sensation of the persons 
exposed to it. At a temperature of 55° or 60°, a rate of 14 foot per second 
(=1 mile per hour nearly) is not perceived; a rate of 2 to 2} per second 
(1:4 and 1-7 miles per hour) is imperceptible to some persons; 3 feet per 
second (2 miles per hour nearly) is perceptible to most ; a rate of 3) feet is 
perceived by all persons; any greater speed than this will give the sensa- 
tion of draught, especially if the entering air be of a different temperature, 


i For 1 square foot of opening at the rate of 1 foot per second, the supply would be 
3,600 cubic feet per hour; if the rate be 10 feet per second, the supply would be 36,000 cubic 
feet, », of this is 3000, and ¥, of 1 square foot (144 square inches) is 12; hence 12 square 
inches of opening, and 10 feet per second of velocity, give 3000 cubic feet per hour; of 
course the same result is obtained if we double the opening, making it 24 square inches, and 
halve the velocity, making it 5 feet per second. 

2 Experimental data on many of these points are still wanting. In prisons, with cells for 
separate confinement and artificial ventilation, the amount of space is seldom under 750 to 800 
cubic feet, and practically this is found to be too small. 

In Pentonville Prison, on Jebb’s system, the air was hardly ever changed three times in the 
hour, during Dr de Chaumont’s experiments, although the cells are nearly 800 cubic feet in 
capacity. ‘The mean supply of air per hour was about 1056 cubic feet. In Gosport military 
prison, also on Jebb’s principle (but not perfectly carried out), the mean supply was about 
800 cubic feet, but the cells are only about 600 in capacity. In Aldershot military prison 
(not on Jebb’s principle), with cells about 600 cubic feet in size, the mean supply was uncer 
500. And in Chatham convict prison, where the cells are only 200, the mean supply was 
about 480. Wilson (Handbook of Hygiene) appears to have found the air changed in the large 
cells at Portsmouth convict prisou about three times in the howr, and in the small about four 
times ; this, however, is certainly not the rule. 


| 
} 


184 VENTILATION. 


or moist. If the air be about 70° Fahr., a rather greater velocity is not 
perceived, while if it be still higher (80° to 90° Fahr.), the movement 
becomes again more perceptible, and this is also the case if the temperature 
be below 40° Fahr. If the air could be warmed to a certain point in a cold 
climate, or if the climate be warm, there may be a much more rapid current, 
and consequently a smaller cubic space might be given, The subject of 
ventilation is in cold climates connected inseparably with that of warming, 
for it is impossible to have efficient ventilation in cold weather without 
warming the air. 

The amount of cubic space thus assigned for healthy persons is far more 
than most people are able to have; in the crowded rooms of the artizan 
class, the average entire space would probably be more often 200 to 250 
cubic feet per head than 1000. The expense of the larger rooms would, it 
may be feared, be fatal to the chance of such an ideal standard being 
generally carried out; but, after all, the question is, not what is likely to 
be done, but what ought to be done; and it is an encouraging fact that in 
most things i in this world, when a right course is recognised, it is somehow 
or other eventually followed. 

So, in the case of soldiers, the amount of authorised regulation space 
(600 cubic feet) is below the standard now given, but still the space is as 
much as can be demanded at present, as it has been found very difficult, 
without incurring greater expense than the country would bear, to give 
every man even the 600 cubic feet. 

For sick persons the cubic spaceShould be more than for healthy persons. 
We are to remember that there are other impurities besides those arising 
from respiration and transpiration, and that immediate dilution and as 
speedy removal as can be managed are essential. 

Very much the same considerations apply to sick as to healthy men, 
except that the allowance of air in all cases of acute diseases must be 
greater ; and, therefore, especially if natural ventilation be employed, the 
cubic space has to be enlarged also, to insure good distribution without 
draught, for surface chilling must be carefully avoided. 

Admitting that, in hospitals, a minimum of 4000 cubic feet of fresh air 
per patient per hour should be supplied, if the change of air is to be three 
times per hour, as the best available rate of movement, the cubic space 
must be about 1300 cubic feet. A consideration of another kind may aid 
in determining the question as regards sick men. In hospitals a certain 
amount of floor space is indispensably necessary; first, for the lateral 
separation of patients ; secondly, for convenience of attendance. For the 
first object, the greater floor space the better ; and in respect of the second, 
Sir H. Acland has clearly shown that the mznimum floor space for con- 
venient nursing should be 72 square feet per bed.! Ina ward of 12 feet 
in height this would give only 864 cubic feet, which is much too small. 

Considering, however, the immense benefit to patients of pure air, and 
the practical experience of hospital physicians, it is very desirable not to fix 
the floor and cubic space of hospital wards at the minimum of what may 
suffice. The desire of most hospital physicians and surgeons is to obtain 
for their patients, if they can, a floor space of 100 to 120 square feet, and 
a cubic space of 1500 to 2000 cubic feet, and in this they are right. 

It must be distinctly understood that 2 minimum of floor space must be 
insisted upon in all cases, not less than 54, of the cubic space.? 


1 See Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the cubic space of Metropolitan 
Workhouses, 1867, p. 12 
2 On this subject see further in chapter on HABITATIONS. 


CUBIC SPACE REQUIRED FOR ANIMALS. 185 


A notion prevails among many people, that cubic space may take the 
place of change of air,—so that if a larger cubic space be given, a certain 
amount of change of air may be dispensed with, or less fresh air be required. 
This is quite erroneous ; even the largest space can only provide sufficient 
air for a limited time, after which the same amount of fresh air must be 
supplied hourly, whether the space be large orsmall. This is shown by the 
table on page 177, and may also be mathematically demonstrated by the 
formula given below. Even in a space of 10,000 cubic feet per head the 
limit of admissible impurity would be reached in a little over 3 hours, after 
which the same hourly supply of 3000 feet would be as necessary as in a 
space of 100 cubic feet.? 


Cubic Space required for Animals. 


The amount of space for animals has not been very carefully examined. 
If we followed the rule for men and gave one-third of the quantity of air 
supplied per hour, this would give for horses and cattle from 3000 to 7000 
cubic feet. This, however, is probably not necessary, because change of air 
can be carried on more freely than in human habitations, and animals cannot 
close ventilators as men will often do. A floor space of 100 to 120 square 
feet would probably be sufficient, giving a space of 1200 to 1800 cubic feet, 

according to the height of the building. If this could be secured there is 
every probability that the results would be excellent. We might put the 
estimate roughly at 2 cubic feet of space for every Ib avoir. the animal 
weighs,—the floor space being not less than 54, of the cubic capacity. 

It was originally proposed that, in new stables, each horse should have 
1605 cubic feet, and 100 square feet of floor space.? At present* the super- 
ficial area of army stables has been fixed as follows :—for the stall alone, 
52 feet; for the stall and share of passage, 91 feet. F. Smith considers 
that the stall alone should be 70 feet, and the stall and share of passage, 
100. In the Army Horse Infirmaries the superficial area is to be 137 
square feet, or 200 with share of passage ; loose boxes 204, and the cubic 
space 1900 feet per horse. 

In the stables of cattle there is often excessive overcrowding, and it is 
well known that there is a vast amount of disease among them, which, 
however, is seldom allowed to go far, as they are sent to the butcher. Dr 

Ballard, who paid great attention to the cattle plague in Islington, recom- 
mended that at least 1000 cubic feet should be allowed per animal. . 

2. Source of the Air supplied.—In order that the object of the ventilation 

shall not be defeated, it is necessary that the air entering a room shall be 


dh at i 
= “( ees a ) where p,=ratio of respiratory impurity at the time (h), (e) the amount 


of impurity involved during (h), (d) the supply of fresh air, (c) exponential function, viz., 


dh 
2°718, and (c) the capacity of the air space. Soon after the first hour the coefficient e— ¢ Prac- 


_ tically vanishes, and with it vanishes also the small influence the cubic space exercises. 

2 For further remarks on this point, see Lectures on State Medicine; also ‘‘ Hygiene,” in 
Sanitary Record, 1874-75, by Dr de Chaumont. In a pamphlet by General Morin, Note sur 
V Espace Cubique, &c., a table is given that might be misleading without explanation. It 
really shows the amount of air necessary to dilute a certain am ount of impurity evolved in a 
certain cubic space, and is similar to the table given on page 177 of this work. For continuous 

ventilation, the necessary supply in any ordinary space for the first hour is a constant 
quantity. This can be shown by asymptote lines also. See paper by C. Herscher, ‘‘ Societe 
_ de Médecine Publique,” in Revue d Hygiene, vol. iii. p. 207. 
3 Report of the Barrack and Hospital Improvement Commission on the Ventilation of 
| Cavalry Stables, 1866, p. 10. 
4 FF. Smith, Veterinary Hygiene. 


186 VENTILATION. 


pure. The air must be the pure external air, and not be derived from 
places where it has stagnated and taken up impurities; if it is drawn along 
passages or tubes, and through louvres or basements, these should be 
capable of inspection and cleansing. All delivering air-shafts should, if 
possible, be short and easily cleaned. This is an important rule, and 
should lead to the rejection of all plans in which the air-shafts are long 
sand inaccessible. Several instances have occurred of air being distributed 
by costly appliances, but drawn from an impure source, or allowed to be 
contaminated on its passage. Instead of perforated bricks, there should be 
sliding panels, or hinged flaps, so that the tube may be easily reached. In 
towns it may be necessary to filter the air, which is often loaded with the 
products of combustion and other impurities. 

3. Warming or Cooling of the Air.—The air may require to be warmed 
to 60° or 65° Fahr., or cooled according to the season or locality. The 
warming in cold and temperate climates is a matter of necessity, as, if 
discomfort is caused by cold draughts, ventilation openings are certain to 
be closed. 

4, Distribution.—The distribution in the rooms should be perfect, that 
is, there should be uniform diffusion of the fresh air through the rooms. 
The best way of ascertaining this is to compare the amount of air utilised, 
as calculated from the observed CO,, with the actual movement of air, as 
measured with the air-meter. If the distribution is good, the two quantities 
ought not to differ materially. Much difficulty is found in properly 
managing uniform diffusion, and it requires careful arrangement of the 
various openings. The distributing plans should, if possible, prevent the 
chance of breathed air being rebreathed, especially in hospitals. As the 
ascent of respired air is rapid, on account not only of its temperature, but 
from the force with which it is propelled upwards, the point of discharge 
for patients in bed should be above. 

By some it has been argued that it is better that the foul air should pass | 
off below the level of the person, so that the products of respiration may be 
immediately drawn down below the mouth, and be replaced’ by descending — 
pure air. But the resistance to be overcome in drawing down the hot air — 
of respiration is so great that there is a considerable waste of power, and 
the obstacle to the discharge is sometimes sufficient, if the extracting force 
be at all lessened, to reverse the movement, and the fresh air forces its way 
in through the pipes intended for discharge. This plan, in fact, must be 
considered a mistake. The true principle is that stated long ago by D’Arcet. 
In the case of vapours or gases the proper place of discharge is above ; but — 
heavy powders, arising in certain arts or trades, which from their weight | 
rapidly fall, are best drawn out from below. 


SUB-SECTION I].—MEANS BY WHICH AIR IS SET IN MOTION. 


These are :—l1s¢, the forces continually acting in nature, which produce 
what has been termed natural ventilation. 2nd, The forces set in action by 
man, which produce the so-called artificial ventilation. 

The division is convenient, but not strictly logical, as the forces which 
act in natural do so also in artificial ventilation to a certain extent. 


NATURAL VENTILATION—GENERAL STATEMENTS. 


Three forces act in natural ventilation, viz., diffusion, winds, and the 
difference in weight of masses of air of unequal temperature. 


DIFFUSION—ACTION OF THE WINDS. 187 


1. DIFFUSION. 


As every gas diffuses at a certain rate, viz., inversely as the square root 
of its density, there is a constant escape of any foreign gas into the 
atmosphere at large. From every room that is not air-tight Pettenkofer 
and Roscoe have shown that diffusion occurs through brick and stone, and 
Pettenkofer believes that one of the evils of a newly built and damp house 
is that diffusion cannot occur through its walls. But ordinary plastered 
and papered walls reduce diffusion to a most insignificant amount. 
Through chinks and openings produced by imperfect carpentry the air 
diffuses fast, and Roscoe found that when he evolved carbonic acid in a 
room the amount had decreased one-half from that cause in 90 minutes. 

The amount of purification produced by diffusion under ordinary circum- 
stances is shown by observation to be insufficient ; and, in addition, organic 
substances, which are not gaseous, but molecular, are not affected by it. 
As a general ventilating power, it is therefore inadequate. 


2. THE ACTION OF THE WINDS. 


The wind acts as a powerful ventilating agent, and in various ways. If 
it can pass fr eely through a room, with open "doors and windows, the effect 
it produces is immense. [or example, air moving only at the rate of 2 
miles an hour (which is almost imperceptible), and allowed to pass freely 
through a room 20 feet broad, will change the air of the room 528 times in 
one hour. No such powerful action as this can be obtained in any other 
way. 

The wind will pass through walls of wood (single-cased), and even of 
porous bricks or stone; and perhaps this will account for the fact that such 
houses, though cold, are healthy habitations. By covering a brick with 
wax, or inclosing a portion of a brick wall in an air-tight box, Pettenkofer 
has shown that the force of the breath will drive air through the brick, and 
will blow out a candle on the other side if the current of air be collected in 
a small channel. The force required to drive the air through is, however, 
really considerable, as the air in the brick must be brought into a state of 
tension. 

Marcker! has given the following as the amount of air passing in one 
hour through a square metre of wall space, when the difference of tempera- 
ture is 1° C.:—Sandstone, 1:69; limestone, 2°32; brick, 2°83; tufaceous 
limestone, 3°64; and loamy brick, 5°12 cubic metres of air. The little 
porosity of sandstone depends on the amount of moisture it holds. The 
moisture, in fact, greatly influences the transit. Plaster, however, appears 
to arrest wind, if it be true, as stated, that in the interior of some thick 
walls, after many years, lime has been found still caustic ; and Marcker 
also notices the obstructive effects of mortar. 

There are two objections to winds as ventilating agents by perflation. 

(1) The air may be stagnant. In this country, and, indeed, in most 
countries, even comparative quiescence of the air for more than a few hours 
is scarcely known. Air is called “still” when it is really moving at 1 or 14 
mile an hour, The average annual movement of the air in this country is 
from 6 to 12 miles per hour; but it varies, of course, greatly from day to 
day, and in different places. The mean movement at Netley (average of 


1 Untersuch. tiber nat. und kiinstliche Ventilation, Gottingen, 1871. 


188 VENTILATION. 


13 years) is about 104 miles per hour; at Aldershot it is 123 miles per 
hour (mean of 5 years). 

(2) A much more serious evil is the uncertainty of the movement and the 
difficulty of regulation. When the velocity reaches 5 or 6 feet per second, 
unless the air be warm, no one will bear it. The wind is therefore excluded, 
or, if allowed to enter directly through small openings, is badly distributed. 

, Passing in with a great velocity, it forces its way like a foreign body through 
the air in the room, causing draughts, and escaping, it may be, by some 
opening without proper mixing. A current entering in this way may be 
measured for many feet. 

But the wind acts in another way. A moving body of air sets in motion 
all air in its vicinity. It drives air before it, and, at the same time, causes 
a partial vacuum on either side of its own path, towards which all the air 
in the vicinity flows at angles more or less approaching right angles. In 
this way a small current moving at a high velocity will set in motion a 
large body of air. 

The wind, therefore, blowing over the tops of chimneys, causes a current 
at right angles to itself up the chimney, and the unequal draught in furnaces 
iS Owing, in part, to the variation in the velocity of the wind. Advantage, 
therefore, can be taken of this aspirating power of the wind to cause a 
movement of air up atube. The wind, however, may impede ventilation 
by obstructing the exit of air from any particular opening, or by blowing 
down a chimney or tube. This is, in fact, one reason of the failure of so 
many systems of ventilation ; they may work well in a still atmosphere, 
but the immense resistance of the wind has not been taken into account. 
At 3 miles an hour, the pressure of the wind is # of an ounce on each square 
foot ; it is 1 ounce at 35 miles; 2 ounces at 5 miles; 4 ounces at 7 miles; 
3 tb at 10 miles; and 1 tb at 14 miles. At Netley the average pressure is 
a little over 3 tb per square foot. 

In some systems. of ventilation the perflating power of the wind has been 
used as the chief motive agent. In Egypt the wind is allowed to blow in at 
the top of the house through large funnels. This plan has been in use 
from time immemorial. This was the case in Mr Sylvester’s plan, which 
was used at Derby and Leicester fifty or sixty years ago. A large cowl, 
turning towards the wind, was placed in a convenient spot near the building 
to be ventilated—a little above the ground if in the country, or at some 
height if in a town. The wind blowing down the cowl, passed through an 
under-ground channel to the basement of the house, and entered a chamber 
in which was a so-called cockle stove or calorifere of metal plates or water 
or steam pipes, by which the air was warmed. It then ascended through 
tubes into the rooms above, and passed out by a tube or tubes in the roof, 


which were covered by cowls turning from the wind. So that the aspiratory 


power of the air was also used. This plan is extremely economical, but the 
movement of the air is unequal, and it is difficult to regulate it. It has 
been proposed to place a fan in the tunnel to move the air in periods of calm, 
and the plan then becomes identical in principle, and almost in detail, with 
the method of Van Hecke. 

Mr Ritchie! has employed a similar plan in the ventilation of a dwelling- 
house. The air is warmed in winter to about 70° Fahr.; every room has a 
longitudinal opening over each door, concealed by the architrave, and 
regulated by valves, and through this the warm air from the staircase 
enters the rooms, and then passes up the chimney, and up outlet air-flues 


1 Treatise on Ventilation, by Robert Ritchie, C.E., 1862, p. 89. 


| 


; 


MOVEMENTS PRODUCED BY UNEQUAL WEIGHTS OF AIR. 189 


placed in the walls, commencing at the ceiling, and ending at the wall-heads 
under the roof. 

_ Dr Arnott ventilated the Field Lane Ragged School on this principle 
with excellent effect. In that case, as in all others, the movement was also 
in part carried on by the third cause of motion in air, viz., 
the effect of unequal density of masses of air. 

In the ventilation of ships the wind is constantly used; and 
by wind-sails, and tubes with cowls turning towards the wind, _—— 
air is driven between the decks and into the hold. ame 

In using the wind in this way, the difficulty is to distribute 
the air so that it shall not cause draughts. This is best done 
by bending the tubes at right angles two or three times, so as 
to lessen the velocity, by enlarging the channel towards the 
opening in the interior of the vessel, and by placing valves 
to partially close the tubes, if necessary, and by screens of 
wire gauze.! 

In all cases in which the air of a room, as ina basement story, 
or in the hold of a ship, perhaps, is likely to be colder than the 
external air, and when artificial means of ventilation cannot be 


employed, the wind should be taken advantage of as motive Does 
agent. Fixed Upcast 
The aspiratory power of the wind can be secured by cover- Cowl: 


ing air-shafts with cowls such as that shown in fig. 27, which aid up currents 
and prevent down draughts. This is practically the plan on which all the 
varieties of up-cast ventilators are constructed, however varied may be their 
external appearance. 


3. MOVEMENTS PRODUCED BY UNEQUAL WEIGHTS OF AIR, 


The wind itself is caused by this power ; but it is necessary, in discussing 
ventilation, to look upon this as if it were an independent force. If the 
air in a room be heated by fire, or the presence of men or animals, or be 
made moister, it endeavours to expand ; and if there be any means for it to 
escape, a portion of it will do so, and that which remains will be lighter 
than an equal bulk of the colder air outside. The outer air will then rush 
into the room by every orifice, until the equality of weight outside and 
inside is re-established. But as the fresh air which comes in is in its turn 
heated, the movement is kept up in a constant stream, cold air entering by 
one set of orifices, and hot air escaping by another. 

We have now to inquire how the rate of this constant stream of air may 
be calculated.2 The mode most generally used is based on two well-known 
laws :—first, that the velocity in feet per second of falling bodies is equal to 
(nearly) 8 times the square root of the height through which they have 
fallen ; and, second, that fluids pass through an orifice in a partition with a 
velocity equal to that which a body would attain in falling through a 
height equal to the difference in depth of the fluid on the two sides of the 


1 As the use of perforated zinc plates and of wire-gauze is very common in ventilation, it is 
necessary to bear in mind that these screens very soon get clogged with dirt. In all cases they 
should be so arranged as to be easily inspected and cleaned; and it should bea matter of routine 
duty to see that they are constantly kept clean. It should also be understood that the delay 
by friction through the fine wire-gauze is exceedingly great. 

* Many of these points are given in Hood's Treatise on Warming and Ventilation, and in 
Wolpert (Principien der Vent. und Luftheizung), and are also discussed in Péclet (Zraité de 
la Chaleur, 3rd edit.) and by General Morin (tudes sur la Ventilation, Paris, 1863, t. i1.), 
to which reference is made for those who wish to enter into the mathematical part of the 
inquiry. 


190 VENTILATION. 


partition.! The pressure of air upon any surface may be represented by 
the weight of a column of air of uniform density of a certain height. Thus 
the pressure of the atmosphere at the surface of the earth is nearly 15 tb 
on the square inch, and this would be the weight of a column of air of 
about 5 miles in height. Air, therefore, rushes into a vacuum with a 
velocity equal to that which a heavy body would acquire in falling from a 
height of 5 miles, viz., 1304 feet per second. But if, instead of rushing 
into a vacuum, it rush into a chamber in which the air has less pressure 
than outside, its velocity will be that due to a height which represents the 
difference of pressure outside and inside. In ordinary cases this difference 
of pressure cannot be obtained by direct observation, but must be inferred 
from the difference of temperature of the outer and inner air. Air is 
dilated one part in 491 of its volume for every degree of Fahrenheit (or 1 
in 273 for every degree of centigrade) that its temperature is raised, conse- 
quently the difference of pressure outside and inside will be as follows :— 

The height from the aperture at which air enters to that from which it 
escapes, multiplied by the difference of temperature between outside and 
inside, and divided by 491. 

If the height be 20 feet, and the difference of temperature 15 degrees, we 


20 x 15 
have the height to produce velocity of inflowing current=—97—= 


a foot, and the velocity =8 ,/-61=8 x -781=6°248. This, however, is the 
theoretical velocity. In practice an allowance must be made for friction 
of 4th, 4d, or even 4, according to circumstances. The deduction of {th 
would leave 4°686 linear feet per second as the actual velocity. If this be 
multiplied by the area of the opening, in feet, or decimals of a foot,” the 
amount of air is expressed in cubic feet per second, and multiplying by 60 
will give the amount per minute. 

A table is given on page 211 in which this calculation has been made for 
all probable temperatures and heights; but it must be remembered that 
the movement is greatly influenced by the wind. 

This cause of movement is, of course, constantly acting when the tempera- 
ture of the air changes. It will alone suffice to ventilate all rooms im 
which the air is hotter than the external air, but will not answer when the 
air to be changed is equal in temperature to, or colder than, the external air, 

As its action is equable, imperceptible, and continuous, it is the most 
useful agency in natural ventilation in cold climates, in inhabited and warm 
rooms; and in all habitations arrangements should be made to allow it to 
act. As the action increases with the difference of temperature, it is most 
powerful in winter, when rooms are artificially warmed, and is least so, or 
is quite arrested in summer, or in hot climates, when the internal and 
external temperatures are identical. 


4, LOSSES PRODUCED BY FRICTION FROM VARIOUS CAUSES. 


This aspect of the question has hardly received the attention it deserves, 
and its neglect is apt to lead to failure and disappointment. The chief 
causes of loss are the following :— 


1 This is frequently called the rule of Montgolfier. The formula is v=/2gH ; 9 being 
the acceleration of velocity in each second of time, viz., 82°18 feet, and H the height of the 
descent. 

2 It will be found always easier to take the area in decimals of a foot instead of inches; but 
if it be taken in inches, multiply the linear discharge in feet by the number of square inches, 
and divide by 144. 


LOSSES PRODUCED BY FRICTION, ETC. 191 


1. Length of Tube or Shaft—Here with equal sectional areas the loss 
is directly as the length, so that if we take a shaft of 30 feet asa standard, 
a shaft of 40 feet long would have an increased friction of one-third. 

2. Size of Opening.—For similar sections the friction is inversely as the 
diameter. Thus for two openings, respectively 1 and 2 feet in diameter, 
the friction at the smaller opening will be twice that of the larger. In this 
way dividing up an opening into a number of smaller openings, the aggre- 
gate of which is equal to the original opening, produces a loss by friction in 
the direct ratio of the diameters. An opening of 1 square foot divided 
into 4 openings of } of a square foot Joses in the ratio of 1: 4, being 
respectively the diameters of the openings. When the shapes of the open- 
ings are not similar, the ratio may be stated as that of the square roots of 
the areas. Thus | square foot divided into nine openings, each equal to 
1 of a square foot, will lose in the ratio of 1: 4, the square roots of the 
respective areas.1 

3. Shape of Opening.—A circular opening may be taken as the standard, 
that being the figure which includes the greatest area within the smallest 
periphery. The loss sustained from any other shape being used will be 
proportionate to its difference from a circle enclosing a similar area. 
Thus, if we have two openings, each of 1 square foot area, the one being 
a circle and the other a square, the length of periphery of the latter 
will be 4 feet, of the former 34; therefore the velocity of the current 
through the square opening will be ~ or ; of that through the circular 
opening.” 

4. Angles in the Tube or Shaft.—This is a most serious cause of loss. 
The exact formula has not been distinctly determined, but it may be 
accepted, as in accordance with experiment, that every right angle 
diminishes the current by one half, so that two right angles in a tube 
would reduce it to }, and soon.? Yet it is no uncommon thing to find 
tubes and shafts bent recklessly at numerous angles to fit a cornice or 
architrave, to save expense and appearance. 

5. The presence of dust, soot, or dirt of any kind seriously interferes 
with the current, but this may of course be obviated with a moderate 
amount of care and attention. 

It is obvious that attention to the above points is necessary to obtain 
success in any scheme of ventilation. To take an example :—let us suppose 
a straight shaft 30 feet long, sectional area circular, of 1 square foot,—the 
eurrent through this giving a sufficient amount of air for the purpose re- 
quired. Let it be necessary to produce a similar amount of ventilation in 
another place, but to use smaller shafts, square in section, area of each + of 
a square foot,—each shaft being 40 feet long, and having one right angle 
in its course; what would be the relative amounts of air available, other 
things being equal? Taking the circular shaft, we have length of shaft 
30, length of periphery 34, multiplying together we have 105 = friction. 
In the four smaller shafts we have length 40, length of periphery of each 
2, which multiplied by 4=8, then 40 x 8=320, the right angle doubles 


1 See General Morin’s observations. 
* For a table of friction due to form of sectional area, see ‘“ Hygiene,” in Sanitary Record, 
1875, by Dr F. de Chaumont. 


® The formula eee _ expresses the condition approximately between 0° and 90°; but 


1+sin2¢ 
cos is of more general application, including any angle between 0° and 180°. In either 


case 90° shows a loss of one-half. 


192 VENTILATION, 


the friction, so that 320 x 2=640 compared with 105. Thus the result 
would be more than 6 to | in favour of the single shaft. It would be 
obviously necessary to increase the number of the smaller shafts or the 
size of each of them at least six times. 

It is advisable generally to widen slightly the openings of shafts, 
especially if they are of small diameter, as the current tends to be con- 
tracted and obstructed at that point. At every change of direction the 
same thing takes place. Hence the desirability of rounding off angles as 
much as possible, where they cannot be altogether avoided.! 

It is generally best to have the sections of shafts circular or elliptical 
instead of rectangular, for not only is there less loss by friction originally, 
but there is also less chance of lodgment of dust, &c., and they can be more 
easily and thoroughly cleaned. 


5, PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE GENERAL STATEMENTS OF NATURAL 
VENTILATION. 


1. No particular arrangements are necessary to allow diffusion to act, 
except that there shall be communication between two atmospheres. 

2. To obtain the perflation of the wind, windows should be placed, in all 
cases where it can be managed, at opposite sides of a room. ‘The windows 
should open at the top, and in case the wind has a high velocity, means 
should be taken to distribute it. This can be done by sloping the window 
inwards when it opens, or a board may be placed obliquely upwards from 
the top sash of the window, when it opens in the usual way; then the air 
striking against the board is thrown up towards the ceiling, Or, wire- 
gauze may cover the space left when the window is open. The velocity of 
the wind is checked by the gauze, and the current is minutely divided, 
The gauze, however, must be kept clean. 

Various plans have been proposed by different persons. The panes of 
glass may be made double, spaces being left at the bottom of the outside 
pane and at the top of the inner one, so that the wind is obliged to pass up 
between the two panes before it enters the room. Or, the lower sash 
being raised, and a piece of wood placed below it, the air is allowed to pass 
through the space left between the upper and lower sashes (Hinckes Bird.) 
Or, glass louvres, which can be more or less closed, are placed in one of 
the panes of the window ; or a number of holes are obliquely bored through 
the panes, through which the air may pass up towards the ceiling before 
it intermixes with the air of the room. In Lockhead’s ventilator there is a 
frame over the glass louvre, with a regulator in the centre. In Cooper’s 
ventilator a movable plate of glass can be brought by a handle over the 
opening, 

Stallard proposed to ventilate workshops and factories by having a 
double ceiling ; the lower ceiling to be made of zinc or oiled paper, per- 
forated with very numerous small holes; and the space between the two 
ceilings to be freely open to the air on all sides; thus there would be 
almost open-air breathing, as the communication with the external air 
would be constant and at all parts of the room. 


1 On this question see Wolpert, Theorie u. Praxis der Ventilation u. Heizung (1879), 
p- 210 et seq. 

2 A very good account of the various plans in natural ventilation will be found in Mr 
Edward’s work, On the Ventilation of Dwelling-Houses, 1868, in which figures of the plans are 
given; see also Hassie, ‘‘ Dictionary of Sanitary Appliances,” Sanitary Record, 1880-82 ; Our 
Homes, Cassell & Co., 1883; Healthy Dwellings, by D. Galton, 1880, Clarendon Press. 


MEANS OF VENTILATION. 193 


Besides windows, special openings may be provided for the wind to blow 
through, as in the plans already referred to of Mr Sylvester and Dr Arnott. 

In all warm climates, where no chill can be produced by wind, it is a 
good plan to make the walls entirely pervious. Nothing can be better than 
the ventilation of the bamboo matted houses in Burmah. The wind blows 
through them, but it is so broken up into currents that itis not in the least 
unpleasant. Even in colder parts of India, the upper parts of the walls 
might be made thus pervious, provision being made to cover them, if 
necessary, in the cold season. 

Cowls have been a good deal recommended as aids to ventilation, but 
the labours of the Committee of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, 
though not yet completed, have shown that the majority of them have no 
‘superiority over the open tube. The only form which seemed 
fairly good was the common Jobster-backed cowl. For general use, 
however, this would require to revolve, and this is objectionable, 
as all revolving arrangements are liable to get out of order. A 
fixed cowl, consisting merely of a cone as a cap and a similar 
flange round the rim of the pipe, ensures a fairly constant up- 
draught (fig. 27). A reversed arrangement (fig. 28) ensures a 
constant down-draught. All apparatus of this kind (as already 
mentioned) are based upon these two principles, however varied 
their external appearance may be. 

Another plan for utilismg the action of the wind is by the 
use of ‘“ Ellison’s conical bricks,” which are pierced with conical 
19 inter- Fig. 28. 
ally, depth 43 in. The wind blowing on them is so ‘Csininad Diagram ofa 


Fixed Down- 


as to be imperceptible as a draught in the room. reuse Tube, 
3. The movement produced by the difference of weight of sila ie 


imequally heated bodies of air will, of course, go on through all and inverted 
he contrivances just mentioned. But as in cold climates windows °°! @?- 
md doors must sometimes be shut, no room of any kind should be without 
additional openings, which may permit this movement from unequal tempera- 
cure togoon, The great difficulty here is to exclude the action of the wind: 
and, in fact, it is impossible to do so; but, as far as possible, the openings 
should be protected from the perflating influence of the wind, so that only its 
wspirating force should be acting. They should be capable of being lessened 
/n size, when the difference of the external and internal temperatures is great. 
As long as there are openings, movement will go on; and it does not really 
natter, as long as there is proper distribution, where the air comes in or 
oes out, or whether its direction is constant or not. In fact, it scarcely ever 
“s constant, so liable is the direction to be altered by winds, by the action of 
whe sun heating one side of a room, by the unequal distribution of heat in 
he room, &e. “Still it seems desir. able, as far as it can be done, to make such 
-urangements as shall give the movemeut of air a certain direction ; and 
7 therefore in most sys stems, some of the openings are intended for the 
admission of fresh air, and are called inlet, entrance, or adduction openings ; 
others are intended for the discharge of impure air, and are termed outlet, 
vat, or abduction openings. 
| Total size of all the special openings, whether intended for Inlets or Outlets. 
_—As the movement of air increases with temperature, the size of the 
‘apertures can only be fixed for a certain given temperature ; and as the 
offiux of hot air increases with the height of the column (supposing the 
“emperature is equal throughout), a different size has also to be fixed for 
lifferent heights. 
| N 


194 VENTILATION. 


This causes a difficulty in fixing the proper size for ventilating openings 
in the case of natural ventilation, as the conditions are so variable. The 
theoretical size for any required change of air, supposing the conditions 
were constant, may be obtained from the table at p. 211, which is calculated 
from Montgolfier’s formula, with a deduction of }th for friction. 

Thus, say that the height of the heated column is 20 feet, and the 

* difference of temperature between the air in the room and that outside is 
20° F., the linear rate of discharge as stated by the table (allowance beg 
made for friction) is 322 feet per minute, or 19,320 feet per hour. If the 
opening were | square foot this would give 19,320 cubic feet per hour, But 
if 3000 cubic feet per hour are wanted for one person, the orifice of 1 square 
foot, or 144 square inches, is too large, and must be lessened in the propor- 

: 3000 x 144 

tion of 3000 to 19,320 19,320 

v.e., reduced to 22 square inches. There must be a corresponding space 

for entry, making the total ventilating opening 44 square inches. 

To take another example; let us say the heated column is 15 feet, the 
difference of temperature 10° F., and the required supply for one person 2000 
cubic feet. The table gives the linear rate as 197 feet per minute, or 11,820 
per hour ; an orifice of 144 square inches would then give 11,820, and an 


2000 x 144 
orifice of 24 square inches would give 2000; (ie But 


= 22 square inches (round numbers), 


if in the above conditions 3000 cubic feet hourly supply were wanted, the 
opening must be 36 square inches. These examples show how impossible 
it is to fix any size which shall meet all conditions, even if the influence of 
wind could be completely excluded, which is impossible. The only way is 
to adopt a size which will meet most cases and supply means of altering 
the size according to circumstances. In this country, a size of 24 square 
inches per head for inlet, and the same for outlet, seems calculated to meet 
common conditions ; but arrangements should be made for enabling this to 
be lessened or closed in very cold weather, or if the influence of strong 
winds is too much felt.1_ Moreover, the size must be in part dependent on 
the size of the room, because in a small room with many people it is 


1 The following formula, proposed by Dr de Chaumont, can be used instead of the table 
on p. 21]. It is based on Montgolfier’s formula, with the discharge calculated for the 
poe and for square inches, instead of for the minute and the linear discharge, as in the | 
table. 

Let , be the height of the heated column of air; ¢ its temperature ; ¢ the temperature of 
the externalair; 0°002 the ratio of expansion of air for each degree of Fahr.; 100 a constant; — 
and f the coefficient of friction. Let D be the delivery required per hour, and ® the total 
inlet and outlet area in square inches. Then to find ®: 


100f(Wh(t —#') x 0002) 
Example: Suppose, as in the text, that the heated column be 20 feet, its mean temperature 
65°, and that of the outer air 45°, and the required delivery be 3000 cubic feet per hour; letf 
also equal # or 0°75. 
3000 
106 x 0°75(,/20(65° — 45°) x 0-U02) 
square inches for inlet or outlet, or 22:2 for inlet alone. 


_ A converse formula by Dr de Chaumont may be also useful. If the area of the inlet open- 
ing (’) is known, to find the delivery per hour under conditions h, t, and ¢. 


200f(Vh(t —t x 0:002)8'=D. 


The constant 200 is obtained by multiplying 3600 (seconds per hour) by twice the square 
root of 16°09 (=8 nearly), and dividing by 144 square inches. By halving this constant we | 
get the number for both inlet and outlet together. 


= 44-4 


SIZE AND POSITION OF INLETS AND OUTLETS. 195 


impossible to have the size so great as it would be if each person’s area of 
_ ventilation opening were 48 square inches, unless some portion of the air 
| were warmed. 

Relative size of the Inlets and Outlets.—It is commonly stated that, as 
the heated air expands, the outlets should be larger than the inlets, and 
_ the great disproportions of 5 to 4 and 10 to 9 have been given. As, how- 
ever, the average difference of temperature is only about 10° to 15° Fahr. 
in this country, the disproportion is much too great, as a cubic foot of air 
only expands to 1:020361 cubic feet with an increase of 10°. Even if the 
difference is 30° Fahr., a cubic foot of air only becomes 1-061 cubic feet, 
which is equal to an increase of about jth. The difference is so slight 
that it may be neglected, and the inlets and outlets can be made of the 
same size. 

_ Itis desirable to make each individual inlet opening not larger than 48 
to 60 square inches in area, or enough for two or three persons ; and to 
make the outlet not more than 1 square foot, or enough for six persons. 
‘Distribution is more certain with these small openings. 
_ Position and Description of the Inlet and Outlet Tubes.—1. Inlets.—The 
air must be taken from a pure source, and there must be no chance of any 
effluvia passing in. As a rule, the inlet tubes should be short, and so 
made as to be easily cleaned, otherwise dirt lodges, and the air becomes 
ampure. Inlets should not be large and single, but rather numerous and 
‘small (from 48 to 60 inches superficial), so that the air may be properly 
distributed. They should be conical or trumpet-shaped where they enter 
the room, as the entering air, after perhaps a slight contraction, spreads 
out fan-like, and a slight back current from the room down the sides of the 
funnel facilitates the mixing of the entering air with that of the room. To 
lessen the risk of immediate down-draught they should turn upwards, if 
they are placed above the heads of the persons. Externally the inlets 
should be partly protected from the wind; otherwise the wind blows 
‘through them too rapidly, and, if the current be strong, draughts are felt ; 
an overhanging shelf or hood outside will answer pretty well. Valves 
must be provided to partially close the openings if the wind blows in too 
strongly, or if the change of air is too rapid in cold weather. If covered 
with wire-gauze, it must be frequently cleaned. 
_ Sometimes an inlet tube must be carried some distance to an inner room, 
or to the opposite side of a large room which is unprovided with cross-venti- 
ation. In this case the heat of the room so warms the tube that the wind 
‘may be permitted to blow through it. 
The position of the inlets is a matter of some difficulty. If there are 
several, they should be, of course, equally distributed through the room, so 
4s to insure proper mixing of the air. They should not, however, be placed 
500 near an outlet, or the fresh air may at once escape ; theoretically, their 
eroper place of entrance is at the bottom of the room, but if so, the air 
“aust in this climate be warmed ; no person can bear the cold air flowing to 
id chilling the feet. The air can be warmed easily in various ways, viz.:— 
_ (a) The air may pass through boxes containing coils of hot-water pipes, 
or (in factories) of steam pipes. This is the best mode of warming. The 
oils may be close to the outside wall, or in the centre, or in hospitals in 
poxes under the beds communicating with the exterior air, and opening 
nto the ward. 
| (b) The air may pass into air-chambers behind or round grates and 
)toves, and be there warmed, as in the present barrack and hospital grate, 
: ontrived by Sir Douglas Galton: or as in the Meissner or Bohm stoves of 


196 VENTILATION. 


Germany ;! or as in the terra cotta stove, in the Herbert Hospital at 
Woolwich. 

(c) The air may be warmed in a tube passing through a stove, as in 
George’s calorigen, or by the method of Bond’s euthermic stove. 

If the air cannot be warmed, it must not be admitted at the bottom of 
the.room ; it must be let in above, about 9 or 10 feet from the floor, and 

*be directed towards the ceiling, so that it may pass up and then fall and 
mix gradually with the air of the room. The Barrack Commissioners 
have adopted this plan with half the fresh air brought into a barrack-room, 
The other half is warmed. It answers fairly well. 

In towns or manufacturing districts the air is so loaded with particles 
of coal, or, it may be, other powders, that it must be filtered. Nothing 
answers better for this than muslin or thin porous flannel, or paperhangers’ 
canvas, spread over the opening, which then should be made larger. This 
covering can be moistened if the incoming air be too dry. 

The tubes proposed by Mr Tobin of Leeds provide for the introduction 
of air from the outside at the floor level and then up a vertical tube, about 
4 feet in height; this gives a vertical direction to the current, which j is 
retained for several feet further before it begins to spread and: descend. 
The action of such a tube is, of course, much affected by the direction of 
the wind, and in some instances it is reversed altogether. The method is, 
however, useful in some cases, particularly for introducing air into places 
which could only be reached with difficulty by other means. It has been 
tried on a large scale at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, with fair success.? 
In some forms (as made by the Sanitary Engineering Company), there is 
an arrangement for washing the air and arresting impurities. An ingenious 
contrivance for warming the air for the upright tube by means of a gas jet 
has been suggested by Mr Lawson Tait ; it also provides an outlet for foul 
air. A modification for bedrooms and other rooms in private houses is — 
also recommended by Mr Tobin, viz., to cut out slits between the sashes of — 
the windows, so that the air enters vertically, even when the window is | 
shut. This is similar in principle to other modifications of window ventila- — 
tion already referred to, but it is only adapted for comparatively small _ 

rooms, and is quite inapplicable to a hospital ward or the like. | 

2. Outlets. ace for the outlets is a most important consideration, — 
as it will determine in great measure the position of the inlets. If there 
are no means of heating the air passing through them, they should be at — 
the top of the room; if there are means of heating them, they may be at 
any point. If not artificially warmed, the highest outlet tube is usually — 
the point of greatest discharge, and sometimes the only one. ! 

(a) Outlet Tubes without Artificial Heat.—They should be placed at the — 
highest point of the room; should be inclosed as far as possible within | 
walls, so as to prevent the air being cooled ; should be straight and with 
perfectly smooth internal surfaces, so that friction may be reduced to a | 
minimum. In shape they may be round or square, and they may be- 
covered above with some apparatus which may aid the aspirating power 
of the wind, and prevent the passage of rain into the shaft. 

The causes of down-draught and down-gusts in outlet tubes are these : 
the wind forces down the air, rain gets in, ‘and, by evaporation, so cools the | 
air that it becomes heavier ‘than the air in the room ; or the air becomes | 
too much cooled by passage through an exposed tube, so that it cannot | 


1 The Germans appear to be now making great use of these ventilating stoves in hospitals, | 
and even in private houses. For a good account, see Roth and Lex, J. ¢., p. 248 é seq. 
* See Dr de Chaumont’s Report, op. cit. 


PLANS OF TUBES AND SHAFTS. 197 


overcome the weight of the superincumbent atmosphere ; or another outlet 
shaft, with greater discharge, reverses the current. 

Arrangements should be made to distribute the down-draught, if it 
occurs ; flanges placed at some little distance below, so as to throw the air 
upwards again before it mixes with the air of the room, or simple con- 
_ trivances of a similar kind, may be used. Valves should be also fixed to 
‘lessen the area of the outlet when necessary. If there are several outlet 
tubes in a room, all should commence at the same distance from the floor, 
be of the same height (or the discharge will be unequal), and have the same 
exposure to sun and wind. 

Simple ridge openings may be used in one-storied buildings with slanting 
roofs ; they ventilate most thoroughly, but snow sometimes drifts in. Rain 
may be prevented entering by carrying down the sides of the overhanging 
ridge for some little distance. A flange placed some little distance below 
will throw any down-draught towards the walls. 

(b) Outlets with Artificial Warmth.—The discharge of outlets is much 

more certain and constant if the air can be warmed. The chimney with 
open fire is an excellent outlet—so good that in dwelling-houses, if there 
are proper inlets, no other outlet need be made, except when gas is used. 
‘When rooms are large, and more crowded, other outlets are necessary ; the 
heat of the fire may be further utilised by shafts round the chimney, 
opening at the top of the room, or, in other words, by surrounding the 
»smoke-flue with foul-air shafts. 
_ Gas, if used, should in all cases be made to warm an outlet tube, both 
_to carry off the products of combustion, and to utilise its heat. The best 
parrangement appears to be to place over the gasjet a pipe to carry off 
the products of combustion, and to case the pipe itself with a tube, the 
opening of which is at the ceiling; the tube carrying off the gas products 
is hot enough to cause a very considerable draught in its casing, and thus 
‘two outlet currents are in action, one over the gas, and one from the ceiling 
round the gas-tube. A modification of the lamp proposed in 1846 by Mr 
Rutter answers very well, and is in use, as arranged by Mr Ricketts. A 
good form is also made by Messrs Sugg. 

In various other ways the heat of “fire and lights may be taken advan- 
tage of. 

There will seldom be any difficulty in arranging the inlets and outlets, 
‘and in obtaining a satisfactory result, if these principles are borne in mind, 
‘viz., to have the fresh air pure, to distribute it properly, and to adopt every 
imeans of securing the outlets from cold, or artificially warming them, and 
of distributing the air, which, in spite of all precautions, will “occasionally 
‘pass down them. 

In hot climates, when. outlet shafts are run up above the general level 
of the building, it would be of advantage to make them of Deel work, and 
to colour them black, so that they may absorb and retain heat. 


6. PLANS OF TUBES AND SHAFTS WHICH HAVE BEEN PROPOSED. 


In most of the plans which have been proposed, the inventors have not 
distinctly seen that the influence of the winds and of the movement of air 
produced by unequal temperatures must be carefully distinguished, and, as 
\far as can be done, provided for. 

| 1. Openings at once to the Outer Air for Inlets, the Chimney being relied 
on for the Outlets, or Special Tubes fired eeneconated or air bricks are let 
into the walls. A usual size is 9 x 3 inches, and the united area of all the 


198 VENTILATION. 


several openings in one brick is about 114 square inches. Another common 
size is 10 x 6 inches, with an open area of about 24 square inches. The 
wind blows freely through them, and draughts are produced. 

The Sheringham valve is a great improvement on this: the air passes 
through a perforated brick or iron plate, and is then directed upwards by a 
valve opening, which can be closed, if necessary, 
by a balanced weight (fig. 29). The size of the 
internal opening is, in the usual-sized valve, 9 
inches by 3, and the area is 27 inches. These 
valves are usually placed towards the upper part 
of the room. The wind blows through them, and 

Fig. 29. the movement is therefore variable. They are 

often outlets ; it will, in fact, depend upon circum- 

stances whether they are inlets or outlets. Very little draught is, however, 

caused by them, unless with a high wind; on the whole, they are the best 
inlets of this kind. 

An open iron frame of the size of a brick, covered with perforated zine, 
and with a valve to close it if necessary, is a still simpler plan, and the air 
is pretty well distributed. The gauze should be cleaned frequently. Mr 
Boyle used a round plate working on a screw, which can be brought nearer 
or farther from a corresponding opening in the wall; the air entering 
strikes on the plate, and then spreads circularly over the wall, and is then 
drawn gently into the room. Some ingenious 
forms of inlet and outlet have also been intro- 
duced by Mr Richard Weaver, C.E., and by 
Messrs Ellison of Leeds. 

2. Tubes of Different Kinds.—A single tube 
has been sometimes used for inlet and outlet, 
a double current being established. This is, 
however, a rude plan, as there are no means of 
distributing the air, and as the intermingling 
of the current and the friction of the meeting 
air is Sometimes so great as to impede, or even 
for a time stop, the movement. To avoid 


a partition in the tube (fig. 30), and Mure sug- 


Fig. 30. gested the use of a double partition running | 


from corner to corner, so as to make four tubes. 


He covered his divided tube with a louvre so as to make use in some - 


degree of the aspiratory power of the wind on one side. 


In these tubes, accidental circumstances, such as the sun’s rays on one | 
side, the wind, the fire in the room, &c., will determine which is outlet and | 


which is inlet. They are so far better than the single tube, that the 
partition divides the currents and prevents friction, but there is the same 
irregular action and changing of currents from accidental circumstances, so 


that the direction of the currents and their rate are variable. The distribu- | 


tion of the entering air is also not good. 
Much better than these plans is M‘Kinnell’s circular tube. It consists 


of two cylinders, one encircling the other, the area of the inner tube and 


1 The model of Watson’s ventilating tube is well adapted for showing how opposing currents . 


of air block each other. Although the tube is of good size, a candle placed in a bell glass, into 


the top of which the tube is fixed, soon goes out ; a partition being then inserted into the tube, ~ 


the currents are at once divided—one passes up, one down, the sides of the tube, and the candle 
burns again. 


these inconveniences, Watson proposed to place — 


SYSTEM OF VENTILATION ADOPTED IN THE ARMY. 199 


encircling ring being equal.t_ The inner one is the outlet tube; it is so 
because the casing of the other tube maintains the temperature of the air 
in it; and it is also always made rather higher than the other; above it 
is protected by a hood, but if it had a cowl, like that at fig. 27, it would 
be better. The outer cylinder or ring is the inlet tube; the air is taken 
at a lower level than the top of the outlet tube; when it enters the 
room it is thrown up towards the ceiling, and then to the walls by a flange 
placed on the bottom of the inner tube ; the air then passes from the walls 
along the floor towards the centre of the room, and upwards to the outlet 
shaft. (Figs. 31 and 32.) Both tubes can be closed by valves. If there 


MQ \ AY 
\Y DW \X XS 


\ 


eZ = \ 


\ \\ 
\ IRIN KKK) \\t . — WW 
Fig. 31. Fig. 32. 


isa fire in the room, both tubes may become inlets; to prevent this the 
outlet tube should be closed ; if doors and windows are open, both tubes 
become outlets. 

The movement of air by this plan is imperceptible, or almost so ; it is an 
admirable mode for square or round rooms, or small churches ; for very 
long rooms it is less adapted. 

Dr Arnott’s chimney ventilator is a valved opening at the top of the 
room, leading at once into the chimney, and, like Dr Chowne’s siphon, has 
the great advantage of drawing the air from the top of the room; it has 
been, and is, much used, but has the inconvenience of occasionally allowing 
the reflux of smoke ; its action is also accompanied by a disagreeable noise. 

Mr Boyle has altered this chimney ventilator by hanging small talc plates 
at a certain angle; a very slight pressure closes them and prevents reflux. 


System of Ventilation adopted in the Army. 


On Home Service.—The official plan now in use was arranged about 
twenty-six years ago by the Barrack Improvement Commission, and has 
answered well, so far it goes. It is based on the plan of natural ventilation, 
and consists of— 

1. One outlet shaft, or more if required, proceeding from the highest 
point of the room ; the exact position in the room varies; it is sometimes 

at the corner, or at one side, according to circumstances. This shaft is 
carried straight up inside the wall, and about 4 to 6 feet above the roof, 


1 It would be advisable to make the outer ring larger, seeing that the friction to be over 
ome is about double that of the inner tube. 


200 VENTILATION. 


and is covered with a louvre. It is made of wood, is very smooth inside, 
and is provided with a flap for partly closing it below. Its size is regulated 
by that of the room and by the number of inmates, but it is not made 
larger than 1 square foot; if more outlet is required, another shaft is 
put up. The relation between its size and that of the room varies with 
the position of the room. In a three-storied barrack the rule is as 
follows :— 


(1) On the ground floor, 1 square inch of section area of outlet shaft for 
every 60 cubic feet of room space, or for each man 10 square inches 
of area. | 

(2) On the first floor, 1 square inch for every 55 cubic feet of room space, 
or for each man 10°9 (say 11) square inches. 

(3) On the second floor, 1 square inch for every 50 cubic feet of room 
space, or fcr each man 12 square inches. 


In a one-storied barrack the amount should be the same as the second 
floor, or, in other words, 12 men would have a shaft of 1 square foot. In 
addition, there is the chimney, which gives a section area per head of about 
6 square inches. The total outlet area per man is therefore 16 to 18 inches, 
according to circumstances. 

2. Inlets.—The amount of inlet is a trifle more than 1 square inch to 
every 60 cubic feet of room. 

Half the inlet air is warmed in all the new barracks and many old 
barracks by being taken through air-chambers behind the fire (Galton’s 
stove) (area of tube =6 square inches per head), and the other half comes 
direct from the outer air into the rooms through an air brick delivering 
into the room through valves either louvred 
or hopper-shaped. In the latter form the 
air impinges on a baffle board, and is de- 
flected right and left to openings protected 
by perforated zinc. This arrangement 
rather interferes with the free delivery of 
fj j air. Area of outer opening=5 square 
ZZ j- inches, making altogether 11 square inches 
Ze of inlet opening per man. 

ENNIINGS’AIR BRICK The cold-air inlets are placed at the 

Z sides near the ceiling, about 9 feet from 
the floor, and are not opposite each other. 
Fig. 33 shows a usual arrangement. The 
outlet space is thus seen to be rather 
larger than the inlet, but as the doors and 
windows seldom fit close, it is probable that practically this is of little 
consequence. 

The movement of air through these openings is tolerably regular—as 
regular as it ever can be in natural ventilation. The discharge of air 
through the chimney and outlet shaft averages about 1200 cubic feet per 
head per hour, with a range from 700 to 1500 or 1600 according to the 
amount of fire, the warmth of the room, and the movement of the external 
air. The usual upward current through the outlet shafts at night is from 
3 to 5 feet per second. Sometimes the chimney and outlet counteract each 
other a little; a strong chimney draught may stop the current in the 
outlet shaft, but there is seldom any down-draught unless rain beats imto 
the louvre and trickles down the inside of the shaft. The ventilation of 
barracks has been wonderfully improved by this plan, and the average CO, 


Fig, 33. 


ARTIFICIAL VENTILATION-—EXTRACTION. 201 


ranges from 0-7 to 1 per 1000 volumes, equal to from 0-3 to 0°6 of 
respiratory impurity, according to the rapidity of movement of the air. 

The hospital system is precisely the same, except that the dimensions 
are nearly doubled. 

Mediterranean Stations.—The same system is directed to be carried out 
whenever practicable at Malta and Gibraltar, only the sizes of the inlets 
and outlets are trebled; for example, there is 1 square inch of outlet for 
every 20 cubic feet of space, instead of 60 as at home ; great care is ordered 
to be taken to remove all outside obstacles to the movement of the wind. 

The Tropics and India.—The same system in principle is now directed to 
be used in India. 


SECTION III. 
ARTIFICIAL VENTILATION. 


Artificial ventilation is accomplished in two ways; either the air is 
drawn out of a building or room (the method by extraction), or it is driven 
in, so as to force out the air already in the room (the method by 
propulsion). — 


SuB-SECTION 1.——VENTILATION BY EXTRACTION. 


This is produced by the application of heat, so as to cause an upward 
current, or by the steam jet, or by a fan or screw, which draws out the air. 

1. Extraction by Heat.—The common chimney isa well-known example of 
this. There is a constant current up the chimney, when the fire is burning, 
in proportion to the size of the fire and of the chimney. The usual current 
up a common sitting-room chimney, with a fair fire, is, as measured by an 
anemometer, from 3 to 6 feet per second. A very large fire will bring it 
up to 8 or 9 feet. The movement caused by a kitchen or furnace fire is, 
of course, greater than this. If the area of the section where the anemo- 
meter is placed be known, the discharge can be stated in cubic feet. 

When the air enters equably, and is well distributed, the movement of 
air is from the inlets gently towards the fireplace ; there is also said to be 
a movement, from above the fireplace, along the ceiling and down the 
walls, and then along the floor to the chimney.! 

In the wards of Fort Pitt the current, with a good fire, is about 34 to 43 
feet per second ; and as the section area of the throat is 0°5 square foot, the 
average discharge is about 7200 cubic feet per hour. In the barracks at 
Chatham, Dr Fyffe found the discharge by the chimney to be 9080 cubic 
feet per hour (average of six observations). In the barracks at Gravesend, 
Messrs Hewlett, Stanley, and Reid found the discharge to be 6120 cubic 
feet per hour (average of twenty observations). At Chelsea New Barracks, 

with a fire alight but low, the velocity was 14°6 per second, or 21,038 cubic 
feet per hour ; and, with the fire out, 11-9 per second, or 17,088 per hour.” 
In the experiments of the Barrack Commissioners,’ the chimney discharge 
ranged from 5300 to 16,000 cubic feet per hour, the mean of twenty-five 
experiments being 9904 cubic feet. Even in summer, without a fire, there 
is generally a good up-current. In August 1869 Dr F. de Chaumont found 
at Fort Elson the velocity to be on one occasion 7°5 per second, and at 


Reid and Stewart, quoted by the Barrack Commissioners. 
Dr F. de Chaumont’s Reports, Army Med. Reports, vol. ix. 
Report, 1861, p. 73. 


202 VENTILATION. 


Gosport New Barracks, 8-4. The velocity generally ranges from 14 feet to 
3 feet per second, although it is often more. It may be concluded that, 
with an ordinary fire, a chimney gives a discharge sufficient for four or five 
persons. If then, more than this number of persons habitually live in 
the room, another outlet must be provided. 

As the current up the chimney is so great when the fire is lighted, all 
other openings in a room, if not too many, become inlets; and, in this way, 
down-draughts of air may occur from tubes intended as ‘outlets. There is 
no remedy | for this ; and if too much enters, the outlets must be more or less 
closed. 

If the room be without openings, so that no air can reach the fire, air 
is drawn down the chimney, and a double current is established, by which 
the fire is fed. The down-current coming in puffs is one cause of smoky 
chimneys, and may be at once cured by making an inlet. 

The chimney and fire form a type of a number of other similar modes of 
ventilation by extraction. 

The ventilation of mines is carried on by lighting a fire at the bottom of 
a Shaft (the upcast or return shaft), or half a shaft, if there be only one. 
The air is drawn down the other or downcast or intake shaft, or half the 
shaft, and is then made to traverse the galleries of the mine, being directed 
this way or that by partitions. Double doors are used, so that there is no 
back or side rush of the air. The current passes through the up-cast shaft 
at the rate of from 8 to 10 feet per second; it flows through the main 
galleries at the rate of from 4 to 6 feet per second, or even more, and from 
1000 to 2000 cubic feet per head per hour are supplied in good mines. In 
fire-damp mines much more than this is given, even as much as 6000 cubic 
feet per man per hour.! If the quantity of air be reduced too low, there is 
a serious diminution in the amount of work performed by the men. A horse 
is allowed 2466 cubic feet, and a light 59 cubic feet per hour. All these 
quantities are too small. It may easily be conceived how skilfully the air 
must be directed so as to traverse the most remote workings; in some 
mines a portion of air makes a circuit of from 30 to 40 miles before it can 
arrive at the upcast-shaft. The size of the shafts in a colliery varies from 
8 to 11 or 12 feet in diameter, the sectional area of a shaft of the former 
size would be 50 square feet. A current of 8 feet per second in the upcast- 
shaft would give a discharge of 1,440,000 cubic feet per hour, which would 
give 720 men 2000 cubic feet per hour. 

The sectional area and height of the extracting shaft, and of the tubes 
running into it, have been fixed by Péclet ; the principle is to give to the 
shaft the greatest height which can be allowed, and the largest section 
which can be given,? without permitting the temperature of the contained 
air to fall so low as to be unable to overcome the resistance of the atmo- 
sphere at the top of the shaft, or the action of the winds.* 

In large buildings the same plan is often used; a chimney (cheminée 
@appel of the French) is heated by a fire at the bottom, and into the bottom 
of this shaft, close to the fire, run a number of tubes coming from the 
different rooms. Several French and English hospitals, and many other 
buildings, are ventilated in this way. Dr Reid for some years ventilated 
the Houses of Parliament in the same manner, and so powerful was his 


1 Proceedings of the Inst. of Civil Engineers, vol. xii. p. 308. 
* Dela Chaleur, 3rd ed., 1861, t. iii. p. 65 et seq. 
’ The amount of the resistance given to the movement of air through the tubes leading to 
fin ott and in the shaft itself, can be calculated from the formula given by Péclet, at p. 47 
(t. iii.), but which it is unnecessary to introduce here. 


VENTILATION BY EXTRACTION. 203 


up-draught that he could change the entire air in the building in a few 
minutes. 

In dwelling-houses it has been proposed to have a central chimney, into 
which the chimneys of all the fires shall open, and to surround this with air- 
shafts connected with the tops of the rooms. It is supposed that if other 
inlets exist, there will be a current both up the chimney and up the shaft 
running beside it. 

In all these cases it is necessary that the workmanship shall be very exact, 
so that air shall not reach the extracting shaft except through the tubes. 

It is now more than a hundred and twenty years since Dr Mead 
brought before the Royal Society Mr Sutton’s plan of ventilating ships on 
the same principle. Tubes running from the hold and various cabins 
joied together into one or two large tubes which opened into the ashpit 
beneath the cooking fires. If the doors of the ashpits were kept closed, the 
fires drew the air rapidly from all parts of the ship. Unfortunately, this 


plan never came into general use. The same plan was adopted by Dr 


Mapleton for the ventilation of the hospital ships employed in the last 


(1860) China War. The arrangement requires some watching to prevent 


| 


{ 


careless cooks from allowing air to reach the fires in other ways. 

On the same principle some men-of-war are now being ventilated.! The 
funnel and upper part of the boiler, and, as far as possible, all the steam 
apparatus, are inclosed in an iron casing, so that a space is left of some 3 


or 4 feet between the casing and the funnel. When the fires are lighted, 


there is of course a strong current up this space ; to supply this the air is 


drawn down through all the hatchways towards the furnace doors. The 


' temperature of the stokehole is reduced from 130° or 140° Fahr. to 60° 


and 70°, and the draught to the fires is so much more perfect that more 
steam is obtained from the same amount of fuel. This plan, devised by 
Mr Baker, was ingeniously applied by Admiral Fanshawe, late superintend- 
ent at Chatham dockyard, to the ventilation of every part of the ship where 
there were no water-tight compartments. Edmunds’ plan combines with 
this the ventilation, not only of the hold, but of the timbers of the ship. 
Sometimes, instead of a fire at the bottom of the chimney, it is placed at 
the top; but this is a mistake, as there is a great loss of heat from the 
immediate escape of the heated air; the proper plan is to heat, as much as 


possible, the whole column of air in the chimney, which can only be done 


by placing the fire below. Sometimes, as in Jebb’s method for cell prisons, 
the shaft is too short for the work it has to do. 

Frequently, instead of or in addition to a fire, heat is obtained in the 
shaft by means of hot-water or steam pipes. This plan has long been in 
use in England,? and has since been introduced into France, and improved 


by M. Léon Duvoir. Warming, as well as ventilation, is accomplished by 


this method, which is in action at the Hospitals Lariboisiére (in one-half) 
and Beaujon. After a very long investigation into the merits of all rival 


_ plans, it was adopted by a French commission for the warming and ventila- 


tion of the Palais de Justice at Paris, and has since been adopted in other 


public buildings, chiefly from the advocacy of General Morin.* 


1 Tn the new ironclads it is found necessary to use large fans driven by special engines to 


| effect thorough change of air below. 


2 Tt is in use in the Circuit Court-House in Glasgow, and in the Police Buildings at Edin- 
burgh (Ritchie), and in many other buildings. } 
8 Two excellent reports have been made by this Commission, of which General Morin was 


reporter. Their titles are given further on. Much information is also given in General 
| Morin’s work on ventilation, Htudes sur la Ventilation, Paris, 1863, 2 vols.; also Manuel 
| Pratique du Chaufage et de la Ventilation, Paris, 1874. 


204 VENTILATION. 


Oil has been used in some cases instead of water, for circulating in the 
heating apparatus. 

Very frequently, instead of a fire or hot-water vessels, lighted gas is used 
to cause a current, and if the gas can be applied to other uses, such as 
lighting, cooking, or boiling water, the plan is an economical one. 

In theatres the chandeliers have long been made use of for this purpose. 
M. D’Arcet proposed this for several of the old theatres in Paris, and the 
Commission ! appointed to determine the mode of ventilation to be adopted 
in the Théatres Lyrique et du Cirque Impérial, determined, after much 
consideration, that this plan was the best adapted for theatres. General 
Morin, from numerous experiments, found that 1 cubic metre of gas caused 
the discharge of 1000 cubic metres of air, or 1 cubic foot would cause the 
discharge of 1000 cubic feet of air.? 

The advantage of extraction by heat, especially in the case of theatres and 
buildings where gas can be brought into play, are obvious, but the growing 
use of the electric light will necessarily modify the arrangements for venti- 
lation. 

There are some objections to extraction by the fire and hot-air shaft. 

(1) The inequality of the draught. It is almost impossible to keep the 
fire at a constant height. The same quantity of combustible material 
should be consumed in the same time every day, and the heat should be 
kept in by large masses of masonry. Still, with these precautions, the 
atmospheric influences, and changes in the quality of the combustibles, 
cannot be avoided. 

(2) The inequality of the movement from different rooms. From rooms 
nearest the shaft, and with the straightest connecting tubes, there may be 
a strong current, while from distant rooms the friction in the conduits is 
so great that little air may pass. This is well seen in cell prisons, ventilated 
on Jebb’s principle. The greatest care is therefore necessary in calculating 
the resistance, and in apportioning the area of the tubes to the resistance. 
This plan is, indeed, best adapted for compact buildings. Occasionally, if 
the friction be great, from too small size or the angular arrangement of 
the conduits leading to the hot-shaft, there may be no movement at all in 
the conduits, but a down-current to feed the fire is established in the shaft 
itself—a state of things which was discovered by Dr Sanderson to exist 
formerly in the ventilation of St Mary’s Hospital in London. 

(3) The possibility of reflux of smoke, and perhaps of air, from the 
shaft to the rooms, is another objection of some weight. 

(4) The impossibility of properly controlling the places where fresh air 
enters. It will flow in from all sides, and possibly from places where it is 
impure, as from closets, &c.; air is so mobile that with every care it is 
difficult to bring it under complete control—it will always press in and out 
at the point of least resistance. 

2. Hxtraction by the Steam-Jet.—The moving agent here is the force of 
the steam-jet, which is allowed to pass into a chimney. The cone of steam 
sets in motion a body of air equal to 217 times its own bulk. Tubes pass- 
ing from different rooms enter the chimney below the steam-jet, and the 
air is extracted from them by the strong upward current. This plan is 
best adapted for factories with spare steam. It was employed for some 
time in the ventilation of the House of Lords, but was finally abandoned. 

3. Extraction by a Fan or Serew.—An extracting fan or Archimedean 


‘ Rapport de la Commission sur le Chauffage ct la Ventilation du Theatre Lyrique et du } 


Théatre du Cirque Impérial, Rapporteur le Général Morin, Paris, 1861. 
2 Etudes sur la Vent., t. ii. p. 720. 


VENTILATION BY PROPULSION. 205 


screw has been used to throw out the air. Several different kinds have 
been proposed by Messrs Combes, Letoret, Glepin, and Lloyd, and have 
been used in coal-mines in Belgium, and in some of the English mines. 
At the Abercarn mine, in South Wales, a fan is used of 13} feet diameter ; 
the vanes, eight in number, are 34 feet wide by 3 feet long ; at 60 revolu- 
tions per minute the velocity of the air is 782 linear feet per minute, and 
45,000 cubic feet are extracted ; the velocity at the circumference of the 
fan is 2545 feet per minute; the theoretical consumption of coal per hour 
is 17°4 ib.1 

Mr Van Hecke formerly used a fan for this purpose, in his system of 
ventilation of buildings, but he has found it better to abandon it, and 
substitute a propelling fan. 


SuB-SEcTION I].—VENTILATION BY PROPULSION. 


This plan was proposed by Desaguliers, in 1734,? when he invented a 
fan or wheel inclosed in a box. The air passed in at the centre of the fan, 
and was thrown by the revolving vanes into a conduit leading from the 
box. In some form or other this fan has been used ever since, and the 
conduits leading from it are now generally made large, so that the fan 


_ tay move slowly, and deliver a large quantity of air at a low velocity. 


The fan, if small, is worked by hand ; if large, by horse, water, or steam 


power. It is largely used in India, under the name of the Thermantidote. 


The fans are often made with six or eight rays, each carrying vanes at 


_ the end, which should be as close as possible to the enveloping box. In 


size, the length of the vanes should be more than half the length of the 
rays ; the number of rays should augment with the diameter of the orifice 
of access.? . 

The amount of air delivered can be told by timing the speed of revolu- 
tion of the extremities of the fan per second, or per minute ; the effective 
velocity is equal to ths of this, and this is the rate of movement of the 

-air. If the section area of the conduit be known the number of cubic feet 
discharged per second, minute, or hour, can be at once calculated. 

The power of this plan is very considerable. With a fan of 10 feet 
diameter, revolving sixty times per minute, the effective velocity is 1414 feet 
per minute. The rate of movement,in the main channel should not be 


more than 4 feet per second ; the conduits must gradually enlarge in calibre ; 


and the movement, when the air is delivered into the rooms, should not 
be more than 1} feet per second. At the Hospital Lariboisi¢re in Paris, it 
is stated that 150 cubic metres (=5296 cubic feet) have been delivered 
per head per hour, in the wards ventilated by the propelling fan of MM. 


Thomas et Laurens. It must, however, be remembered, that the later 


observations of General Morin showed that much of the movement ascribed 
to the fan was really owing to natural ventilation. 

This plan is very well adapted for those cases in which a large amount of 
“air has to be suddenly supplied, as in crowded music halls and assembly 
rooms. St George’s Hall at Liverpool is ventilated in this way. The air 
is taken from the basement ; is washed by being drawn through a thin film 


1 Ure’s Dictionary, 1875, art. ‘ Ventilation,” vol. iii. p. 1069. 

2 Course of Experimental Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 564. The wheel was shown to the Royal 
Society in 1734. 

8 Peclet, De la Chaleur, 3rd edition, 1860, t. i. pp. 259, 263. Numerous kinds of fans for 
propulsion and extraction are figured, and detailed accounts of construction and amount of 
work are given. 


206 VENTILATION. 


of water thrown up by a fountain ; is passed into caloriferes (in the winter), 
where it can be moistened by a steam-jet, if the difference of the dry and 
wet bulb be more than four to six degrees, and is then propelled along the 
channels which distribute it to the hall. In summer, it is cooled in the 
conduits by the evaporation of water. 

At the Hopital Necker in Paris, and in many other places, the plan of 
»Van Hecke is in use. A fan, worked by an engine, drives the air into small 
chambers in the basement, where it is warmed by cockle stoves, and then 
ascends into the rooms above and passes out by outlet shafts constructed in 
the walls. The system is effective and economical, though it is only just to 
say that, the use of the fan excepted, it is precisely similar in principle to 
Sylvester's. 

The fans employed by Verity Brothers of London seem to be very power- 
ful. Blackman’s air-propeller is also a very powerful machine. 

In addition to the fan, other appliances have been used. Soon after 
Desaguliers proposed the fan, Dr Hales employed large bellows for the same 
purpose, and they were used for some time on board some men-of-war, and 
in various buildings. They were worked by hand; and probably this, and 
their faulty construction, led to their being disused. Their use was revived 
and their form modified and improved by Dr Arnott.1 Dr Arnott showed 
that Hales lost much power by forcing his air through small openings; and, 
by some ingenious alterations, made an effective machine. The hydraulic 
air-pump, sometimes used in mines, is useful on a small scale.? Norton’s 
air-pump ventilator is another form. 

The punkah used in India is another mechanical agent with a similar 
though more imperfect action, When a punkah is pulled ina room open on 
all sides, it will force out a portion of air, the place of which will be at once 
supplied by air rushing in with greater or less rapidity from all points. If 
the punkah can be moistened in any way, its cooling effect is considerable. — 
In Moorsom’s punkah a wheel turned by a bullock both moves the punkah 
and elevates water, which then passes along the top of the punkah, and 
flows down it. 

The advantages of ventilation by propulsion are its certainty, and the 
ease with which the amount thrown in can be altered. The stream of air 
can be taken from any point, and can, if necessary, be washed by passing 
through a thin film of water, or through a thin screen of moistened cotton, 
and can be warmed or cooled at pleasure to any degree. In fact, the en- 
gineer can introduce into this operation the precision of modern science. 

The disadvantages are the great cost, the chances of the engine breaking 
down, and some difficulties in distribution. If the air enter through small 
openings, at a high velocity, it will make its way to the outlets without 
mixing. The method requires, therefore, great attention in detail. 


SECTION IV. 


RELATIVE VALUE OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL 
VENTILATION. 


Circumstances differ so widely, that it is impossible to select one system 
in preference to all others. In temperate climates, in most cases, especially 
for dwelling-houses, barracks, and hospitals, natural ventilation, with such 


1 On the Smokeless Fireplace, by Neil Arnott, M.D., F.R.S., &c., 1855, p. 162; and in 
other publications. 
2 Ure’s Dictionary, 1875, vol. iii. p. 1064. 


EXAMINATION OF THE SUFFICIENCY OF VENTILATION. 207 


powers of extraction as can be got by utilising the sources of warming and 


lighting is the best. Incessant movement of the air is a law of nature. 


We have only to allow the air in our cities and dwellings to take share in 


this constant change, and ventilation will go on uninterruptedly without 
our care. 


In some circumstances, however, as in the tropics, with a stagnant and 
warm air; and in temperate climates in certain buildings, where there are 
a great number of small rooms, or where sudden assemblages of people take 
place, mechanical ventilation must be used. So much may be said both for 
the system of extraction and propulsion under certain circumstances, that 
it is impossible to give an abstract preference to one over the other. In 
fact, it is evident that the special conditions of the case must determine the 
choice, and we must look more to the amount of air, and the method of 
distribution, than to the actual source of the moving power. But in either 
ease the greatest engineering skill is necessary in the arrangement of tubes, 
the supply of fresh air, &e. The danger of contamination of air as it passes 
through long tubes, and the immense friction it meets with, must not be 
overlooked. For hospitals, natural ventilation certainly seems the proper 
plan. The cost of the various plans will depend entirely on circumstances, 
the nature of the building, the price of materials, coal, &e. On the whole, 
the plans of ventilating and warming by hot-water pipes, and Van Hecke’s 
plan, are cheaper than the method by propulsion by means of a large 
fan; but the latter gives us a method which is more under engineering 
control, and is better adapted for hot climates when it is desired to cool 
the air. 

Comparing two sets of schools in Dundee, MM. Carnelley, Haldane, and 
Anderson! have shown that mechanical ventilation has the advantage. The 
incoming air is warmed by being driven by means of fans over hot pipes, and 
then delivered into the rooms, about 5 feet from the floor, through shallow 
broad openings ; the outgoing air is drawn up from apertures about 2 feet 
from the floor into a chamber in the roof, and thence out through valved 
louvres. The mean delivery of air (calculated from the CO,) in the 
mechanically ventilated rooms was 670 cubic feet per head per hour,—in 
those naturally ventilated, only 400; the range in the former being from 
375 to 1680, and in the latter from 175 to 1370. In neither case, how- 
ever, was the ventilation very good. 


SECTION V. 
EXAMINATION OF THE SUFFICIENCY OF VENTILATION. 


The sufficiency of ventilation should be examined— 

lst, By determining the amount of cubic space and floor space assigned 
to each person, and their relation to each other, and by determining the 
amount of movement of the air, or, in other words, the number of cubic 
feet of fresh air which each person receives per hour. 

2nd, By examining the air by the senses, and by chemical, biological, 
and mechanical methods, so as to determine the presence, and, if possible, 
the amounts and characters of suspended matters, organic vapour, carbon 


dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, watery vapour, ammonia, We. 


l Phil. Trans., loc. cit. 


208 VENTILATION. 


Sus-Srection J.—MEASUREMENT OF CusiIc Space. | 


The three dimensions of length, breadth, and height are simply multiplied | 
into each other. If a room is square or oblong, with a flat ceiling, there | 
is, of course, no difficulty in doing this, but frequently rooms are of irregu- | 


lar form, with angles, projections, half-circles, or segments of circles. In _ 


such cases the rules for the measurement of the areas of circles, segments, 
triangles, &c., must be used. By means of these, and by dividing the room 
into several parts, as it were, so as to measure first one and then another, 
no difficulty will be felt. After the room has been measured, recesses con- 


taining air should be measured, and added to the amount of cubic 


space; and, on the other hand, solid projections, and solid masses of — 
furniture, cupboards, &c., must be measured, and their cubic contents 
(which take the place of air) deducted from the cubic space already 


measured. The bedding also occupies a certain amount of space ; asoldier’s | 


hospital mattress, pillow, three blankets, one coverlet, and two sheets, will 
occupy almost 10 cubic feet—about 7 if tightly rolled up. It is seldom | 
necessary to make any deduction: for tables, chairs, and iron bedsteads, or | 
small boxes, or to reduce the temperature of the air to standard tempera-_ 
ture, as is sometimes done. 

A deduction may be made, however, for the bodies of persons living in | 
the room; a man of average size takes the place of about 24 to 4 cubie 
feet of air (say 3 for the average.) The weight of a man in stones, divided 
by 4, gives the cubic feet he occupies. Thus a man weighing 12 stones | 
occupies 3 cubic feet. 

In linear measurement, it is always convenient to measure in feet and | 


decimals of a foot and not in feet and inches.? If square inches are_ 


measured, they may be turned into square feet by multiplying by 0-007. 


Rutes—-Area or Superficies. 


Area of circle, . ; : =D?x °7854 (or rr, where r is the radius). 
” fl . . 02 <5 0796 (or = | 

Circumference of circle, . =D x 31416 (72r). | 

Diameter of circle, . ; SC) 2 Beil AF (= =) ; | 


Multiply the product of the two diame- | 


Area of ellipse, : ~ hom Eyeieoe (=). 


Multiply half sum of the two diameters’ 
Circumference of ellipse, . = by 3° 1416 | nts \. 


Square one of the sides, or multiply any! 
Area of a square, = | q ) py 2 


two sides into each other. 


1 For tables of useful measures, see Appendix. 
2 


2 The following table may be found convenient :— 


Decimal parts of Decimal parts of 


ie a fuot. Inches. a foot. 
2 = 1:00 6 = 0°50 
1a = 0°92 5 = 0-42 
10 = 0°83 4 = 0°33 | 

9 = 0°75 | 3 = 0:25 

8 = 0°67 | 2; = 0-17 4 


RULES FOR MEASUREMENT OF CUBIC SPACE. 209 


{ Multiply two sides perpendicular to 
each other, 

_ {| Base x4 height, or 

~ | Height x 4 base. 


Area of a rectangle, . : 2 


Area of a triangle, 


Fig. 34, 


Area of a parallelogram, . = Divide into two triangles by a diagonal, 
and take sum of the areas of the two 
triangles, 


Fig. 35. 


Any figure bounded by right lines, = Divide into triangles, and take the sum 
of their areas. 


Fig. 36. 


Area of segment of circle, . = To 2 of product of chord and height 
add the cube of the height divided 
by twice the chord 


HB 
(Ch x H x 3) +9Gn 


Fig. 37. 

Cubic Capacity of a Cube or a Solid Rectangle.—Multiply together the 
three dimensions, length, breadth, and height. 
) b Cubic Capacity of a Solid Triangle. — Area of section (triangle) multiplied 

y depth. 

Cubic Capacity of a Cone or Pyramid.—Area of base x 4 height. 

Cubic Capacity of a Dome.—Two-thirds of the product of the area of the 
base multiplied by the height (area of base x height x 2). 
Cubic Capacity of a Cylinder. —Area of base x “height. 
. Arr? 
Cubic Capacity of a Sphere.—D* x 5236( or = ). 
The cubic capacity of a bell-tent may be taken as that of a cone resting 
oma short cylinder. 
| The cubic capacity of an hospital marquee must be got by dividing the 
“marquee into several parts—Ist, into body; and, 2nd, roof :— 


1. Body, as a solid rectangle, with a half cylinder at each end. 
2. Roof, solid triangle, and two half cones. 


The total number of cubic feet, with additions and deductions all made, 
‘nust then be divided by the number of persons living in the room; the 
vesult is the cubic space per head; whilst the total area of floor space 
livided by the number of penvome gives the floor space per head, which 
hould be as near as possible 54, of the cubic space. 


| 
| 


O 


210 VENTILATION. 


Sus-Section I].—Movement or ArR IN THE Room. 


The direction of movement must first be determined, and then its rate. 


| | 


l. DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT. 


First enumerate the various openings in the room—doors, windows, chim-| 
ney, special openings, and tubes—and consider which is likely to be the) 
direction of movement, and whether there is a possibility of thorough — 
movement of the air. Then, if it is not necessary to consider further any 
movement through open doors or windows, close all these, and examine | 
the movement through the other openings. This is best done by smoke 
disengaged from smoulderimg cotton-velvet, and less perfectly by small 
balloons, light pieces of paper, feathers, &c. The flame of a candle, which 
is often used, is only moved by strong currents. It may be generally taken 
for granted that one-half the Openings in a room will admit fr esh air, and 
half will be outlets, But this is not invariable, as a strong outlet, like a 
chimney, may draw air through an inlet of far ereater area than itself, or 
may draw it through a much smaller area with an increased rapidity. 


2. RATE OF MOVEMENT. 


The direction being known, it is only necessary to measure the discharge 
through the outlets, as a corr esponding quantity of fresh air must enter. 

By the Anemometer. —This is best done by an anemometer, or air-meter, 
of which there are several in the market. The one commonly used is in 
principle that invented by Combes in 1838: four little sails, driven by the 
moving air, turn an axis with an endless screw, which itself turns some 
small toothed wheels, which indicate the number of revolutions of the axis 
and consequently the space traversed by the sails in a given time, say on¢ 
minute. M. Neumann, of Paris, modified this anemometer by omitting 
most of the wheels, and introducing a delicate watchmaker’s spring, whicl, 
opposes the force of the wind, and, when it equals it, brings the sails to : i 
stand-still. By a careful graduation (which must be ‘done for each instru 
ment), the rate per second is determined, and is indicated by a small dia 
and index. 

Mr Casella, of Holborn, at the suggestion of the late Dr Parkes, odie} 
and improved this instrument, and adapted it to English measures. A ver 
beautiful instrument is thus available Dy which the movement of air ca 
be measured approximatively very readily." 

Casella’s air-meter is thus used :—Being set at the zero point, it is place 
in the current of the air; if it is placed in a tube or shaft, it should be pu 
well in, but not quite in ‘the centre, as the central velocity i is always greate 
than that of the side; a point about two-fifths from the sides of the tuk 
will give the mean velocity. The time when the sails begin to move | 
accurately noted, and then, after a given time, the instrument is removet 
and the movement, in the time noted, is given by the dial. A correction | 
then made, and the linear discharge is obtained.?_ If this linear disc 


1 Mr Saxon Snell has pointed out some sources of errors in the use of this instrument | | 
regards the positive observations, but these are less important when the observations a 
comparative. 

2 All instruments require correction, as they never give the whole of the velocity. Grd 
care must be taken to ascertain that the correction has been accur ately determined, and uy 
should be frequently compared with a standard instrument. 


TABLE TO SHOW VELOCITY OF AIR. Ze 


is multiplied by the section area of the tube or opening (expressed in feet 
or decimals of a foot), the cubic discharge is obtained. If the current varies 
in intensity, the movement should be taken several times, and the mean 
ealeulated; and if the tube is so small that the sails approach closely to the 
circumference, the results cannot be depended on. [If placed at the mouth 
of a tube, it often indicates a much feebler current than really exists in 
the tube. 

The cubic discharge per minute being known, the amount per hour is got 
by multiplying by 60, and this divided by the number of persons in the 
room, gives the discharge per head for that particular aperture. 

An anemometer on a larger scale is fixed in some of the large outlets of 


TABLE to show the Velocity of Air in linear feet per minute. Calculated from Mont- 
golfers formula; the expansion of air being taken as 0:002 for each degree Fahrenheit, 
and one-fourth being deducted for friction. (Rownd numbers have been taken.) 


DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE. 


Height of 
column, 


3/4/5|6/7| 8) 9 (10/11/1213 14 15 16 17 |18 |19 |20 |21 22 23 |24|25 |30 


10 | 88)102)114)125)135)144)153)161)169)176/183/190)197 |204)210) 216): 
11 | 92|107|119|131/141]151/160|169|177| 185) 192) 200|207|213|220| 226 
12 96,111,125 136 147|158) 167/176) 185)193|201)209)216 223) 230/237): 5|261|267|273)279)305 
13 |100)116 130/140) 153/164)174|183|192| 201/209) 217|225|232)239|246| 253/255 272|278)284/290)318 
: 14 |104)120/135)147|159)170|181/190) 200) 209|217|225|233)|241|248)|255/262|269|276/282)289/295)/301/330 
15 |108 125/139 153) 165)176|187|197)|207|216|225|233|241|249/257|264/272|279|286)292)295|305|512|541 
16 |111)129 144/158 170/182)193/204)213/223)/232/241)/249|257|265|273/281|288/295|302/309/315|322)353 
17 |115)133 148/162) 176/188) 199}210)220/230|239) 248)257 |265 274)282|289)/297|304/311)318/325|332/363 
18 {118/136 153)167|181/193) 205/216) 226) 237|246|255)264/274| 282) 290/298 305/313|320/327/335|342)/374 
19 [121/140 157/172)186)198|210|222) 233/245) 253|262|272/281/289 298/306)/314/321/329|336|344/ 351/384 
20 |125)144 161|176| 190)204/216/228)239)249) 259) 269)279 |288 297/305|314)/322/330/338)345|353) 360/304 
21 |128)147)165)181)195) 209) 221/233)245|255|266)276)286|295/304/313/321/330/338/346 354/361/569/404 
22 |131/151'169|185 200|214|226|239|250|261|272|282|292 302/311/320|529/338/346 354 362/370/378)414 
23 |134)154/173)189)204/218) 232) 244) 256) 267) 278/289/299 309/318 327/336 /345/354/362 370)/378)/386/423 
24 |136/158/176)193)209|223| 237/249) 261/273) 284|295|305)/315|325|335|344/353/361|370)378|386/394/432 
25 |139/161/180)197|213|227| 241/254 267/279/290|301|312/322)/332 342/351|360|/369|378 386/394|402|441 
26 |142|/164/183/201)/217|232|246|259| 272|284|296/307/318 328|338|348|358|367/376/385 394/402/410/450 
27 |145 167|187 205 221|237|251|264/277 290/302)313/324'335 345|355/365/374 383 392 401/410)/418)458 
28 |147|170/190|209)225)241/255/269) 282 295/307 319)330|341/351/361/371/381/390 399 408|417/426/467 
29 |150)173 194)212 229|245/260/274/287| 300)312|324|335 347 |357|368/378|388|397 407/416 425/433 )475 
30 |153 176 197|216 233 249|264/279)292/305|/318/330|341 353/363 /374|384/394| 404 414/423)/452/441/483 
31 |155)179|200 219/237 253) 269/283 297/510/323/335|347 558 369)/380/391/401)/411)420 450/459) 448/491 
32 |198)182 204/223 241|257|273/288 302) 315|328)341|353 364/375/386/397|407/417 427 437) 446)455|499 
33 |160|185 207|226 245|261|277|292|307|/320|333|346|358/370|381)392/403/414|424|434 443|453|462|506 
34 |162/188 210/230) 248|265/282/297|311|325|338/3511363 375|387|398|409|420/43 440|450/460|469|514 
35 |165|190 213|233 252|269|286|301)316|330/343|356)369|381|393|404|415|426|436 447/457 467|476|522 
36 |167/193 216 236/255 273) 290/305/320/334|348/361/374 386/598 410)421)432 442/453 463)/473)483/529 
37 |170/196 219 240)259)277)294/310) 325/339/353/366)379 392/404 /415/427/438 448 459/470|480|490|536 
38 |172|198/229 245/262) 281)298/314/329/544)358)37 1/384 397/409 421)432|444)454 465/476 486)496|543 
39 |174/201 225/246 266 284/302/318/ 333/348) 362|376/389 402/414 426/438)450 461/471 482/492)503|551 
40 |176/204 228/249 269/288)305/322/338)353)367|381|394 407/420/432|444)455|467|477 488) 499|509|558 
45 {187/216 241|264/286|305/324|341/358|374|389|404|418 |432|445|458|471|483 495|506|518 529)540/591 
50 |197 228 254/279)301 322)341)360)377 394/401)426/441 455/469 483/496) 509 ea leaf 569/625 


3/4 5/6 7/89 1011/12 1214/15 16 17 18 19 |20 21 22 23 24/25 30 


33|239)|244/249/254/279 
5/259|256)261/267|292 


) To use the table, determine the height of the warm column of air from the point of entrance 
0 the point of discharge. Ascertain the difference between its temperature and that of the 
‘xternal air. Take outnumber from Table, and multiply by the section-area of the discharge- 
ube or opening. in feet or decimals of a foot. The result is the discharge in cubic feet per 
1inute, multiply by 60—result, discharge per hour. Example—Height of column, 32 feet ; 
ifference of temperature between internal and external air, 17 deg. Looking in the table, 
ve find opposite to 32 and under 17, 375 feet. That would be for an area of 1 square foot. 


( 375 ) 

| 0°75 | 
at supposing our air opening to be only = Therefore we get 281 feet (per 
) or 0°75 of a foot. 2625 16,860 feet per hour. 


# of afoot, we must multiply 375 by #4 1875 + minute), multiplied by 60= 
ply Maes | 
) 


2825 


yale? VENTILATION. 


the Paris hospitals, showing the movement at every moment by means of — 
an index and dial.! 

By the Manometer.—Dr Sanderson has made an ingenious alteration of a | 
manometer described by Péclet, which can also be employed to measure the — 
pressure, and, by calculation, the velocity, of the air. The current of airis 
allowed to impinge on a surface of water, and the height to which the water 
is driven up a tube of known inclination and size gives at once a measure | 
of force. But, as necessitating a little calculation, this instrument is less 
useful than the anemometer, though it is adapted for cases where the | 
anemometer cannot be used, as it may be connected by a long tube with a 
distant room, and probably would be well fitted to measure constantly the | 
velocity in an extraction shaft. : 

In measuring the movement of the air in chimneys, or places where 
either the heat or the dust would i injure the air-meter, a manometer must 
be used. Mr Fletcher describes what appears to be a good one.? ! 

By Calculation.—Supposing the external air is tranquil, and that the| 
only cause of movement is the unequal weights of the external colder and. 
the internal warmer air, the amount of discharge may be approximately | 
obtained by the law of Montgolfier, already given. There is a fallacy, 
however, as the amount of friction can never be precisely known. Still, as_ 
an approximation, and in the absence of an anemometer, the rule is useful; 
and the accompanying table (p. 211) has therefore been calculated. 

On testing this table, however, by the air-meter, it has been found to give. 
too much w rhen the tubes are long, on account of the great friction, and it 
is therefore advisable to make a further deduction of 4th when the shaft or 
tube is long, and is at the same time of small diameter. If the tube has 
any angles, or is curved, this table is too imperfect to be used, unless 
attention be paid to the correction for friction already noted. 

If the movement of the external air influences the movement in the 
room, as when the wind blows through openings, calculation is useless, and 
the anemometer only can be depended on. 

For the chemical and biological examination of air, see Boox III., EXamr 
NATION OF AIR 


i 


1 Peclet, De la Chaleur, t. i. p. 171, where the description will be found. 
2 Fifth Annual Report of the Inspector under the Alkali Act, Blue Book. 


CHAPTER VI. 
HABITATIONS. 


Wuorver considers carefully the record of the medizeval epidemics, and 
seeks to interpret them by our present knowledge of the causes of disease, 
will surely become convinced that one great reason why those epidemics were 
‘so frequent and so fatal was the compression of the population in faulty 
habitations. Ill-contrived and closely packed houses, with narrow streets, 
often made winding for the purposes of defence ; a very poor supply of water, 
and therefore a universal uncleanliness; a want of all appliances for the 
removal of excreta; a population of rude, careless, and gross habits, living 
often on innutritious food, and frequently exposed to famine from their 
imperfect system of tillage,—such were the conditions which almost through- 
out the whole of Europe enabled diseases to attain a range, and to display 
a virulence, of which we have now scarcely a conception. The more these 
matters are examined, the more shall we be convinced that we must look, 
not to grand cosmical conditions ; not to earthquakes, comets, or mysterious 
waves of an unseen and poisonous air; not to recondite epidemic constitu- 
sions, but to simple, familiar, and household conditions, to explain the spread 
md fatality of the medizval plagues. 


| 


| SECTION I. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS OF HEALTH. 


The diseases arising from faulty habitations are in great measure, perhaps 
mtirely, the diseases of impure air. The site may be at fault; and from a 
noist and malarious soil excess of water and organic emanations may pass 
nto the house. Or ventilation may be imperfect, and the exhalations of a 
srowded population may accumulate and putrefy ; or the excretions may be 
| ulowed to remain in or near the house; or a general uncleanliness, from 
vant of water, may cause a persistent contamination of the air. And, on 
he contrary, these five conditions insure healthy habitations :— 


} 


1, A site dry and not malarious, and an aspect which gives light and 
cheerfulness. 

. A pure supply and proper removal of water; by means of which 
perfect cleanliness of all parts of the house can be insured. 

3, A system of immediate and perfect sewage removal, which shall ren- 

der it impossible that the air shall be contaminated from excreta. 

4, A system of ventilation which carries off all respiratory impurities. 

| . A condition of house construction which shall insure perfect dryness 

of the foundation, walls, and roof. 


i) 


i) 


In other words, perfect purity and cleanliness of the air are the objects to 
ve attained. This is the fundamental and paramount condition of healthy 
iabitations ; and it must over-ride all other conditions, After it has been 


214 HABITATIONS. 


es 


attained, the architect must engraft on it the other conditions of comfort, 
convenience, and beauty. 
The inquiries which have been made for many years in England have 
shown how badly the poorer classes are lodged, both in town and country, - 
and how urgent is the necessity for improvement. Various Acts! have been | 
passed for the purpose of improving labourers’ cottages and other small 
dwellings, but either from the powers being insufticient, or from the difficulty | 
of proving that a dwelling is injurious to “health unless it is in extremely | 
bad condition, these Acts have had only partial effect. 
Up to a certain point, there is no difficulty in insuring that a small now 
shall be as healthy as a large one. The site and foundations can be made 
as dry, the drains as well arranged, the walls and roof as sound, and the 
water supply as good as in a house of much larger rental. In fact, in one. 
respect, the houses of the poor are often superior to those of the rich, for the 
sewers do not open directly into the houses, and sewer air is not breathed 
during the night. But the difficulties in the houses of the poor are the over- 
crowding and the impregnation of the walls with foul effluvia and deposits. 
Considerations of cost will probably always prevent our poor class of houses. 
from having sufficient floor and cubic space. These two special difficulties 
must be met by improved means of warming and ventilation, and by covering, 
the interior walls with a cement which is non-absorbent, and which can be 
washed. Perhaps, also, improvements in using concrete, or other plans, will 
eventually so lessen the cost of building that ‘Targer rooms can be given for 
the same rental, and the poor be taught to prize the boon of an abundant 
allowance of air, and not to seek to lessen it by crowding and underletting. 
Dryness of the foundation and walls of a house is secured by draining the 
subsoil, 4 to 9 feet below the foundation,? and, in very wet clay soil, by. 
paving or cementing under the entire house.® The walls are kept dry by| 
being imbedded in ‘concrete, which is brought up to the ground level, or 
by the insertion in the walls themselves ofa waterproof course of slate, 
asphalt, or, what is better, of ventilating vitrified thin bricks (as devised 
by Mr Tay lor). 
On wet, damp soils, when a house has no cellar, the flooring ought to be 
raised 2 feet above the ground, and the space below should be well ventilated. 
In the tropics, the houses are often raised on arches 3 to 5 feet above the 
ground. If this plan were universal, it would vastly improve the health of 
the community. Dryness of walls is best secured by hollow walls,* or coat: 
ing the walls with cement, which is kept painted, or with slates. Terra 
cotta slabs have been used, and liquid preparations (chiefly alkaline silicates) 
have been brushed over the surface of brick and stone. Bricks are ofte1, 
extremely porous, and a brick wall will absorb many gallons of water.® 


1 Labouring Classes Dwelling- ence Act, 1866; An <Act to provide Better Dwellings fol 
Artisans and Labourers, 1868; Artisans’ Du ellings Act, 1875; various clauses in the diftemy 
Public Health Acts. 

2 Even the walls of old rickety cottages may be thoroughly dried by this means (Roger 
F cola) 

% For a good diagram of a plan for avoiding damp, see Bailey-Denton’s Sanitary Engineer, 
ing, plate i. p. 56. 

4 Jenning’s patent bonding brick is a good plan for preventing moisture penetrating fron 
the outer to the i inner skin of a hollow wall. It is a hollow, vitrified brick, curved upward 
at an angle of 45°, so that no water can pass along it. 4 

5 An ordinary brick will hold about 16 oz. of “water, and one square foot of brickwork / 
inches thick will hold 6 gallons. ) 

6 Bricks imperfectly burned on the outside of the kiln are termed Place, or Samel, 0 
Sandel bricks. They absorb much water. The sun-dried bricks of India are very damp, ant 
absorb water from the air. Many sandstones are very porous ; water beats into them an 
rises high by capillary attraction. Lime made from chalk absorbs water. Pisé is compresse! 
earth, and, unless covered with cement, is moist. 


EXAMINATION OF HABITATIONS, PANS) 


Dryness of the roof should be carefully looked to in every case, as water 
often gets to the walls through a bad roof, and the whole house becomes damp. 

The condition of the basements or cellars, if they exist, requires attention, 
as the air of the house is often drawn directly from them. They should 
be dry, and thoroughly well ventilated, and the house pipes, if they run 
down to the basement, should always be uncovered so as to be easily 
inspected, and any bad-fitting joint or crack, or imperfect trap, if there be 
one inside the house, be at once remedied. 
_ The carrying off of rain-water, so as not to sink into the ground near the 
house, is a matter of importance. 

The other points which are necessary to secure a healthy house-are dis- 
‘cussed in their respective chapters. 
_ In examining a house to discover the sources of unhealthiness, it is best 
ito begin at the foundation, and to consider first the site and basements, 
then the living and sleeping rooms (as to size, cubic contents, and number 


of persons, and conditions of walls and floors), ventilation, water supply, 
and plans of waste and sewer-water removal, in regular order. 

_ The following memorandum as to the way in which engineers examine a 
house has been kindly furnished by Mr William Eassie, C. HE. :— 


MEMORANDUM. 
What is usually done by Sanitary Engineers when inspecting a House. 


| Sanitary engineers consider that an unusual smell is generally the first evidence of 
something wrong, and that, traced to its source, the evil is half cured. They inspect first 
the drainage arrangements. If the basement generally sniells offensively, they search for 
a leaking drain-pipe, 7.e., a pipe badly jointed or broken by settlement, and these will 
often show themselves by a dampness of the paving around. If, upon inquiry, it turns 
out that rats are often seen, they come to the conclusion that the house drain is in direct 
gommunication with the sewer, or some old brick barrel-drain, and therefore examine 
the traps and lead bends which join the drain-pipes to see if they are gnawed or faulty. 
If the smell arises from any particular sink or trap, it is plain to them that there is no 
ventilation of the drain, and more especially no disconnection between the house and 
the sewer, or no flap-trap at the house-drain delivery into the sewer. If a country house 
be under examination, a smell at the sink will, in nearly every case, be traced to an 
unventilated cesspool ; and, in opening up the drain under the sink, in such a state of 
things, they will take care that a candle is not brought near so as to cause an explosion. 
If the trap is full of foul black water, impregnated with sewer air, they partly account 
‘or the smell by the neglect of flushing. If the sink, and kitchen, and scullery wastes 
ive in good order and the smell is still observable, they search the other cellar rooms, and 
/requently find an old floor-trap without water, broken and open to the drain. If the 
smell be ammoniacal in character, they trace the stable-drains and see if they lead into 
vhe same pit, and if so, argue a weak pipe on the route, especially if, as in some London 
nansions, the stable-drains run from the mews at the back, through the house to the 
rout street sewer. 

- Should a bad persistent smell be complained of mostly in the bedroom floor, they seek 
Hor an untrapped or defective closet, a burst soil-pipe, a bad junction between the 
ead and the cast-iron portion of the soil-pipe behind the casings, &c., or an improper 
onnection with the drain below. They will examine how the soil-pipe is jointed there, 
wnd, if the joint be inside the house, will carefully attend to it. They will also remove 
he closet framing, and ascertain if any filth has overflowed and saturated the flooring, or 
_ f the safe underneath the apparatus be full of any liquid. If the smell be only occasional, 
‘they conclude that it has arisen when the closet handle has been lifted in ordinary use 
pr to empty slops, and satisfy themselves that the soil-pipe is unventilated. They, more- 
ver, examine the bath and lavatory waste-pipes, if they are untrapped, and, if trapped 
yy a sigmoidal bend, whether the trapping water is not always withdrawn owing to the 
syphon action in the full-running pipe. They will trace all these water-pipes down to 
he sewer, ascertain if they wrongly enter the soil-pipe, the closet-trap, or a rain-water 
vipe in connection with the sewer. 

_ If the smell be perceived for the most part in the attics, and, as they consider, scarcely 
ittributable to any of the foregoing evils, they will see whether or not the rain-water 
pipes which terminate in the gutters are solely acting as drain ventilators, and blowing 


216 HABITATIONS. 


into the dormer windows. They will also examine the cisterns of rain-water, if there be 
any in the other portions of the attics, as very often they are full of putridity. 

A slight escape of impure air from the drains may be difficult to detect, and the smell 
may be attributed to want of ventilation, or a complication of matters may arise from a 
slight escape of gas. Neither are all dangerous smells of a foul nature, as there is a close 
sweet smell which is even worse. Should the drains and doubtful places have been pre- 
viously treated by the inmates to strongly smelling disinfectants, or the vermin killed by 

» poison, the inspectors of nuisances will find it difficult to separate the smells. In sucha 
case, however, they will examine the state of the ground under the basement flooring, — 
and feel certain that there are no disused cesspools or any sewage saturation of any sort. 
They will also ascertain if there be any stoppage in the drain pipes, by taking up a yard | 
trap in the line of the drain march, and noting the reappearance of the lime water — 
which they had thrown down the sinks. And invariably, after effecting a cure for any 
evil which has been discovered, they will leave the traps cleaned out and the drains well 
flushed. | 

A thoroughly drained house has always a disconnection chamber placed between the 
house drain and the sewer or other outfall. This chamber is formed of a raking syphon, 
and about two feet of open channel pipe, built around by brickwork and covered by an 
iron man-hole. Fresh air is taken into this chamber by an open grating in the man- 
hole, or by an underground pipe, and the air thus constantly taken into the chamber © 
courses along inside the drain, and is as continuously discharged at the ventilated con-- 
tinuations of the soil pipes, which are left untrapped at the foot, or at special ventilating 
pipes at each end of the drain. This air current in the drain prevents all stagnation and 
smell. 

When a house is undergoing examination, it is wise to test for lighting-gas leakages, — 
and there is only one scientific method of doing so, which is as follows:—Every burner © 
is plugged up, save one, and to that is attached a tube in connection with an air force- 
pump and gauge—the meter having been previously disconnected. Air is then pumped 
into the whole system of pipes, and the stop-cock turned, and if, after working the 
pump for some time, and stopping it, the gauge shows no signs of sinking, the pipes © 
may be taken as in safe condition; but if the mercury in the gauge falls, owing to the 
escape of air from the gas-tubes, there is a leak in them, which is discoverable by pour- 
ing a little ether into the pipe close by the gauge, and recommencing pumping. Very 
minute holes can be detected by lathering the pipes with soap and water, and making 
use of the pump to create soap bubbles. 

Besides the drainage, they will, especially if they detect a bad and dank smell, see if - 
it arises from the want of a damp-proof course or of a dry area, see if there be a wet soil 
under the basement floor, a faulty pipe inside the wall, an unsound leaden gutter on the 
top of the wall, or an overflowing box-gutter in the roof, a leaky slatage, a porous wall, — 
a wall too thin, and so on. 

They will also keep an eye upon the condition of the ventilating arrangements, and 
whether the evils complained of are not mainly due to defects there. The immediate 
surroundings of the house will also be noted, and any nuisances estimated. 

Sanitary inspectors, whilst examining into the condition of the drains, always examine 
the water cisterns at the same time, and discover whether the cistern which yields the 
drinking water supplies as well the flushing water of the closets. They will also ascer- 
tain if the overflow pipe of the cistern, or of a separate drinking-water cistern, passes 
directly into the drain. 

If the overflow pipe be syphon-trapped and the water rarely changed in the trap, or 
only when the ball-cock is out of order, they will point out the fallacy of such trapping, 
and, speaking of traps generally, they will look suspiciously on every one of them,” 
endeavour to render them supererogatory by a thorough ventilation and disconnection of 
the drains.? 


SECTION IJ. 
HOSPITALS. 
General Remarks. 


Of late years a great number of works (English, French, German, and 
American) have been written on the construction of hospitals. This has 


1 Much useful information will also be obtained from Sanitary Arrangements for Dwellings, 
by W. Eassie, C.E., and from Sanitary Engineering, by J. Bailey-Denton, C.E. See also 
The Habitation in Relation to Health, by F. de Chaumont, Christian Knowledge series; Our 
Homes, and how to keep them Healthy, Cassell & Co. 


HOSPITALS—GENERAL REMARKS. 217 


been especially owing to the celebrated Wotes on Hospitals, published by 

Miss Nightingale after the Crimean War—a work the importance of which 
it is impossible to over-rate—and to the very useful pamphlets of Mr 
Roberton, of Manchester. Among military writers, Robert Jackson in this 
as in all other points takes the first rank, and his observations on the con- 
struction of hospitals are conceived entirely in the spirit of the best writings 
of the present day. In the short space which can be given to the subject 

here, we can merely condense what has been best said on the subject, as 
applied especially to military hospitals.t In the first place, however, a few 
words are necessary on the general question. 

Although the establishment of hospitals is a necessity, and marks the 

era of an advanced civilisation, it must always be remembered that if the 
crowding of healthy men has its danger, the bringing together of many sick 
persons within a confined area is far more perilous. The risks of con- 
tamination of the air, and of impregnation of the materials of the building 
with morbid substances, are so greatly increased, that the greatest care is 
necessary that hospitals shall not become pest-houses, and do more harm 
than good. We must always remember, indeed, that a number of sick 
persons are merely brought together in order that medical attendance and 
nursing may be more easily and perfectly performed. The risks of aggre- 
gation are encountered for this reason; otherwise it would be far better 
‘that sick persons should be separately treated, and that there should be 
no chance that the rapidly changing, and in many instances putrefying 
‘substances of one sick body should pass into the bodies of the neighbouring 
patients. There is, indeed, a continual sacrifice of life from diseases caught 
in or aggravated by hospitals. The many advantages of hospitals more 
than counterbalance this sacrifice, but it should be the first object to lessen 
the chance of injury to the utmost. The risk of transference or aggrava- 
tion of disease is least in the best-ventilated hospitals. A great supply of 
air, by immediately diluting and rapidly carrying away the morbid sub- 
stances evolved in such quantities from the bodies and excretions of the 
sick, reduces the risk to its minimum, and perhaps removes it altogether. 
But the supply of air must be enormous ; there must be a minimum of not 
less than 4000 cubic feet per head per hour for ordinary cases ; and the 
supply must be practically unlimited for the acute and febrile diseases. 

The causes of the greater contamination of the air of hospitals are these :— 

1. More organic effluvia (and, probably, minute organisms) are given off 

‘from the bodies and excretions of sick men. These are only removed by 
the most complete ventilation. 

2. The medical and surgical management of the sick necessarily often 
exposes to the air excretions, dressings, foul poultices, soiled clothes, &c., 
and the amount of substances thus added to the air is by no means in- 
considerable, even with the best management and most complete aseptic 
treatment. 

3. The walls and floors of hospitals absorb organic matters and retain 
them obstinately, so that in some cases of repeated attacks of hospital 


1 For fuller details, Captain Galton’s work on Hospitals should be consulted. See also 
Five Essays on Hospital Plans, contributed for the Johns Hopkins Hospital Scheme (Wood 
and Co., New York) ; Report on the Manchester Royal Infirmary, by J. Netten Radcliffe, 
Esq.; Reports on St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, by F. de Chaumont, M.D.; chapter in 
Roth and Lex, Milit. Geswndheitspflege; paper in the Practitioner, March 1877; article 
“ Hospital,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition; Das Allgemeine Krankenhaus der stadt 
Berlin im Friedrichshain, von A. Hagemeyer, Berlin, 1879; Degen, Die Kasernen und 
Krankenhaiser der Zukunft, 1883; F. Mouat and Saxon Snell, On Hospital Construction and 
Management, 1883. 


218 HABITATIONS. 


gangrene in a ward it has been found necessary to destroy even the whole 
wall. Continual drippings on the floor of substances which soak into the 
boards and through crevices, and collect under the floor, also occur, and 
thus collections exist of putrefying matters which constantly contaminate 
the air. 

4. The bedding and furniture also absorb organic substances, and are a 
‘great cause of insalubrity. 

5. Till very recently, even in the best hospitals, the water-closets and 
urinals were badly arranged, and air passed from these places into the 
wards. 

Tn addition to the amount necessary to dilute and remove these sub- 
stances, the freest supply of air is also now known to be a curative means 
of the highest moment; in the cases of the febrile diseases, both specific 
and symptomatic, it is indeed the first essential of treatment ; sometimes, 
especially in. typhus and smallpox, it even lessens duration, and in many 
cases it renders convalescence shorter.1 

There can be no doubt that the necessity for an unlimited supply of air — 
is the cardinal consideration in the erection of hospitals, and, in fact, must 
govern the construction of the buildings. For many diseases, especially | 
the acute, the merest hovels with plenty of air are better than the most | 
costly hospitals without it. It is illjudged humanity to overcrowd febrile — 
patients into a building, merely because it is called a hospital, when the — 
very fact of the overcrowding lessens or even destroys its usefulness. In © 
times of war, it should never be forgotten by medical officers that the — 
rudest shed, the slightest covering, which will protect from the weather, 
is better than the easy plan, so often suggested and acted on, of putting the 
beds a little closer together. 

The recognition that the ample supply of pure air is the first essential of _ 
a good hospital led Miss Nightingale to advocate with so much energy and | 
success the view which may be embodied in the two following rules :— 

1. The sick should be distributed over as large an area as possible, and — 
each sick man should be as far removed as possible from his neighbour. 

2. The sick should be placed in small detached and perfectly ventilated 
buildings, so that there should be no great number of persons in one build- — 
ing, and no possibility of the polluted air of one ward passing into another. 


How is this perfect Purity of Air to be secured ? 


This is a matter partly of construction, partly of superintendence. 

(a) There should be detached buildings, so disposed as to get the freest 
air and the greatest light. They should be at considerable distances apart, | 
so that 1000 sick should be spread like a village; and in the wards each 
man ought to have not less than 100, if possible 120, feet of superficial, — 
and from 1500 to 2000 feet of cubic space. With detached buildings, the - 
size of a hospital, as pointed out by Miss Nightingale, is dependent merely | 
on the facility of administration. When they consist of single buildings | 
the smallest hospitals are the best. 

(4) The ventilation should be natural, 7.e., dependent on the movement — 
of the outer air, and on inequalities of weight of the external and internal — 
air. The reason of this is, that a much more efficient ventilation can be || 
obtained at a cheaper cost than by any artificial means. Also, by means 7) 


1 For examples of the value of a great supply of fresh air on some diseases, see note in — 
former editions of this work. 


VENTILATION OF HOSPITALS. 219 


of open doors and windows, we can obtain at any moment any amount of 

ventilation in a special ward, whereas local alterations of this kind are not 
possible in any artificial system. The amount of air, also, which any arti- 
ficial system can give cheaply is comparatively limited. The amount of air 
should be restricted only by the necessity of not allowing its movement to 
be too perceptible. 

The best arrangements for natural ventilation for hospitals appear to be 
these—ls¢, Opposite windows reaching nearly to the ceiling, on the sides of 
a ward (not wider than 24 to 26 feet, and containing only two rows of beds) 
and a large end window. 2nd, Additional openings, to secure, as far as 
possible, a vertical movement of the air from below upwards ; and this will 
be best accomplished as follows :'— 

A tube opening at once to the external air should run transversely along 
the floor of the ward to each bed, and should end in a box placed under the 
bed, and provided with openings at the top and sides, which can be more or 
less closed. In the box, coils of hot-water pipes should be introduced to 
warm the air when necessary. The area of the tube should not be less than 
72 square inches to each bed; and the area of the openings in the box at 
least four times larger. The fresh air, warmed to any degree, and moistened, 
if necessary, by placing wet cloths in the box, or medicated by placing 
chlorine, iodine, or other substances, will then pass under each bed, and 
ventilate that space so often unaired ; and then, ascending round the sides 
of the bed, will at once dilute and carry up the products of respiration and 
transpiration to the ceiling. It would be a simple matter so to arrange the 
hot-water pipes as to be able to cut off all or some of the pipes under a par- 
ticular bed from the hot-water current if desired, and so to give a fever 
patient air of any temperature, from cold to hot, desired by the physician. 
pp the low and exhausted stages of fever warm air is often desirable. By 
this simple plan, we could deal more effectually with the atmosphere round 
our patients, as to warmth, dryness, humidity, and medication, than by any 
other. At the same time, the open fire-place and chimney, and the open 
doors and windows, might be preserved.” 

For the exit of the foul air, channels in the ridge should be provided, 
warmed by gas if possible. 

To facilitate this system of ventilation, it is desirable to have the build- 
ings one-storied only; but it can be applied with two stories. Only then 
the discharge tuves must be placed at the sides, and run up in the thick- 
ness of the walls.® 

But not only should there be good ventilation, but the wards ought to be 
every year empty for two or three weeks, and during the time thoroughly 
exposed to the air, every door and window being open. 

(c) The strictest rules should be laid down with regard to the immediate 
removal from the wards of all excreta, dirty dressings, foul linen, &c. 

Nothing that can possibly give off anything to the air should be allowed 
to remain a single moment. Dressings of foul wounds should be sprinkled 
with deodorants. 

(d) The walls should be of impermeable material. Cements of different 


1 A plan similar to this has been devised by Dr 8S. Hale, and adopted in some of the Aus- 
tralian hospitals. It is an excellent arrangement, but seems rather unnecessarily complicated 
by taking the air under the floor, and elevating the beds on a dais. 

2 The introduction of vertical tubes is also useful, as giving the air an upward direction, 
‘and allowing a considerable supply without draughts. 

% When the ceiling is flat the outlets may be advantageously placed at the sides close to 
the ceiling, but with a one-storied or upper ward an open roof is better. 


220 HABITATIONS, 


kinds are now used, especially Parian ; large slabs of properly coloured tiles, — 
joined by a good cement, and good Portland cement, well painted with in- | 
destructible paint, would, however, be better. Parian cracks, and spaces 
form behind it. Ceilings should be either cemented or frequently lime- 


Fig. 38.— Ward for 20 Ward-Beds. 


A. Ward. | D. Water-Closet and Ward Sink. 
B. Nurse’s room, with Ward Window. E. Bath-Room and Ablution Room. 
c. Scullery. | F. Ventilated Lobbies. 


washed. Great care should be taken with the floors. On the whole, good — 
oak laid on concrete seems the best material; but the joimings should be | 
perfect, so that no liquid may pass through and collect below the floor. Pos- _ 
sibly it might be well to cover the floor | 
with a good oil-cloth, or material of the — 
like kind, which would prevent substances — 
from sinking into the boards, and would 
lessen the necessity of washing the floors, — 
but might be itself removed, and frequently _ 
Z Y0/ —Y washed. The practice of waxing and dry- | 

Fig, 39. mere a of nl to rubbing the floors, and other similar plans, 
show the Beds. is intended to answer the same purpose. | 

Dr Langstaff, of Southampton, strongly 
recommended solid paraffin. The paraffin is melted and then poured on — 
the floor, and ironed into it with a box-iron, heated from the interior by 
burning charcoal ; it penetrates about a quarter of an inch into the wood. 
The excess of paraffin is scraped off, and the floor is brushed with a hard — 


Fig. 40.—Drawing to show Beds and Windows. 


brush ; a little paraffin in turpentine is then put on, and the flooring is 
good for years. 
© The FUGA TRS) ina aaare should be reduced to une minimum; and, as 


1 An experience of some years in the Souiiamn pean Taree has proved the advantage of | 
this flooring. It has also been introduced with satisfactory results into the Bristol Infirmary, 
according to information received from Mr Eassie, C.E. 


ARRANGEMENTS IN HOSPITALS. 221 


far as possible, everything should be of iron. The bedding should also be 
reduced in size, as much as it can be. Thick mattresses should be discarded, 
and thin mattresses, made easy and comfortable by being placed on springs, 
employed.!. The material for mattresses should be horse-hair (18 tb weight 
to each mattress), or coir fibre, which, on the whole, are least absorbent. 
Straw, which absorbs very little, is bulky, and is said to be cold. All flock 
and woollen mattresses should be discarded. Blankets and coverlets should 
be white or yellowish in colour, and should be frequently thoroughly aired, 
fumigated, and washed. 

(7) The arrangement of the water-closets and urinals is a matter of the 
ereatest moment. Every ward should have a urinal, so that the common 
practice of retaining urine in the utensils may be discontinued. If the urine 
is kept for medical inspection, it should be in closed vessels. The removal of 
excreta must be by water. In hospitals, nothing else can be depended upon, 
as regards certainty and rapidity. The best 
arrangement for closets is not the handle and 
plug, which very feeble patients will not lift ; 
but a bell-pull wire or chain, or a self-acting 
watér supply connected with the door, and 


flowing when it is open. This plan is better : 
than the self-acting spring seat, which is not Ss 
lalways easily depressed by a thin patient ; As 
and also, by leaving the door open, it gives ENGI 


us the means of pouring in any quantity of 
~water, and of thoroughly flushing the pan 
and pipe. The closets are best arranged in 
nearly detached lobbies at one end of the Fig. 41.—Closets (WC) and Lava- 
ward, and separated from it by a thorough so) (L) with intervening venti- 
cross ventilation, as shown in the plan (fig. aed Hobbies 

38), which is copied from Miss Nightingale’s work.? A further improvement 
may be made by throwing the closets still further out, with an intercepting 
lobby, as shown in fig. 41. This is the plan adopted in the Cambridge 
Hospital at Aldershot and in the new station hospitals, 

In this way, provided the site of the hospital is originally well chosen, 
perfect purity of air can be obtained, and the first requisite of a good hos- 
pital is secured. 

Next to the supply of pure air, and to the measures for preventing con- 
tamination (which embrace construction, ventilation, cleanliness, and latrine 
arrangements), come the arrangements for medical treatment. 

Medical treatment includes— 

1. Supply of Food.—The diet of the sick is now becoming a matter of 
Scientific precision ; and it is probable that every year greater and greater 
importance will be attached to it. Hence the necessity of a perfect central 
kitchen, and of means for the rapid supply of food at all times. There is 
more difficulty in doing this than at first appears, as the central kitchen 
cannot supply everything ; and yet there must be no cooking in the wards, 
‘or even near them, as the time of the attendants should be occupied in 
‘other ways. Probably the best arrangement is to have hot closets close to 


ZG, 


1 The wire mattress bedstead, as arranged by Dr Reed, in use in the Manchester Royal In- 
firmary, and made by Messrs Chorlton and Dugdale, seems an excellent and very comfortable 
‘form, but there are many others in the market. 

2 Dr Buchanan has suggested a plan of vertical ventilation in the vestibule, in cases where 
cross ventilation is not available. This, of course, need not to be in anew building, although 
it might be useful in the adaptation of an existing one. The addition of a slop sink, for the 
emptying of bed-pans, &c., would also be useful. 


@ 


i 


222 HABITATIONS. 


the wards, where the food sent from the kitchen can be kept warm, and 
ready for use at all hours of the day and night. 

2. The Supply of Water—Hot and cold water must be supplied every- 
where, and baths of all kinds should be available. The supply of water 
for all purposes should be 40 to 50 gallons per head daily. Many 
hospitals use much more than this (see under WatEr, p. 31). 

3. The Supply of Drugs and Apparatus.—The chief point is to economise- 
the time of attendants, and to enable drugs and apparatus to be procured 
without delay when needed. 

4. The Nursing and Attendance, including the Supply of Clean Linen, &e. 
—The time and labour of the attendants should be expended, as far as 
possible, in nursing, and not in other duties. Every contrivance to save 
labour and cleaning should therefore be employed. Lifts, shafts, tramways, 
and speaking tubes to economise time; wards arranged so as to allow the 
attendants a view of every patient; wards not too large or too small, for 
Miss Nightingale has conclusively shown that wards of from 20 to 32 beds 
are best suited for economy of service. 

5. Means of Open-Air Exercise for Patients.—This ought properly to be 
considered as medical treatment. As soon as a patient can get out of his 
ward into the open air he should do so; therefore, open verandahs on the 
sunny sides of the wards, and sheltered gardens, are most important. For 
the same reason hospitals of one story are best,! as the patients easily get 
out ; if of two stories, the stairs should be shallow. 

6. In addition to all these, the supply of air medicated with gases, or fine 
powders, or various amounts of watery vapour, is a mode of treatment which 
is sure to become more common in certain diseases, and special wards will 
have to be provided for these remedies. 

The parts of a military hospital are?— | 

Patients’ Rooms, Wards, and Day-Rooms, if possible; the wards of two 
sizes,—large, 7.é., from 20 to 32 beds, and small, for one or two patients. — 
The cubic space per head allowed in temperate climates is 1200 cubic feet, — 
with a floor space of 92 square feet ; the air changed twice in the hour.? The 
beds have 74 feet each running length, or are separated from each other by 
31 feet. It is desirable to have the small wards not close to the large | 
ones, but at some little distance. Attached to the wards are attendants’ 
rooms, scullery, bath and ablution rooms, small store-room, urinal, closets 
(one seat to every eight men). 

Operating Room—Dead-House—Administration.—Surgeons’ rooms ; case- — 
book and instrument room ; offices and officers’ rooms. | 

Pharmacy.—Dispensary ; store-room ; dispenser’s room. 


1 The late Dr Parkes wrote:—‘‘I had never properly estimated the importance of patients _ 
getting into the air, and the desirability of one-storied buildings for this purpose, till I served 
at Renkioi, in Turkey, during the Crimean war. The hospital was composed of one-storied 
wooden houses connected by an open corridor. As soon as a man could crawl he always got © 
into the corridor or between the houses, and the good effects were manifest. Some of the © 
medical officers had their patients’ beds carried out into the corridor when the men could not 
walk. In the winter, greatcoats were provided for the men to put on, and they were then 
encouraged to go into the corridor.” In the American hospitals arrangements are made for 
giving the patients a ‘“‘sun-bath,” that is, getting them out in the air and sunlight as much 
as possible. 

2 Hospital space is to be provided for 10 per cent. of the force. Lately, since the health 
of the army has been so much improved on home service, it has been proposed to reduce it 
to 7 per cent., but it would appear desirable always to have a large hospital space for 
emergencies and for war. For the duties of administrative medical officers with regard to 
hospitals, see the Medical Regulations, 1885. : 

3 In the French army the cubic space allowed is 20 cubic metres (701 cubic feet) for severe 
cases ; 18 cubic metres (631 cubic feet) for ordinary cases, the air changed once in the hour; | 
and the beds, 0°5 metre (183 inches) apart. 


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224 HABITATIONS, 


Fig. 42 shows the arrangement of closets and lavatory in a military 
hospital. 

The following plans show the arrangement of the Lariboisicre Hospital 
in Paris,! which circumstances have made the type of the so-called block 
or pavilion plan, and of the Herbert Hospital, which, with the Cambridge 
Hospital, is the best military hospital in this country, or perhaps anywhere, 

The Herbert Hospital at Woolwich consists of four double and three 
single pavilions of two floors each, all raised on basements. ‘There is a 
convalescent’s day-room in the centre pavilion. ‘The administration is in a 
separate block in front. The axis of the wards is a little to the east of 
north. There is a corridor in the basement, through which the food, 
medicines, coals, &c., are conveyed, and then, by a series of lifts, elevated 
to the wards. The terraces in the corridor afford easy means of open-air 
exercise for the patients in the upper ward. The wards are warmed by 
two central open fire-places, with descending flues, round which are air- 
passages, so that the entering air is warmed. ‘The floors are iron beams, 
filled in with concrete, and covered with oak boarding.? 

The Cambridge Hospital at Aldershot is on much the same plan, but only 
about half the size (264 patients). The closet and lavatory turrets are 
thrown out by intervening lobbies (see fig. 41). 

The usual shape of ward is oblong, the standard width 26 feet (in the 
army) to 30 feet (St Thomas’s, for instance), and the length being deter- 
mined by the number of beds. Mr John Marshall? has, however, advocated 
a system of circular wards, which he thinks have certain advantages, and a 
similar plan has been actually carried out in the new hospital at Antwerp, 
which is now completed and in occupation.4 One or two small Military 
Hospitals in this country, such as the Milton Hospital at Gravesend, are on 
the circular plan. 


Hospitals in the Tropics. 


The Barrack and Hospital Commission, in carrying out the plans of the 

Royal Indian Sanitary Commission, suggest’ for each sick man— 
Superficial area = 100 square feet, up to 120 in unhealthy districts. 
Cubical space = 1500 feet, or, in unhealthy districts, 2000 feet. 


It is also directed that hospitals should consist of two divisions—I1st, for 


sick ; and 2nd, for convalescents. This latter division to hold 25 per cent. 
of the total hospital inmates. 

Each hospital is to be built in blocks, to consist of two floors, the sick 
and convalescents to sleep on the upper floors only ; each block to hold 
only 20 to 24 beds. 

The principles and details are, in fact, identical with those already 
ordered for the home stations. 


Flospitals for Infectious Diseases. 
Fever and smallpox hospitals have been long established in many large 


1 The new H6tel-Dieu is on the same general plan. 

2 The arrangement of the pavilions may be varied in many ways; for different forms of 
arrangement, see the works already cited. It has been thought unnecessary to take up 
space by inserting plans which vary merely in detail. 


2 On a Circular System of Hospital Wards, by John Marshall, F.R.8., &c., London, Smith if 


and Elder, 1878. 

4 British Medical Journal, Aug. 26, 1882, on p. 350, a ground plan is given; see also 
London Medical Record, July 15, 1881, p. 296; and Charitable and Parochial Establishments, 
by Saxon Snell, F.R.I.B.A., for similar plans; also (by the same author, in conjunction 
with Dr F. Mouat) Hospital Construction and Management, 1885. 

5 Op. cit., p. 27. 


————————————— — 


LARIBOISIERE HOSPITAL—HERBERT HOSPITAL. 225 


English towns; but within the last few years it has become usual for all 
towns of any size to put up some temporary hospitals during an outbreak 


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200 300 #00 


490 60 o 400 


Scale’ of Feet 


Fig. 44.—Ground Plan of the Herbert Hospital, Woolwich (from Miss Nightingale’s book). 


of cholera, smallpox, relapsing fever, and typhus, and to remove persons ill 
with these diseases at once from their dwellings. In this way, if there is 
Ve 


! 


early discovery of the cases, the chances of spread of the disease are greatly 
lessened. 

The Medical Department of the Privy Council issued a Memorandum 
in 1872,? pointing out that power is given under the 37th section of the 
Sanitary Act, 1866,° to the local board, improvement commissioners, town 
council, or vestry, to provide “hospitals or temporary places for the recep- 
tion of the sick.” It is pointed out that villages should have the means 
of accommodating instantly four cases of infectious disease in at least two 
separate rooms, and it is considered that a good cottage would answer this 
‘purpose. In towns a permanent provision is advised to be made, and the 
following suggestions are made :—The situation to be convenient; ward 
cubic space, 2000 feet per head; ward floor space per head, 144 square 
feet ; good provision for ventilation; precautions against entrance of foul 
air (as from privies or sinks); warming in winter to 60° Fahr.; keeping 
cool in summer ; means of disposal of excrements and slops; and for clean- 
ing and disinfecting lien. 

For temporary emergencies, tents (army hospital marquees) are recom 
mended, or huts are advised. The huts are described at some length, and 
plans are given of the huts and of the arrangement. As these are very 
similar to those used by the army in war, reference is made to that section, 


226 HABITATIONS. 


1 That such hospitals may, however, be themselves centres of infection has been shown by 
the Report of the Hospitals Commission, 1882, which may be consulted for much valuable 
information. 

2 Memorandum on Hospital Accommodation to be given by Local Authorities (signed John 
Simon, 8th July 1872). 

3 Now under the 131st and following clauses of the Public Health Act of 1875. 


CielAve dala) Wak 


WARMING OF HOUSES. 


Tue heat of the human body can be preserved in two ways— 

1, The heat generated in the body, which is continually radiating and 
being carried away by moving air, can be retained and economised by 
clothes. If the food be sufficient, and the skin can thus be kept warm, 
there is no doubt that the body can develop and retain its vigour with 
little external warmth. In fact, provided the degree of external cold be 
not too great (when, however, it may act in part by rendering the procur- 
ing of food difficult and precarious), it would seem that cold does not 
amply deficiency of bodily health, for some of the most vigorous races in- 
habit the cold countries. In temperate climates there is also a general 
impression that for healthy adults external cold is invigorating, provided 
food be sufficient, and if the internal warmth of the body is retained by 
‘clothing. 

2, External heat can be applied to the body either by the heat of the 
sun (the great fountain of all physical force, and vivifier of life) or by 
artificial means, and in all cold countries artificial warming of habitations 
is used. 

The points to determine in respect of habitations are— 

Ist, What degree of artificial warmth should be given ? 

2nd, What are the different kinds of warmth, and how are they to be 
given ? 


SECTION I. 
DEGREE OF WARMTH. 


For Healthy Persons.—There appears no doubt that both infants and 
old persons require much artificial warmth, in addition even to abundant 
clothes and food. The lowering of the external temperature, especially 
when rapid, acts very depressingly on the very young and old; and when 
we remember the extraordinary vivifying effect of warmth, we cannot be 
surprised at this. 

For adult men of the soldier’s age, who are properly fed and clothed, 
‘t is probable that the degree of temperature of the house is not very 
material, and that it is chiefly to be regulated by what is comfortable. 
Any temperature over 48° up to 60° is felt as comfortable, though this is 
lependent in part on the temperature of the external air. It seems certain 
shat for healthy, well-clothed, and well-fed men we need not give ourselves 
any great concern about the precise degree of warmth. 

For children and aged persons we are not in a position at present to fix 
my exact temperature ; for new-born children a temperature of 65° to 70°, 


i] 
] 
] 
| 
| 


228 WARMING OF HOUSES. 


or even more, may be necessary, and old people bear with benefit a still 
higher warmth. 

For Sick Persons.—The degree of temperature for sick persons is a matter 
of great importance, which requires more investigation than it has received. 
There seems a sort of general rule that the air of a sick-room or hospital 

.should be about 60° Fahr., and in most Continental hospitals, warmed 
artificially, this is the contract temperature ; but the propriety of this may | 
be questioned.? 

There are many diseases greatly benefited by a low temperature, espe- — 
cially all those with preternatural heat. It applies, almost without excep- — 
tion (scarlet fever?) to the febrile cases in the acute stage, that it is 
desirable to have the temperature of the air as low as 50°, or even 45° or | 
40°. Cold air moving over the body is a cooling agent of great power, | 
second only, if second, to cold effusion; nor is there danger of bad results 
if the movement is not too great. The Austrian experiments on tent 
hospitals? show conclusively that even considerable cold is well borne. © 
Even in the acute lung affections this is the case. Pneumonia cases do 
best in cold wards, provided there is no great current of air over them. 
Many cases of phthisis bear cool air, and even transitions of temperature, — 
well, provided there be no great movement of air. On the other hand, it~ 
would appear that chronic heart diseases with lung congestion, emphysema > 
of the lungs, and diseases of the same class, require a warm air, and per- 
haps a moist one. With respect to the inflammatory affections of the 
throat, larynx, and trachea, no decided evidence exists; but the spasmodic 
affections of both larynx and bronchial tubes seem benefited by warmth. 

In the convalescence, also, from acute disease, cold is very badly borne ; 
no doubt the body, after the previous rapid metamorphosis, is in a state 
very susceptible to cold, and, like the body of the infant, resists external 
influences badly. Convalescents from fever must therefore be always kept 
warm. This is probably the reason why it is found inadvisable to tranfer 
febrile patients treated in a permanent hospital to convalescent tents, 
although patients treated from the first in tents have a good convalescence 
in them, as if there was something in habit. 


SECTION II. 
DIFFERENT KINDS OF WARMTH. 


Heat is communicated by radiation, conduction, and convection. The 
last term is applied to the conveyance from one place to another of heat 
by means of masses of air, while conduction is the passage of heat from one 


- —— ) 


1 It is singular, however, that in some old people the temperature of the body is higher 
than normal (John Davy). In the case of children we should remember that small bodies 
have a much larger surface in proportion to bulk than larger bodies. Thus, a sphere of 1 
foot in diameter has a solid content of 0°5236 and a surface of 3°1416, or as 1 to 6; whereas: 
a sphere of 2 feet in diameter has a solid content of 4°1888 and a surface of 12°5664, or as 
1 to 5; so that the proportion of radiating surface is twice as much in the smaller body. 

2 It is owing to this rule that in French hospitals, artificially ventilated and warmed by 
hot air, the amount of air is lessened and its temperature heightened in order to keep up th 
contract temperature of 15° C. (=59° F.). The air is often then close and disagreeable. A 
safe general rule is never to sacrifice fresh air to temperature, except in the most extreme 
cases. Of course, cold currents of air are to be avoided if possible, but it is safer, as a rule, 
to let the general temperature go down rather than diminish the change of air. In mos 
cases it can be compensated for by additional covering. 

% See Report on Hygiene in the Army Medical Reports, vol. iv. by Dr Parkes. The 
Prussians have also made great use of tents in the summer. 


DIFFERENT KINDS OF WARMTH. 229 


particle to another—a very slow process. Practically, conduction and con- 
vection may be both considered under the head of convection. 

Radiant heat has been considered by most writers the best means of 
warming; it heats the body without heating the air,! and of course there 
‘is no possibility of impurity being added to the air. 

The disadvantages of radiant heat are its cost, and its feebleness at any 
distance. The cost can be lessened by proper arrangement, but the loss of 
heat by distance is irremediable. The effect lessens as the square of the 
distance—z.e., if, at 1 foot distance from the fire, the warming effect is said 
to be equal to 1, at 4 feet distance it will be sixteen times less. A long 
room, therefore, can never be warmed properly by radiation from one centre 
of heat only. 

It has been attempted to calculate the amount of air warmed by a 
certain space of incandescent fire, and | square inch has been supposed 
sufficient to warm 8-4 cubic feet of air. But much depends on the walls, 

-and whether the rays fall on them and warm them, and the air passing 
over them. 

Radiating grates should be so disposed as that every ray is thrown out into 
the room. The rules indicated by Desaguliers were applied by Rumford. 
Count Rumford made the width of the back of the grate one-third the 
width of the hearth recess; the sides then sloped out to the front of the 
recess; the depth of the grate from before backwards was made equal to 
the width of the back. The sides and back were to be made of non-con- 
ducting material; the chimney throat was contracted so as to modify the 
draught, and insure more complete combustion. The grate was brought as 
far forward as possible, but still under the throat. 

The open chimney, which is a necessity of the use of radiant grates, is so 
great an advantage that this is per se a strong argument for the use of this 
kind of warming, but, in addition, there can be little doubt that radiant heat 
is really the healthiest. 

Still the immense loss of heat in our common English fire-places must 
lead to a modification, and radiant heat must be supplemented by 


Convection and Conduction. 


The air in this case is heated by passing over hot stones, earthenware, 
iron or copper plates, hot water, steam, or gas pipes. The air in the room 
is thus heated, or the air taken from outside is warmed, and is then allowed 
to pass into the room, if possible at or near the floor, so that it may 
properly mingle with the air already there. The heat of the warming 
surface should not be great, probably not more than 120° to 140° Fahr.; 
there should be a large surface feebly heated. The air should not be heated 
above 75° or 80° Fahr., and a large body of air gently heated should be 
preferred to a smaller body heated to a greater extent, as more likely to 
mix thoroughly with the air of the room. 

Tt does not matter what the kind of surface may be, provided it is not 
too hot. If it is, the air acquires a peculiar smell, and is said to be burnt ; 
this has been conjectured to be from the charring of the organic matter. 
Some have supposed the smell to be caused by the effect of the hot air on 
the mucous membrane of the nose, but it is not perceived in air heated by 


1 Dr Sankey has made experiments which show that the temperature of the air of a room 
heated by radiant heat is really lower than the temperature indicated by the thermometer, 
because the bulb is warmed by radiation. When this is prevented by enclosing the bulb ina 
bright tin case the thermometer falls. 


230 WARMING OF HOUSES. 


the sun. Such air is also relatively very dry, and absorbs water eagerly 
from all substances which can yield it. 

If the air is less heated (not more than 75°) it has no smell, and the 
relative humidity is not lessened to an appreciable extent. Haller’s experi- 
ments, carried on over six years with the Meissner stove common in Ger- | 
many, show that there the relative moisture is not lessened with moderate — 
warming,! and the same result has been found with the Galton stoves. On 
the other hand, when the plates are too hot, the air may be really too much 
dried, and Dr Sankey states that, while he never found the difference — 
between the dry and wet bulbs in a room warmed by radiant heat to be — 
more than 8° Fahr., he has noticed in rooms warmed by hot air a difference — 
of 15° to 17° Fahr., which implies a relative humidity, if the temperature be © 
60°, of only 34 per cent. of saturation, which is much too dry for health. 
In this case the air is always unpleasant, and must be moistened by passing | 
over water before it enters the room, if possible ; some heat is thus lost, but — 
not much. Of the various means of heating, water is the best, as it is more © 
under control, and the heat can be carried everywhere. Steam is equally | 
good, if waste steam can be utilised, but if not, it is more expensive. Hot © 
water pipes are of two kinds: pipes in which the water is not heated above — 
200° Fahr., and which, therefore, are not subjected to great pressure; and | 
pipes in which the water is heated to 300° or 350° F ahr., and which are 
therefore subjected to great pressure. These pipes (Perkin’s patent) are of © 
small internal calibre (about $ inch), with thick walls made of two pieces — 
of welded iron ; the ends of the pipes are joined by an ingeniously contrived © 
screw. In the low pressure pipes there is a—boiler from which the water 
circulates through the pipes and returns again, outlets being provided at 
the highest points for the exit of the air. In Perkin’s system there is no | 
boiler ; one portion of the tube passes through the fire. 

Mr Hood states that 5 feet of a 4-inch pipe will warm 1000 cubic feet in 
a public room to 55°. In dwelling-houses, for every 1000 cubic feet 12 feet” 
of 4-inch pipe should be given, ‘and will warm to 65°. In shops, 10 feet, | ; 
and in workrooms 6 feet, per 1000 cubic feet are sufficient. If Perkin’s — 
pipes are used, as the heating power is greater, a less amount does, probably — 
about tw o-thirds, or a little more.? — 

Steam piping is now also much used, and in some cases is more convenient | | 
even than water. The Houses of Parliament are warmed by steam: pipes in 
a chamber under the floor; the radiating surface of the pipes is increased by _ 
soldering on to them at intervals a number of zine or (preferably) small | 
copper plates. If it is wished to lessen the amount of heat, the pipes, where | 
provided with thin plates, are simply covered with a woollen cloth. . 

The easy storing up and conveyance of heat to any part of the room or_ ; 


house by means of water pipes, the moderate temperature, and the facility of 
udmission of external air at any point by passing the fresh air over coils, or” 
water leaves, make it certain that the plan of warming by hot water will be els 
greatly used in time to come, although the open fire-place may be retained } 
for comfort. 


i {| 
a 
! 


1 Die Liiftung und Erwaérmung der Kinderstube und des Krankenzimmers, von D. Gy 
Haller, 1860, pp- 29-38. 

2 The following formula will give the length of pipe required :—Let t’ = temperature tol 
be obtained in the room, ¢ the temperature of the external air, d’ the cubic feet of air to be 
warmed per minute, T the temperature of the pipes, A the external diameter of the pipe, 
and L the length of pipe required, then :— 

2°252 di(t'—t) 
A(T -¢) 


=I, | 
| 
| 


METHODS OF WARMING. Zan 


Mr George has devised a gas stove (called the Calorigen) which appears 
to be a decided improvement on the common gas stove. Gas is burnt in a 
small iron box, and the products of combustion are carried to the open air 
by a tube. Another coiled tube runs up through the box ; this communi- 
cates below with the outer air, and above opens into the rooms. As the fresh 
air passes through this tube it is warmed by the heat of the gas stove. Mr 
Eassie speaks very well of this stove, which he has put up in several places. 
He says he has known one to be persistently capable of registering fifteen 
degrees above the external temperature during a very severe winter, and that 
too in aroom of over 1700 cubic feet, with the roof and three sides con- 
structed of glass.1 A coal calorigen is also made which seems to answer 
well. Dr F. T. Bond’s euthermic stove is also a very good contrivance. 

A plan which was proposed 130 years ago by Desaguliers is now coming 
into general use, viz., to have an air-chamber round the back and sides of a 
radiating grate, ‘and to pass the external air through it into theroom. Thus 
a great economy of heat, and a considerable quantity of gently warmed air, 
passes into the room. In Sir D. Galton’s grate, and in the plan proposed 

by Mr Chadwick for cottages, the lower part of the chimney is also made 
use of. The advantages of these grates are that they combine a good amount 
of cheerful open fire, radiant heat, and chimney ventilation, with supple- 
mentary warming by hot air, so that more value is obtained from the fuel, 
and larger spaces can be more effectually warmed. A great number of 
patents have been taken out for grates of this kind. The air-chamber should 
not be too small, or the air is unduly heated ; the heated surface should be 
very large ; fireclay sometimes gives a peculiar odour to the air, which iron 
‘does not do if the surface of iron be very large and disposed in gills ; acom- 
bination also of iron and fireclay is said to be good, and to give no odour. 
The conduit leading to the air-chamber should be short, and both it and the 
chamber should be able to be opened and cleaned, as much dust gets in. 
The room opening of the air-chamber should be so far up that the hot air 
may not be at once breathed, and there should be no chance of its being at 
once drawn up the chimney. The action of all stoves of the kind is liable 
to considerable variation from the action of the wind; and sometimes the 
current is even reversed and hot air is driven out. 

Attention has been directed both in France and America to the fact of 
the comparative ease with which gases pass through red-hot cast-iron. Mr 
Graham showed that iron heated to redness will absorb 4:15 times its volume 
of carbon monoxide; and the experiments by MM. Deville and Troost, made 
-at the request of General Morin, proved that in a cast-iron stove heated 
with common coal there passed through the metal in 92 hours 589 ¢.c. of 
| carbon monoxide,? or from ‘0141 to "132 per cent. of the air which was 
slowly passed over the hot surface. In America Dr Derby ® has directed 
' particular attention to this point, and has adduced very strong reasons for 
believing that the decidedly i injurious effects produced by some of the plans 
_ of warming houses, especially by air passing over a cast-iron furnace heated 

with anthracite, is due to an admixture of carbon monoxide. Professor 
Coulier of the Val de Grice 4 contended that the amount of carbon monoxide 
_ passing through in the experiments of Deville and Troost was really so small, 
that if mixed with the air of a room which is fairly ventilated, it would be 


- Sanitary Arrangements for Dwellings, 1874, p. 140. 

_ * Comptes Rendus de Vv Acad., Jan. 1868. These experiments were first undertaken in con- 

| sequence of a statement by Dr Carret, that in the department ot Haute-Savoie an epidemic 
_ oceurred which affected persons only in the houses where iron stoves were, and not porcelain. 

| 8 Anthracite and Health, by G. Derby, M.D., Professor of Hygiene in Harvard University. 

Mem. de Med. Mil., Sept. 1868, p. 250. 


| 


| 
232 WARMING OF HOUSES. 


quite innocuous ; and he believes (from direct experiment) that the headache | 
and oppressive feeling produced by these iron stoves are really owing, as | 
was formerly believed, to the relative dryness of the air. But evidence is 
adverse to this now. The gas passes with much greater difficulty through i 
wrought-iron, or through stoves lined with fireclay.! [; 
A great number of grates and stoves have been proposed, which it is © 
impossible here to notice. In Germany many excellent stoves are now used, — 
which not only economise fuel but warm the outside air, which is admitted _ 
round or under them.? The medical officer’s advice will be sought, first, as | 
to the kind; and, second, as to the amount of heat. He will find no © 
difficulty in coming to the conclusion that in most cases both methods — 
(radiation and convection) should be employed ; the air warmed by plates — 
or coils of water pipes being taken fresh from the external air and thereby — 
conducing to ventilation. He will also be called on to state the relative — 
amount of radiant and convected heat, and to determine the heat of a : 
plates, and of the air coming off them, and the degree of humidity of th 
air. The thermometer, and the dry and wet bulbs, will give him all 
the information he wants on these points.? KI 


1 Dr Bond has recommended a coating of silicate as a preventive against the passage of © 
deleterious products through an iron stove. ; 

2 See a good account in Roth and Lex’s work (op. cit., p. 365). 

3 My Chadwick has called attention to the old Roman plan of the Hypocaust, where the | 
floor of the room is warmed by pipes, or by carrying smoke-flues under it, and he has con- | 
trived some ingenious plans to carry out the idea. There can be no doubt of the great com- — 
fort of this plan, although it appears to be expensive. Attention has also heen calied to 
heating on the whole house system, and there can be no doubt that this is an excellent plan, — 
if properly carried out and carefully supervised. Drs Drysdale and Hayward in this country 
(Health and Comfort in House Building, London, 1872), and Dr Griscom of New York, — 
have devised ingenious plans for the purpose. In colder countries, such as Russia, the plan 
is in general use, but apparently with little or no regard to proper supply of fresh air or | 
carrying away of foul air. 


} 


| 


CHAPTER VIIL 


FOOD. 


SECTION I. 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DIET, 


In the widest acceptation of the term, Foop includes everything ingested, 
which goes directly or indirectly to the growth or repair of the body or to 
the production of energy in any form. In this way it would include not 
only those organic and mineral solids and the usual beverages recognised as 
dietetic, but also water and air. For it is quite obvious that without water 
no function of the living body would be possible, whilst the production of 
energy is mainly, if not entirely, caused by the union of the atmospheric 
oxygen with the organic matter of the food or the tissues of the body itself. 
Although these facts are distinctly recognised, it has generally been the 
practice to restrict the term “food” to those substances which are capable 
of oxidation and those which act as directors or regulators of nutrition, to 
the exclusion of air and water,—these two last being usually considered 
under separate heads. No one group even of this rough classification is 
‘capable of sustaining healthy life alone, and a combination of all, or nearly 
all, the different constituents of diet is required to accomplish the best 
results, It is also necessary to limit the application, “food,” so as to ex- 
clude generally medicines and poisons, which, on the one them), either act 
or are intended to act upon processes of unhealthy nutrition, or, on the 
other hand, prevent the processes of healthy nutrition, and so induce un- 
healthy nutrition and ultimately dissolution. ven here the line cannot 
be too strictly drawn, for in many cases it is a question more of quantity 
than kind that determines the direction of the action. 
| The enumeration and classification of the foods or aliments necessary to 
maintain human life in its most perfect state have been usually based on 
the deduction of Prout that milk contains all the necessary aliments and 
in the best form. The substances in milk are—Ilst, the nitrogenous 
matters, viz., the casein principally, and, in smaller quantities, alloumin, 
acto-protein, and perhaps other albuminous bodies; 2nd, the fat and oil ; 
3rd, sugar in the form of lactin; 4th, water and salts, the latter being 
especially combinations of magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium, and 
Ton, with chlorine, phosphoric acid, and, in smaller quantities, sulphuric 
cid. 
_ In addition to their occurrence in milk, which is admitted to be a perfect 
ood for the young, this enumeration of aliments appears to be justified by 
~wo considerations. First, that the different members of each class, inter 
se, have a remarkably similar composition, while there are broad lines of 
dhysical and chemical demarcation between the classes ; and secondly, that 
he different classes appear to serve different purposes in nutrition, and are 
ul necessary for perfect health. 

The first point, the similarity of composition among the different mem- 


234 FOOD. 


bers of the same class, is obvious enough. The nitrogenous aliments are 
blood-fibrin, muscle-fibrin or syntonin, myosin, vegetable fibrin, albumin in > 
its various forms, casein (in its animal and vegetable forms), and globulin. | 
Their composition, &c., are remarkably uniform ; they contain between 15-4 
and 16-5 per cent. of nitrogen, and may be conveniently distinguished by | 
the common term of albuminoids. They can replace each other in nutri- 
tion, and are for the most part included under the head of “ digestible! 
albuminoids”; these are converted into peptones in the process of digestion. 
In all dig estible nitrogenous food a certain amount of peptone is to be found, 
and the artificial conversion of the albuminoids into peptonised food is of 
great advantage in cases of weakened digestion. But care must be taken 
not to overdo this, so as to deprive the digestive organs of the exercise of 
their proper functions. There are some other nitrogenous bodies, such as. 
gelatin and chondrin, and the substances classed under keratin or elastin, 
which, though approaching in chemical characters to the other substances, 
are not their nutritive equals. There are still other nitrogenous substances, 
such as the extractives contained in the juice of the flesh ; these, although 
not actual flesh-formers, appear to be essential to nutrition as regulators 
and stimulants to digestion, particularly when gelatine and bodies of that 
kind form a part of a diet. ] 

The second class (sometimes called hydro-carbons) consists of the various 
animal and vegetable fats, wax, &c., the composition of which is very 
uniform, and the chief nutritive differences of which depend on physical 
conditions of form or aggregation, which conditions cause some fats, when 
acted upon by the alimentary fluids, to be more easily absorbed than others. 

The group of the starchy and saccharine substances (the carbo-hydrates), 
or of their allies or derivatives (dextrin, pectin), is equally well characterised 
by chemical resemblances, inter se, and differences from the other groups. 
The several dietetic starches, sugars, including lactin, cellulose (whose want. 
of nutritive power is dependent on form and aggregation, and which requires 
for digestion a more elaborate apparatus than some animals possess), and 
the various derivatives of the starches, are all closely allied. There has 
been some doubt whether pectin should be classed chemically with the sugar 
and starch group, as the oxygen and hydrogen are not in the proportions t¢ 
form water, but this is perhaps no objection to its association in a sca 
classification. 

The fourth class, consisting of the salts already noted and of water, needs 
no comment. 

The physiological evidence that these classes of aliments serve dil 
ferent purposes in nutrition is not so complete as that of their chemica 
differences. f 

A broad distinction must, of course, be drawn between the nitrogenous 
and non-nitrogenous substances. Modern researches, which have. mucl 
modified our opinion of the direction in which the potential energy of th: 
dietetic principles may be manifested (as heat, or electricity, or i 


movement), and of the mode in which the nitrogenous substances, in pat 
ticular, aid or restrain this transformation, do not impeach the propositiol 
that the presence of nitrogen in an organised structure, and its participa 
tion in the action going on there, is a necessary condition for the manifesta 
tion of any energy or any chemical change. Whether, when energy 1 
manifested, the nitrogenous framework of. any nitrogenous structure is ‘ 
mere stage on which other actors play, or whether it is used up an 
destroy ed, or is, on the other hand, built up or renovated during action, is 
so far as classification of food is concerned, a matter of no consequence. 


GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DIET. 235 


The following considerations seem to prove the necessary participation of 
she nitrogenous structures in manifestations of energy. Every structure 
m the body in which any form of energy is manifested (heat, mechanical 
motion, chemical or electrical action, &c.) is nitrogenous. The nerves, the 
muscles, the gland cells, the floating cells in the various liquids, the semen 
and the ovarian cells, are all nitrogenous. Even the non-cellular liquids 
passing out into the alimentary canal at various points, which have so great 
an action in preparing the food in different ways, are not only nitrogenous, 
but the constancy of this implies the necessity of the nitrogen, in order 
that these actions shall be performed; and the same constancy of the pre- 
sence of nitrogen, when function is performed, is apparently traceable 
through the whole world. Surely such constancy proves necessity. Then, 
if the nitrogen be cut off from the body, the various functions languish. 
This does not occur at once, for every body contains a store of nitrogen, 
but it is at length inevitable. Again, if it is wished to increase the mani- 
festation of the energies of the various organs, more nitrogen must be 
supplied. The experiments of Pettenkofer and Voit show that the nitro- 
genous substances composing the textures of the body determine the 
absorption of oxygen.1 The condensation of the oxygen from the atmo- 
sphere, its conversion into its active condition (ozone), and its application to 
oxidation are, according to their experiments, entirely under the control of 
the nitrogenous tissues (fixed and floating), and are apparently proportional 
to their size and vigour,” and to changes occurring in them. The absorp- 
tion of oxygen does not determine the changes in the tissues, but the 
changes in the tissues determine the absorption of oxygen. In other words, 
without the participation of the nitrogenous bodies, no oxidation and no 
manifestation of energy is possible. The experiments show that the 
absorption of oxygen by the lungs (blood-composition and physical condi- 
tions of pressure, &c., remaining constant) is dependent on its disposal in 
the body, and that this disposal is in direct relation with the absolute and 
relative amount and action of the nitrogenous structures. Mechanical 
motion, electricity, or heat may be owing to oxidation of fat or of starch, or 
of nitrogenous substance ; but, whatever be the final source, the direction is 
given by the nitrogenous structures. 

The next point is not quite so clear. Are the non-nitrogenous bodies, 
the fats and the starches, to be again broadly separated into two groups, 


‘which cannot replace each other; or, are these nutritively convertible? It is 


now certain that fat may arise from albuminoids, so that the nitrogenous 
‘substance plays two parts—first, that of the organic framework,z.e., of the 
regulator of oxidation and of transformation of energy; and, second, it may 
form a non-nitrogenous substance which is oxidised and transformed. 

_ The experiments of Edward Smith, Fick and Wislicenus, Haughton, and 
others, on muscular action, prove that we must look for the main source of 
jenergy which is apparent during muscular action in the oxidation of non- 
‘nitrogenous substances, but no experiments have yet shown whether these 
‘are fatty or saccharine. It seems to be inferred that it is fat which is thus 
chiefly acted upon; but this opinion is rather derived from a reference to 
‘the universal presence of fat when energy is manifested, to the known 
“necessity of it in diet (for though the dog and the rat (Savory) can live on 


1 Zeitsch. fir Biologie, Band ii. p. 457. See, especially, the summary of their opinion at 
page 571. 

2 When to a diet of meat, which causes a certain absorption of oxygen, fat or sugar is 
added, the absorption of oxygen lessens (Ranke, Phys. des Menschen, 1568, p. 145) ; so that 
it is relative as well as absolute amount which comes into play. 


236 FOOD. 


fat-free meat alone, man cannot do so),! and from the large amount of 
energy its oxidation can produce, than from actual observation. If it were 
true, a broad distinction would be at once drawn between fatty and starchy 
food, but it is not experimentally proved. If, on the other hand, it were. 
certain that the starchy aliments formed fat in the human body as a rule, 
this would be a reason for drawing no distinction between the groups. 
Independent of the argument drawn from bees fed on sugar alone and 
forming wax, from the fattening of ducks and geese, and the older expert 
ments on pigs, the later experiments of Lawes and Gilbert? seem to show 
clearly that the fat stored up in fattened pigs cannot be derived from the 
fat given in the food, but must have been produced partly from nitrogenous: 
substances, but chiefly from the carbo-hydrates. So also it seems now 
probable that the fat in milk is not derived at once from blood, but from 
changes of albumin in the lacteal gland-cells. There seems no reason wh 
we should not extend the inference to man. If so, a man could live in 
perfect health on a diet composed only of fat-free meat and starch, with 
salts and water, just as he can certainly live (though perhaps not in the 
highest health) on meat, fat, salts, and water. The carbo-hydrates would 
then be proved to be able to replace fats. The experiment has not 
yet been performed, or at least recorded, but it seems important it should 
be. : ' 

Grouven’s experiments also suggest that in cattle the carbo-hydrates may 
split up in the alimentary canal into glycerine, lactic and butyric acids, 
and carbon dioxide and marsh gas. If this be true, in the herbivora the 
starches would be merely another form of fat. 

An argument against the fats and carbo-hydrates being mutually re- 
placeable under ordinary conditions in the diet of men is drawn from a 
consideration of the diets used by all nations. In no case in which it can 
be obtained is an admixture of starch, in some form, with fat omitted. 
Moreover, in all cases (except in those nations, like the Eskimos, who are 
under particular conditions of food), we find that the amount of fat taken 
is comparatively small as compared with that of starches. The fats when 
taken into the body enter like the albuminoids into the structure of the 
tissues,’ of which fat forms in probably all cases an essential part. The 
carbo-hydrates, on the other hand, in the human body do not appear to be 
parts of the tissues, though they are contained in the fluids which bathe 
them, or are contained in them. The special direction which the chemical 
changes in the carbo-hydrates take in the body seems also to point to 
special duties. Thus, the formation of lactic and other acids of the same 
class must arise from carbo-hydrates chiefly or solely. But the formation 
of these acids is certainly most important in nutrition, for the various 
reactions of the fluids, which offer so striking a contrast (the alkalinity of 


1 Ranke could not maintain himself in perfect nutrition on meat alone.—Physiol. des 
Menschen, 1868, p. 149. 

2 «On the Sources of the.Fat in the Animal Body,” Phil. Mag., Dec. 1866. | 

% The fats appear to pass into the body directly and after saponification, which render ; 
absorption easy. The soap is then, according to Radziejewski’s experiments (Virchow® 
Archiv, Band xliii. p. 268), reconverted into fat. It has been supposed that the greater 
part of the tissue fat (fat cells) is not derived in this way, but from the tissue albuminoids* 
but Hofmann’s experiments and reasonings (Zeitsch. fiir Biol., Band viii. p. 153) seem C 
show that the ingested fats are stored up largely. Clinical observations certainly support 
this view. 7 


GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DIET. BH, 


irection of the changes which the carbo-hydrates undergo within the body 
; different from that of the fats, the products of these changes must be 
ferred to play dissimilar parts. 

Without pushing these arguments too far, and with the admission that 
he subject is still obscure, we are fairly entitled to assert that the two 
roups of fats and carbo-hydrates are not so immediately and completely 
onyertible as to permit us to place them together in a classification of 
iets. 

In the second question to which reference has been made, viz., that of a 
itrogenous substance furnishing fat, or a carbo-hydrate, the case is simpler. 
‘he experiments of Voit, and of Lawes and Gilbert, as well as other con- 
iderations, prove that the fat of tissues may be derived from nitrogenous 
ubstances, and there are reasons to believe that a glycogenous substance 
aay also be derived from albuminoids.' It is also probable, though not 
royed, that these non-nitrogenous derivatives may be burnt up in the 
auscles and other parts, as Fick conjectures.2 But this cannot allow us to 
onsider an albuminoid as an aliment which may replace fat or starch in 
he case of man. The digestive system of man is framed so differently 
rom that of the carnivora that fat must be taken in its own form, for it 
ither cannot be formed in sufficient quantity from albuminoids, or the 
sody is poisoned by the excess of nitrogen which is necessarily absorbed to 
upply it. 
| With regard to the necessity of all four classes of aliments, it can be 
firmed with certainty that (putting scurvy out of the question) men can 
_ye for some time and can be healthy with a diet of albuminoids, fat, salts, 
nd water. But special conditions of life, such as great exercise, or exposure 
0 very low temperature, appear to be necessary, and under usual conditions 
f life health is not very perfectly maintained on such diet. It has not yet 
een shown that men can live in good health on albuminoids, carbo-hydrates, 
alts, and water, &c., without fat.? 

The exact effect produced by the deprivation of any one of these classes is 
sot yet known. An excess of the albuminoids causes a more rapid oxidation 
ffat (and in dogs an elimination of water), while an excess of fat lessens the 
bsorption of oxygen, and hinders the metamorphosis of both fat and albu- 
ainoid tissues. The carbo-hydrates have the same effect when in excess, 
nd appear to lessen the oxidation of the two other classes. 

__ It is now generally admitted that the success of Mr Banting’s treatment 

‘ obesity is owing to two actions: the increased oxidising effect on fat, 

/onsequent on the increase of meat (especially if exercise be combined), and 

he lessened interference with the oxidation of fat consequent on the depriva- 

ion of the starches. 
_ Health cannot be maintained on albuminoids, salts, and water alone ; but, 
m the other hand, it cannot be maintained without them. 
_ The salts and water are as essential as the nitrogenous substances. Lime, 
hiefly in the form of phosphate, is absent from no tissue ; and there is reason 
‘0 think no cell growth can go on without it ; certainly, in enlarging morbid 
rowths, and in rapidly growing cells, it is in large amount. 


1 Tn addition to physiological evidence from experiments on animals, there are certain 
orms of diabetes which seem to prove that sugar must be formed either from albuminoids 
fat, most probably the former. 

* Archiv. fiir ges. Phys., Band v. p. 40. 

* In some experiments, both with Liebig’s essence of meat and Hassall’s dried food with 
wread, Dr Parkes was very much struck with the bad effects produced on the health of the 
Xperimentators, and with the immediate relief given by the addition of butter and a larger 
upply of starch, without augmentation in the amount of nitrogen. 


238 FOOD. 


When phosphate of calcium was excluded from the diet, the bones of an 
adult goat were not found by H. Weiske to be poorer in lime,! because pro- 
bably lime was drawn from other parts; but the goat became weak and 
dull, so that nutrition was interfered with. Experiment has shown that the 
growth of wheat is more quickly and effectually checked by the absence 
of phosphoric acid than of any other constituent from the soil. The 
lowest forms of life (Bacteria and Fungi) will not grow without earthy phos. 
phates. 

Magnesia is probably also an essential constituent of growth in some tissues, 
Potash and soda, in the forms of phosphates and chlorides, are equally im. 
portant, and would seem to be especially concerned in the molecular currents i 
forming parts of almost all tissues, they are less fixed, so to speak, than the | 
magnesian and lime salts. It is also now certain, ‘that the two alkali 
do not replace each other, and have a different distribution ; and it i 
so far observable, that the potash seems to be the alkali for the formed 
tissues, such as the blood cells or muscular fibre ; while the soda salts are i 
more largely contained in the intercellular fluids which bathe or encircle the i, 
tissues. 1 

The chlorine and phosphoric acid have also very peculiar properties, thd 
former apparently being easily set free, and then giving a very strong acid 
which has a special action on albuminoids, and the latter having remarkabk 
combining proportions with alkalies. Both are furnished in almost all food | 
the sodium chloride also separately. Carbonic acid is both introduced andl 
made in the system, and probably serves many uses. Iron is, of course, alsc 
essential for certain tissues or parts, especially for the red blood corpuscle; 
and for the colouring matter in muscle, and in small quantity is found almos’ 
in every tissue and in every food. The sulphur and phosphorus of the tissue; 
appear to enter especially as such with the albuminoids. | 

Some salts, especially those which form carbonates in the system, such ai 
the lactates, tartrates, citrates, and acetates, give the alkalinity to the systen 
which seems so necessary to the integrity of the molecular currents, Thy 
state of malnutrition, which in its highest degree we call scurvy, appears t: 
follow inevitably on their absence; and, as they exist chiefly in fresh vege 
tables, it is a well-known rule in dietetics to supply these with great care 
though their nutritive power otherwise is small. So important are thos 
substances, that they might well be placed in a separate class, although D) 
Pavy remarks that “ these principles are hardly of sufficient importance, it 
an alimentary point of view, to call for their consideration under a distine 
head.” Surely this is an under-estimate of their i importance, considering a“ 
inevitable malnutrition that follows on their absence. i 

In addition to the substances composing these four classes, there are other 
which enter into many diets, and which have been termed “ accessory foods, 
or by some writers “ force regulators ” (like the salts). The various cond — 
ments which give taste to food, or excite salivary or alimentary secretions 
and tea, coffee, cocoa, alcohol, ie. furnish the chief substances of this class 
Much discussion has taken place as to the exact action in nutrition of thes 
substances, but little is definitely known. 

A classification, on a simplified plan, may be made as follows :— 


1 Zeitsch. fur Biol., Band vii. p. 179. 


CLASSIFICATION OF PROXIMATE ALIMENTS. 239 


z Examples. Functions. 
Albumin, Formation and repair 
f [ Fibri f ti d fluid ttl 
; ibrin, of tissues and fluids of the 
1. Albuminoids. "S i Syntonin, body. 
All substances containing -= } Myosin, Regulation of the ab- 
| nitrogen, of a composition iden- =< | Globulin, sorption and utilisation of 
tical with, or nearly that of Casein, oxygen. 
albumin ; proportion of nitro- . May also form fat and 
_ | gen to carbon being nearly as = yield energy under special 
3 |2to7, or 4 to 14. ‘= | Glutin, conditions. 
g = | Legumin, In most foods the 
S 4 ss above, both animal and 
g *,* Substances containing a vegetable, are partially 
Z larger proportion of nitrogen are converted into peptones. 
‘* | apparently less nutritious. Gelatin, These perform theabove 
| Proportion of nitrogen to car- Ossein, functions less perfectly, or 
bon about 2 to 54, or 4 to 11, Chondrin, only under particular cir- 
Keratin, cumstances. 
These substances ap- 
| Extractive matters, such as pear essential as regulators 
| are contained in the juice of the of digestion and assimila- 
J S 
(flesh. ¥ tion, especially with refer- 
ence tothe gelatine group. 
2. Fats (or Hydro-carbons). ) 
( Substances containing no | 
| nitrogen, but made up of carbon, | 
hydrogen, and oxygen; the pro- | Supply of fatty tissues ; 
portion of oxygen being Jess than [ Olein, nutrition of nervous sys- 
sufficient to convert all the hy- Stearin, tem? Supply of energy 
drogen into water. Margarin, andanimal heat by oxida- 
Proportion of unoxidised hy- tion. 
drogen to carbon about 1 to 7. J 
a 
S | 3. Carbo-hydrates. ) 
E Substances containing no | , 
2 | nitrogen, but made up of carbon ae : 
2 oe ee ee | Dextrin, Production of energy 
= | hydrogen, and oxygen; the oxy- | C en Fe cea eset 
Bae emenrnes ane sugar, and animal heat by oxida- 
az }gen being exactly sufficient to } Gr ‘ ; x 
24 s . rape sugar, tion. Conversion into fat 
S | convert all the hydrogen into an (oe Bewaconidan 
Be) water. a (or ry deoxidation, 
2 Proportion of water to carbon US (SUSE) 
a | being about 3 to 2. J 
= : a ( In these the) Preserving the 
ie 3 (a). Vegetable acids (and pectous ) Voxyseniemore || allalinityilot oie 
substances *), Oxali fal elcane S) etentlanicoden ; 
Cc” containing ne xalic acid, J ansufficien ood by conver- 
. 2) Tartaric ,, to convert all | sion into carbon- 
eee nat madenp of carbon, Citric | the hydrogen + ates; furnish a 
hydrogen, and oxygen; the oxy- + cre teed ; Uren ar 5 
iy? ute cee bie! Wiewhe 5. into water. small amount of 
een nerally “my (greater Inthesethere | energy or animal 
amount than is sufficient to con- : : BY : 
. Saks : Acetic ,, is no excess of | heat by oxida- 
vert all the hydrogen into Tbe | Be2 iets 
Dwater. j Lactic ,, oxygen. ion, 
A ( Sodium chloride, ) Various; support of 
‘3 | Potassium _,, | bony skeleton, supply of 
= +4. Salts (mineral). Calcium phosphate, - | HCl for digestion, &c. 
= 1 phosphate, 
=> | | Magnesium Regulators of energy and 
ie | lotren eau ee J nutriti a 
ron, &¢. nutrition, 


SUB-Section I.—QuantiTy of EACH CLAss OF ProximaTe ALIMENT IN A 
Goop Diet ror Heatray Men. 

We cannot deduce these quantities from milk, for this, though it is a per- 
fect food for the young, does not contain the various constituents in the 
best proportions for adults. The relative amounts have, therefore, been 
determined partly by observation on a great number of dietaries, and partly 


240 FOOD. 


by physiological experiments. The general results of the whole are given 
in the following tables :— 


Average Daily Diet of Men in Quietude. 


| Subsistence Dict (Playfair). Rest. 
Ounces Avoir. Grammes. Ounces Avoir. Grammes, | 
Albuminoids, . 3 : 2 ill D5) (al 
Fats, , ‘ : 5) 14 1 28 
Carbo- hydrates, ¢ é 12 340 12 340 
Salts, : ‘ . “5 14 “5 14 
Total water-free food, 15:0 495 16°0 453 


The subsistence diet is calculated as sufficient for the internal mechanical 
work of the body, but it is doubtful if an average man could exist on it 
without losing weight, as it supposes absolute repose. 

The diet for rest : supposes very gentle exertion, and is probably the mini 
mum for a male adult of average size and weight, say 150 tb or 68 kilo 
grammes. ! 

Each constituent named above is, theoretically, absolutely water-free, but 
practically the amount of water present in the so-called solid food would be 
from 100 to 150 per cent. more, so that the weights respectively would bc 
about 32 to 40 ounces gross (907 to 1134 grammes). 

For mere subsistence, without doing visible work, a man therefore require: 
about 51, of an ounce of water-free food for each ib weight of his body, 01 
> of his total weight every twenty-four hours. | 

Of ne ‘standard diets given in the next table, Moleschott’s scale has beer 
pretty generally accepted, but the fat is perhaps rather low. 


Standard Daily Diets for a Man in Ordinary Work, weighing 150 lbs., 
or 68 kilogrammes. 


For 100,000 — 


For 300 foot-tons, or 93,000 kilogramme-metres. kilog. -metres | 
=323 foot-tons. 

Moleschott. peltenron Aa Ranke.2 Moleschott. | 

Oz. ay. | Gram. || Oz. ay. | Gram. || Oz. av. | Gram. || Oz. ay. onl 

Albuminoids, i 6 4°59 130 4°83 137 3°52 100 4°94 140 
HATS as 4 ; 2°96 84 4°12 117 3°52 100 3°17 
Ca rbo- hydrates, 5 . | 14:26 404 || 12°40 352 8°46 240 || 15°31 
Salts, . 5 ; : 1°06 30 1:06 30 0°89 25 neil} 
Total water-free food, | 22°87 | 648 || 22°41) 636 |) 16°39] 465 || 24°55 


Assuming the water-free food to be 23 ounces, and a man’s weight Omit to b 


1 Zeitschrift fiir Biologie, Bandii. p. 523. Somewhat different quantities are given by ven by Wel H 
in his later researches made with Forster, Renk, and Schuster (Munich, 1877), the fat durin 
work being much increased. See Fliigge, Lehr buch der hygienischen Untersuchungsmethode i 


Leipzig, 1581. 
2 Pi ysiologie des Menschen, 1868, p. 158. 


| AVERAGE DIET FOR LABORIOUS WORK. 241 
| 

150 Ib, each ib weight of the body receives in twenty-four hours 0°15 ounce, 
or the whole body receives nearly +45 part of its own weight. 

This is the dry food, but a certain amount of water (between 50 and 60 
per cent. usually) is contained in ordinary food, and adding this to the 
water-free solids, the total daily amount of so-called dry food (exclusive of 
liquids) is about 48 to 60 ounces. In addition to this, from 50 to 80 ounces 
of water are taken in some liquid form, making a total supply of water of 
70 to 90 ounces, or an average of 0°5 ounce for each tb weight of body. 

This average amount of food and water varies considerably from the 
following causes :— 

1. Individual conditions of size, vigour, activity of circulation, and of the 
2liminating organs, &c. No men eat exactly the same, and no single standard 
will meet all cases.! The usual average range in different male adults is 
‘rom 40 to 60 ounces of so-called solid food, and from 50 to 80 ounces of 
vater. 

2. Differences of exertion. If men are undergoing great exertion they 
take more food, and, if they can obtain it, the increase is especially in the 
classes of albuminoids and fat, as shown in the next table below. 

This would represent of so-called solid food from 66 to 77 oz. (1870 to 
2180 grammes). 

The amount of water is also increased, but is very various according to 
sircumstances, and is apparently not so much augmented as the solid food. 

3. Differences of climate. It is a matter of general belief that more food 
is taken in cold seasons and in cold countries than in hot. It is supposed that 
nore energy in some form (finally in that of heat) is necessary, and more food 
S required ; but there may be other causes, such as varying exertion. 


Average Daily Water-free Diet required for an Adult Man in very laborious 
Work,” or for a Soldier on Service and in the Field. 


Ounces Avoir. | Grammes. 
Albuminoids, . ; ; 6 i 7 170 to 198 
Fats, : : : : OLOMLOMMAZe 99 to 128 
Carbo-hydrates ; ; IG  i@ il) 454 to 510 
Salts, : : : : WR wo — 195) | 34 to 43 
Total water-free food, 2Gc ies tomo iol to 819 


1 This has been well exemplified in our convict prisons, in which, as a matter of conven- 
mee, soldiers are sometimes confined. The ordinary diet, which is sufficient for the convict, 
‘insufficient for the soldier, and that for several reasons :—1. The convict is a smaller man 
nthe average. 2. The previous life of the convict is an irregular one, in which his food is 
enerally insufficient ; whereas the soldier’s life is usually the opposite, his food is fairly 
ood and his meals regular. 3. The crimes for which the convict is imprisoned are crimes 
gainst society, and his removal to a prison cannot be considered much of a degradation 
iorally, whereas his physical condition is really improved. On the other hand, the soldier’s 
rime is often one of a military character only, hence his removal to a prison is a moral degra- 
ation, especially if it be a convict prison. The result is that, whilst the majority of the 
ivil prisoners retain their weight or even gain, the majority of soldier prisoners lose. It is 
Iso found that age has an effect, the older men losing, the younger generally gaining. 
ength of sentence has also an influence, partly on account of some difference of diet and 
rork, but probably chiefly on account of the system ultimately accommodating itself to the 
Itered conditions. Thus the men who lose weight are—the heaviest originally, the oldest, 
hose with shortest sentences ; those who are stationary or gain weight are—the lightest 
riginally, the youngest, those with longest sentences. The data, from which the above con- 
lusions are drawn, were furnished by Deputy-Surgeon-General J. A. Marston, M.D. 

2 Playfair gives the diet of a prize-fighter in training as 9°8 oz. albuminoids, 3'1 fats, and 
“27 starch and sugar. There were 690 grains of nitrogen, and 4366 grains of carbon. 


Q 


242 


FOOD. 


{ 
ny 


The following may be taken as an approximative. basis for the calculation’ 
of diets according to size and work :— 


Beyond 300 to 320 foot-tons (or 100,000 kilogramme-metres) the 
addition would require to be greater. 


For Subsistence during For work of about 300 || oy be ore kee out 100 
rest. | foot-tons per diem. Se pe di = 
Amount to be, Aner ae : 
ee added to sub- sistence diet) 
iment, oj |orammes per’) sistence dict Grammes per = ; 
Ores ot kilogramme [Ounces sy ou per tb of body) kilogramme aa ey che 
Pp thirsty | of body- |e Se aiahe: Y- for every foot-| of body- fad ee 100¢ 
BAe weight. BBL ton of work. | weight. kilog. eet 
‘Ounces Avoir. Bes 
Grammes. — 
———— 2 1} be a 4 
Albuminoids, 0°017 1°044 0°031 0-00005 2°06 - 00108 
Hats= ai 0-007 0°412 0°019 0-00004 1°32 07009 
Carbo- hydrates, 0-080 5000 | 0095 0°00005 6°38 07014 — 
Salts, 0-003 0163 | 0°007 0-00001 | 0°47 0-003 | 
= — | ——| | 
Total, 0°107 6°619 07152 | 0-00015 |} 1023 | 0°036 
| ! | 


| 
Z 5 é , |For work of about 150,000 kilogramme- 
For work of ae foot-tons metres per rae 
Pp Sr =foot-tons per diem. 

4 Amount to be 
Proximate Amount to be “di 
ALEEIVES SUELO DANTE | Grammes per Sec ee 

Ounces Avoir. per |work diet per ib of Talo aaa oe CAE pode 
T) of body-weight.| body-weight for fb iz Samant Br Ae G vy 
every foot-ton of || Of body-weight. weight for every © 
work beyond 300. | 1000 kilog.-metres 
y ° beyond 100,000. — 
Albuminoids, 0°047 0:000107 2°91 0°017 , 
Fats, . 0°030 0000068 1°88 0-011 
Carbo- hydrates, 0°126 0°000166 7°50 0-024 
Salts, . 0°010 0:000020 63 0°003 { 
Total, 0°207 0°000361 12°92 0°055 


u) 
In the case of any diet, the articles of which are known, the amounts of the: 
four classes of alimentary principles may be calculated from a table of mear 
composition. The following table is compiled from, in most cases, severa. 
analyses by different authors, those analyses being selected which seem best 
to represent the food of the soldier. z | 
The mode of using the table is very simple; the quantity of uncooke 
meat or bread being known, and it being assumed or proved that there it 
no loss in cooking, a rule of three brings out at once the proportions: 
Thus, the ration allowance of meat for soldiers being 12 oz., 2°4 oz. or 2¢ 
per cent. is deducted for bone, as the soldier does not get the best pa i 
The quantity of water in the remaining 9-6 ounces will be a v(- { 
| 
\ 


1 Of course, such tables ar2 merely approximative ; but they are very useful as giving é 
general idea of a diet, although they are not accurate enough to be used in physiolonm ca 
inquiries. 


| 
| 


) 


TABLE FOR CALCULATING DIETS. 243 
Table for Calculating Diets. 
Iy 100 Parts. 
Articles, i ] 
Water. Pane Fats. Pee Salts 
Meat of best quality, with little fat, ae Hen | Os | Soe 16 
beafsteaks, 
Uncooked meat of the kind supplied to 
soldiers,—beef and mutton. Bone con- +} 75 15 8-4 1°6 
stitutes 3th of the soldier’s allowance, 
Uncooked meat of fattened cattle. Calcu- ) 
lated from Lawes’ and Gilbert’s experi- 63 14 19 3-7 
ments. These numbers are to be used if a 
the meat isi very fat, 
Cooked meat,” roast, no dripping being lost. ) ae : “On 
Boiled assumed to be foal | oe 20% | LOE Ze 
Corned beef (Chicago), 52°2 | 23°3 | 14 4 
Salt beef (Girardin), 49°1 | 29°6 0:2 ileal 
», pork (Girardin), . 44-1 | 2671 70 22°8 
Fat pork (Letheby), 39°0 | 9°8 | 48-9 2°3 
Dried bacon (Letheby), 15:0 8°8 | 73°3 29 
Smoked ham (J. Kénig), 27°8 | 24:0 | 36°5 10:1 
Horse flesh ( do. ), 2f4°3 | 21°7 2°6 10 
White fish (Letheby), HE) || igor 2-9 10 
Poultry (Letheby), SEO 5) Bal) 3°8 uae LD 
Bread, white wheaten, of average quality, 40 8 Ib) | Ose 13 
Wheat flour, average quality, 15 Lil 2 70°3 Le 
Barley meal (de Chaumont), UI |) NDZ 20 71:0 3:0 
Pearl barley (Church), 14°7 13 oil 75'8 1:0 
Rye (mean of various analysts), 1B% |) Wea 2-0 69°3 2a. 
Biscuit, . ; : ; F : 8 15°6 1B 73°4 Lf 
Rice, 10 5 08 832 0°5 
Oatmeal (Letheby ee 15 12°6 56 630 3 
Maize (Poggiale) (cellulose excluded),. 13°5 || 10 67 64°5 14 
Macaroni (Konig), Ia | OD | OB | Woe 0°8 
Millet (Konig) (cellulose excluded), WB |; Ws 3°6 67-31) 253 
Arrow-root, ; ; . 5. | Be 0°8 ais 83°3 0°27 
Peas (dry), 5 22 2 53 2°4 
Potatoes, 74 2°0 016} 21:0 1 
Carrots (cellulose excluded), 85 1% || OD 8-4 10 
Cabbage, : 91 ile || OS 5:8 07 
Betcr, . , 6 3°38 | 88 taken a33°7 
Egg (10 per cent. must be Aedteied for Sel \ : ie : 
from the weight of the egg), : aif (Som shoe as : 
Cheese, . 36°8 | 33°5 | 24:3 obe 5°4 
Milk (sp. gr. 1029 and over), 86°8 4 Sei 4°8 07 
Cream (Letheby), ; 66 WY || XX 2°8 1°8 
Skimmed milk (Letheby), . : 88 abe) || aLe6} 54 0°8 
Sugar, : 3 ane a 96°5 0°5 
| Pemmican (de Chaumont), C2 | Bre || Baye 5 1°8 


and the water-free solids will be 2-4 ounces. 
ounces ; the fats, 0°8064; and the salts, 0°1536 ounce. 
Whenever practicable, the nutritive value should be calculated on the 


then be seen inet no loss occurs in cooking. 


raw substance, as the analyses of cooked food are more variable. 


The albuminoids will be 1°44 


It must 


1 For remarks, see separate sub-sections. 
2 These numbers are taken from John Ranke’s analysis. 
° The fat and salts may be 40 to 60 per cent. less in finely sifted flour. 


244 


The proportion of the nitrogenous substances to the fats, carbo-hy drates, | 


FOOD. 


and salts in the standard digess is as follows :— 


7 


Moleschott. peters Ranke. Mean. 
| | Albuminoids, 100 100 100 100 
Fat, : 65 87 100 82 
| Carbo- hy drates, 315 258 240 272 
Salts, : 3 22 25 23 


Amount of Nitrogen and Carbon.—As the phenomena of nutrition are 
chiefly owing to the various chemical interchanges of nitrogen and carbon, 
and in some cases of hydrogen, with oxygen, it may be desired to calculate 


the amount of these constituents in any diet. 


ways. 


1. Calculate out the dry albuminoids, fat, and carbo-hydrates in ounces 


and then use the following table :-— 


This may be done in two 


Water-free constituents. Nitrogen. Carbon. Hydrogen. | Sulphur. 
Grains. Grains. Grains. Grains. 
Albuminoid: 1 ounce contains 70 212 
Fat, x aie 336 48 
Carbo-hydrates, 
(a) Starch, ,, ie 194 
(b) Cane-sugar, A 184 
Lactin, | me 
(c) Glucose, | a2 ie 


The total amount of carbon in one ounce of albuminoid is 233 grains 
but of this 30 grains are converted into urea, and are therefore oxidise 
only as far as carbon monoxide; making allowance for this, we have a ne 


total equal to 212 grains of carbon fully oxidised. 


The standard daily diet for an adult man in ordinary work, calculated i i 


this way, assuming the composition from-the table on p. 243, gives— 


Pettenkofer 


Moleschott. omal Wore Ranke. Mean, 

Grains, Grains. Grains. Grains. 

Nitrogen, 321 338 246 302 

Carbon, 4737 4817 4570 4708 

Hydrogen, 179 236 197 204 

| Sulphur, 28 29 PA 26 

| Salts, 464 464 390 430 
— |) 


Not infrequently the standard is stated as 20 grammes of nitrogen ar 


300 grammes of carbon ; 


Dp Tita the following 


this is equal to 309 and 4630 grains. 
table, the calculation of these ingredients per oun 
has been made, —the substance being supposed to be in its natural stat 


and to have the composition already assigned to it in the former table. 


i} 


) TABLE OF THE ULTIMATE ELEMENTS OF FOOD. 245 


One ounce (=437°5 grains) contains in its natural state, in grains. 
Substance. Carbon, |Hydrogen,} Sulphur, 
Water. | Nitrogen. ate ae ee Salts. 
| oxidised. | oxidised. | oxidised. 
' Uncooked meat (beef) of 
Behe best quality, 326 | 14:3 5B 3-2 1:2 7 
| ae. as supplied 398 10°5 60 5-2 0:9 7 
' Uncooked fat meat (beef) 276 9°8 94 10°2 0°8 16 
Cooked meat, . 236 19°3 110 9°6 17 13 
~ Corned beef (Chicago), : 228 16°3 96 8-6 14 17 
- Salt beef, i : 215 20°7 63 2°5 1°8 92 
ee pork, ‘ : : 193 18°3 79 54 16 100 
_ Fat pork, Ree aah 170 69 185 24°3 0°6 10 
_ Dried bacon, . : : 66 6:2 265 39°9 0°5 12 
Smoked ham, . : : 122 16°8 174 19°4 1°4 44 
Horse flesh, . g : 325 a2 55 2°9 13 4 
' White fish, ‘ : : 341 12°6 48 28 Weil 4 
Poultry, . ‘ 3 p 324 14°7 57 3°5 13 5 
ie 175 5:5 116 13 0°5 6 
' Wheat flour, . : : 66 ial 166 1°9 07 7 
Barley meal, . i 3 49 8-9 173 21 0°8 13 
) Pearl barley, . : ; 64 BAL 167 teil 0-4 4 
| Rye, 5 j : é 59 9°2 168 2:0 0°8 9 
| Biscuit, . . j : 35 10°9 180 1°8 0°9 A 
- Rice, ; : ; : 44 3°5 175 0°8 03 2 
) Oatmeal, . 4 F : 66 8°8 168 37 0°8 13 
heMaize, . : ‘ : 59 70 169 4-0 0°6 6 
_ Macaroni, . : : 57 6°3 169 0-9 0°5 3 
Millet, . j : ‘ 54 79 166 2°6 0°7 10 
Arrow-root,  . : : 57 0°6 162 Qal 55 ] 
| Peas (dried), . : ; 66 15°4 156 2°8 1°3 10 
Potatoes, : F 3 324 1°4 45 0°3 01 4 
Carrots, . : : : 372 il 20 0-2 0-1 4 
Cabbage, ; : : 398 13 17 03 01 3 
Butter, . ; : F 26 2°3 303 42°5 02 12 
Mrs el 322 9°4 68 6-7 0°8 4 
miGheese, . 161 23°5 153 14°4 Ql 24 
Milk (sp. gr. 1029 and dover), 380 2°8 30 Beil 0-2 3 
/ Cream, . 289 1°9 100 13:0 0-2 8 
Skimmed milk, : é 385 2°8 24 Ke 0-2 3 
Sugar, . . P : 13 : 178 2 
' Pemmican, 3 : a 31 24°8 260 29°8 Dealt 8 


The usual range is from 250 to 350 grains of nitrogen for adult men, 
md the extreme range is from 2 to 7 ounces of dry albuminoid, or from 
140 grains of nitrogen (which is the smallest amount necessary for the 
mner movements of the body and the bare maintenance of life, as calcu- 
tated by Playfair), to 483 or 500 grains, which is the amount taken under 
very great exertion. Edward Smith’s careful observations on ill-fed and 
fairly- -fed operatives give a range from 135 grains of nitrogen and 3271 
grains of carbon (in London needlewomen) to 349 erains of nitrogen and 
6195 grains of carbon (in Irish farm labourers). Usually, however, in what 
are almost starvation diets, the nitrogen is 180 to 200 grains, ‘and the 
carbon from 3900 to 4300 grains (H dward Smith’s investigations into the 
food in Lancashire during the cotton famine). In convict prisons, Dr 
‘Wilson tells us that the men on light labour receive 224 grains of nitrogen 
md 4651 grains of carbon, and this is sufficient. Those on hard labour 
receive 255 grains of nitrogen and 5289 grains of carbon, and on this diet 


246 FOOD. 


they lose weight, and have to be continuously shifted from heavy to lighter 
work. In the case of military prisoners at hard labour even 281 grains of 
nitrogen and 5373 grains of carbon were insufficient to prevent men losing 
weight. In India an improved diet was introduced by the iate Surgeon- © 
General Beatson, C.B., in which the nitrogen was about "300 grains and the . 
carbon about 5300. This appears to have been sufficient to prevent loss | 
of weight, although there was a deficiency of fat. The carbon ranges in 
various diets from 3600 to 5800 or 6000 grains. The amount of the salts} 
appears rather large; it is difficult to test it by determining the salts in} 
the excreta, as so much sodium chloride and lime salts are lost through the! 
skin, and some of the excreted salts may also be mere surplusage. The’ 
salts seem to be made up of chlorine, 120 grains; phosphoric acid, 50) 
grains ; potash, 40; soda, 40; lime, about 4 grains by the urine (Byasson) 
and some by the bowels; magnesia, 4-7 grains by the urine and a consider-| 
able amount by the bowels ; and iron, the amount of which is uncertain. 

Actual experiment has, to a great extent, confirmed the conclusions | 
drawn from a study of these dietaries. Pettenkofer and Voit, in two 
healthy men, determined many times the amount of nitrogen during! 
common exercise, and found it to be 19°82 grammes, or 306 grains. Dr 
Parkes experimented on four healthy average men in common work, and 
found the amount which kept them in perfect health and uniform weight | 
was 293 to 305 grains of nitrogen in twenty-four hours. All these deter- | 
minations are near Moleschott’s numbers. The amount of carbon is, how- 
ever, perhaps too large. A certain proportion between the carbon and 
nitrogen ought to be maintained ; in the best diets this is: Nitrogen 1 to 
carbon 15,1 . 


Sup-Section IJ.—On tHE ENERGY OBTAINABLE FROM THE VARIOUS 
ARTICLES OF Foop. 


The possible amount of energy which can be manifested in the body will 
be the result of two conditions,—first, the amount of potential energy) 
stored up in the food, which is, of course, easily determined and expressed 
in terms of units of heat or of motion; and second, the extent to which’ 
the processes in the body can liberate and apply this energy. _ For example, 
an ounce of albumen can give rise to a certain heating effect, if it be 
‘burnt in oxygen; but in the body thorough oxidation can never occur, 
for some of the constituents of the albumen pass out incompletely 
oxidised in the form of urea. An ounce of sugar, on the other hand, is as 
a general rule destroyed to the fullest extent, and ends in carbon dioxide 
and water, and its actual energy in the body, under whatever form it) 
appears, is equal to its theoretical energy. 


One ounce of dry albuminoid yields . Sale foot-tons of potential energy. 
ae Sa plain , : : . 3/8 3 a 
x 5») Stach, J A wiles ai es 
Ps 5» cane-sugar, . p 5 lait 3 Pa 

;, lactin or alucose, : 124 ig 7 

One grain of carbon (conv erted into CO. oy, 0°710 ‘5 3 
se hy drogen (water), : ; 3000 33 sy 
- sulphur (SO;), : , : Hee? “ 5% 
“2 phosphorus (P,0;), 5 p 0°510 35 a 
4 carbon (forming urea), . 0°198 a os 

One cubic foot of carbonic acid (CO,) at ) 168 foot-tons expended. 

0° C. shows . : oh 
One ounce of water (H, 0) shows. . 146 3 95 


1 “* The Soldier’s Ration,” by F. de Chaumont, Sanitary Record, Feb. 5, 1876. 


RELATIVE VALUE OF FOOD OF THE SAME CLASS. 247 


In the following table (page 248) Dr Frankland’s experimental results 
jave been selected as the most exact, but they agree very closely with the 
heoretical results, particularly with those given .by Playfair! and others. 
Some of the numbers are calculated from the ascertained composition of 
whe substance. 

_ A table of this kind is useful in showing what can be obtained from our 
‘ood, but it must not be supposed that the value of food is in exact rela- 
sion to the possible energy which it can furnish. In order that the energy 
shall be obtained, the food must not only be digested and taken into the 
ody properly prepared, but its energy must be developed at the place and 
nm the manner proper for nutrition. The mere expression of potential 
mergy cannot fix dietetic value, which may be dependent on conditions in 
she body unknown to us. For example, it is quite certain, from observa- 
tion, that gelatine cannot fully take the place of albumen, though its 
potential energy is little inferior,” and it is easily oxidised in the body. 
But, owing to some circumstances yet unknown, gelatine is chiefly de- 
stroyed in the blood (?) and gland cells, and its energy, therefore, has a 
different direction from that of albumen. The tables of energy give broad 
indications, and can be used in a general statement of the value of a diet ; 
but at present they do not throw light on the intricacies of nutrition. 

* Sup-Section III.—On tHe ReLative VALUE oF Foop oF THE SAME CLASS. 


_ The chemical composition of animal and vegetable albuminoids is very 
similar, and they manifestly serve equal purposes in the body. The meat- 
zater, and the man who lives on corn, or peas and rice, are equally well 
aourished. But it has been supposed that either the kind or the rapidity of 
autrition is different, and that the man who feeds on meat, or the carnivo- 
cous animal, will be more active, and more able to exert a sudden violent 
offort, than the vegetarian, or the herbivorous animal, whose food has an 
equal potential energy, but which is supposed to be less easily evolved. 
The evidence in favour of this view seems very imperfect. The rapid move- 
ments of the carnivora have been contrasted with the slow, dull action of 
domestic cattle; but, not to speak of the horse, who, that has seen the light- 
ning movements of the wild antelope or cow, or even of the wild pig, which 
is herbivorous in many cases, can doubt that vegetable feeders can exert a 
movement even more rapid and more enduring than the tiger or the wolf? 
And the evidence in men is the same. In India, the ill-fed people, on rice 
and a little millet or pea, may indeed show less power; but take the well- 
fed corn eater, or even the well-fed rice and pea eater, and he will show, 
when in training, no inferiority to the meat-eaters. An argument has been 
drawn from the complicated alimentary canal of the herbivora, but probably 
this is chiefly useful in digesting the cellulose, and the digestion and 
absorption of albuminoids may be as rapid as in other animals. 

It appears from Dr Beaumont’s experiments that animal food is digested 
sooner than farinaceous, and possibly meat might therefore replace more 
quickly the wasted nitrogenous tissue than bread or peas; and it may be 


1 On the Food of Man in relation to his useful Work, 1865. 

2 One gramme of dry isinglass will develop 4520 heat-units when burnt in oxygen; one 
‘gramme of dry boiled ham, 4343; one gramme of dry beef, 5313 heat-units (Frankland, 
Philos. Mag., Sept. 1866, p. 169). The potential energy of isinglass is more than that of 
ham, but its nutritive power is far inferior. 

W.B.—To convert foot-tons per ounce into kilogramme-metres per gramme, multiply by 10°92. 
‘Thus, one ounce of albuminoid yields 173 foot-tons of potential energy, then one gramme will 
yield 173 x 10°92=1889 kilogramme-metres. 


248 FOOD. 


true, as asserted, that the change of tissue is more quick in meat-eaters, | 
who require, therefore, more frequent supplies of food. Even this, however, | 
seems not yet thoroughly -proved. 


Energy developed by one ounce of the following Substances when oxidised 
un the Body. 


In usual state, with the 
Name of Substance. ee ae Ler Ee One ounce, water-free. 
on p. 243. 
Foot-tons. Foot-tons. 
Beef, uncooked, best quality (beefsteaks), 49 191 
Meat re as supplied to soldiers, . 58 232 
Beef is fattened, ! ; ‘ 96 260 
Meat, cooked, ; j : . ; 106 231 
Corned beef (Chicago), . : : : 93 194 
Salt beef, 3 : F : ‘ : 52 102 
Salt pork, . : ; F ‘ ‘ 71 127 
Fat pork, ‘ F ; : : ‘ 202 331 
Dried bacon, . : ; : ‘ : 292 344 
Smoked ham, : : 5 : : 179 248 
Horse flesh, . : : : : i 48 187 
White fish, . : : : : F 42 191 
Poultry, ; P : : : é 50 192 
Bread, . : : : : 3 , 88 147 
Wheat flour, . : 5 3 : : 124 146 
Biscuit, . : : . : : F 133 144 
ices i : ; : : F : 127 141 
Oatmeal, ; : ; : ; 4 130 153 
Barley meal, . : : : : : 127 144 
Pearl barley, . : : 5 : : 122 143 
Iiyey : : : : : : 126 146 
Maize, . F : : F : ‘ 131 162 
Macaroni, . j : : : : 124 142 
Millet, . : : : : : : 126 144 
Arrowroot, . é : : : : 116 136 
Peas (dried), . : : : : “ 119 140 
Potatoes, : 5 t 5 ; : 33 127 
Carrots, . : : : é : ; 16 107 
Cabbage, : : ; ; é 13 144 
Butter, . ; : : : : ; 339 361 
Eggs, . : : ; : é : 68 257 ‘ 
Cheese, . ; : : ; : , 150 237 
Milk (cow’s), new, . : ; ; : 27 205 
Cream, . : p : ; ‘ 109 321 
Skimmed milk, ; : 3 : 4 21 U5) 
Sugar, . c : ; : : , 126 130 
Pemmican, ; ; ‘ ‘ : 270 293 
Ale (Bass’s bottled), ‘ , ‘ . 30 260 
Stout (Guinness’s), . : : : ‘ 42 360 


It has been also supposed that there is a difference in the nutrition of 
even such nearly allied substances as wheat and barley, but the evidence is | 
imperfect, and is perhaps dependent on differences in ease of digestion. 

With respect to the fats, their differences of nutrition are probably de- 
pendent entirely on facility of digestion and absorption. The animal fats 
appear easier of absorption than. the vegetable. Berthé! found that, in — 
ao to one fat im ns ordinary diet, he could absorb elle grammes, or 


1 Ludwiy’s Phys., Band ii. p. 668. 


DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD. 249 


1:06 ounces of cod-liver oil, butter, or other animal oil; in some instances 
1? ounces were absorbed. Of vegetable oils only 20 grammes, or 0°7 ounce, 
were absorbed. When, in experiments with cod-liver oil, 40 grammes were 
taken, 31:5 were absorbed, 8°5 passed by the bowels; when 60 grammes 
were taken, 48 were absorbed and 12 passed. But when he took 60 
grammes daily, the amount of fat in the faeces gradually increased, until 50 
grammes daily passed off in that way. In the dog, however, Bischoff and 
Voit found that 250 and 300 grammes (8°8 and 10°6 ounces) of butter were 
easily absorbed. During the digestion of the fats they are, probably, in 
part decomposed; and the fatty acids, like the acids derived from the starch, 
must, to a certain extent, antagonise the introduction of alkali in the food. 

The various carbo-hydrates are generally supposed to be of equal value. 
Starch requires a little more preparation by the digestive fluids than grape 
sugar, into which it appears first to pass; but the change is so rapid that it 
can hardly be made a point of difference between them. It is observable, 
however, that even when sugar is cheap and accessible, it is not used to 
replace starch entirely; but this, perhaps, may be a matter of taste. 


Sus-Ssection I[V.—TuHE DiGEstTIsinity oF Foon. 


In order that food shall be digested and absorbed, two conditions are 
necessary: the food must be in a fit state to be digested, and it must meet 
in the alimentary canal with the chemical and physical conditions which 
can digest and absorb it. 

Fitness for digestibility depends partly on the original nature of the sub- 
stance, as to hardness and cohesion, or chemical nature, and partly on the 
manner in which it can be altered by cooking. Tables of degree of digesti- 
bility have been formed by several writers, and especially by Dr Beaumont, 
by direct experiment on Alexis St Martin; but it must be remembered that 
these are merely approximative, as it is so difficult to keep the conditions of 
cooking equal. 

Rice, tripe, whipped eggs, sago, tapioca, barley, boiled milk, raw eggs, lamb, 
parsnips, roasted and baked potatoes, and fricasseed chicken are the most 
easily digested substances in the order here given,—the rice disappearing 
from the stomach in one hour, and the fricasseed chicken in 2? hours. Beef, 
pork, mutton, oysters, butter, bread, veal, boiled and roasted fowls, are rather 
less digestible, —roast beef disappearing from the stomach in three hours, and 
roast fowl in four hours. Salt beef and pork disappeared in 44 hours.? 

As a rule, Beaumont found animal food digested sooner than farinaceous, 
and in proportion to its minuteness of division and tenderness of fibre. 

The admixture of the different classes of foods aids digestibility ; thus fat 
taken with meat aids the digestion of the meat ; some of the accessory foods 
probably increase the outpour of saliva, gastric or enteric juice, &c. 

_ The degree of fineness and division of food ; the amount of solidity and of 
trituration which should be left to the teeth, in order that the fluids of the 
mouth and salivary glands may flow out in due proportion ; the bulk of the 
food which should be taken at once, are points seemingly slight, but of real 
‘importance. There is another matter which appears to affect digestibility, 
‘viz., variety of food. 


1 The preparation of food by cooking is so important a matter, that the art of cookery 
ought not to be considered as merely the domain of the gourmand. Health is greatly 
influenced by it, and it is really a subject to be practically studied by chemists and 
physiologists. 

“| a extended table is given in Cox’s excellent edition of Combe’s Physiology of Digestion, 
p. 12: 


250 FOOD. 


According to the best writers on diet, it is not enough to give the proxi- 
mate dietetic substances in proper amount. Variety must be introduced into 
the food, and different substances of the same class must be alternately 
employed. It may appear singular that this should be necessary ; and 
certainly many men, and most animals, have perfect health on a very uni-| 
form diet. Yet there appears no doubt of the good effects of variety, and its 
action is probably on primary digestion. Sameness cloys ; and with variety! 
more food is taken, and a larger amount of nutriment is introduced. It is; 
impossible, with rations, to introduce any great variety of food; but the! 
same object appears to be secured by having a variety of cooking.! In the 
case of children, especially, a great improvement in health takes place when | 
variety of cooking is introduced; and by this plan (among others), Dr 
Balfour succeeded marvellously in improving the health of the boys in the” 
Duke of York’s school. 

The internal conditions of abundance and proper composition of the 
alimentary fluids, and the action of the muscular fibres in moving the food, 
so that it shall be submitted to them, depend on the perfection of the nervous 
currents, the vigour of circulation, and the composition of the blood. Many 
of the digestive diseases the physician has to treat depend on alterations in” 
these conditions, so that the food is only imperfectly digested. Experiments, 
by Plész, Maly, and Gyergyai, seem to show the value of converting the 
albuminoids into peptones by artificial digestion, so as to aid the diges- 
tion of the sick. Many excellent preparations are now in the market 
(see page 310). 

In framing diets, it is well to remember that almost every article has 
some portion which is more or less indigestible, but which is generally 
included in the calculation of its proximate or ultimate constituents. The 
proportion thus unutilised varies, but it ranges on an average from 5 to 10 
per cent. Elaborate tables are given by Fliigge* and Meinert.+ 


SECTION II. 
DISEASES CONNECTED WITH FOOD. 


So great is the influence of food on health, that some writers have reduced 
hygiene almost to a branch of dietetics. Happiness, as well as health, is 
considered to be insured or imperilled by a good or improper diet, and high 
moral considerations are supposed to be involved in the due performance of 
digestion. If there is some exaggeration in this, there is much truth ; and 
doubtless, of all the agencies which affect nutrition, this is the most im’ 
portant. 

The diseases connected with food form, probably, the most numerous 
order which proceeds from a single class of causes; and so important arc 
they, that a review of them is equivalent to a discussion on diseases 0) 
nutrition generally. 

It is of course impossible to do more here than outline so large a topic. 

Diseases may be produced by alterations (excess or deficiency) in quan) 
tity ; by imperfect conditions of digestibility, and by special characters 0 
quality. ( 


1 On this subject see Meinert’s Massen-Ernihrung, Berlin, 1885. 

2 “Ueber Peptone,” Archiv fiir die Ges. Phys., Band ix. p. 323. ! 

3% Untersuchungen, &e., p. 424. 

4 Armee-und Volks-Erndhrung, Berlin, 1880, vol. i. pp. 129-181, in which he quotes fron 
Rubner (Zeitschr. f. Biologie, xv. u. xvi.) and Voit. 


DISEASES CONNECTED WITH FOOD. 25it 


Sus-Section J.— ALTERATIONS IN QUANTITY. 


1. Excess of Food.—In some cases, food is taken in such excess that it is 
not absorbed ; it then undergoes chemical changes in the alimentary canal, 
and at last putrefies ; quantities of gas (carbon dioxide, carburetted hydrogen, 
and hydrogen sulphide) are formed. As much as 30 tb of a half-putrid mass 
have been got rid of by purgatives.!_ Dyspepsia, constipation, and irritation, 
causing diarrhcea which does not always empty the bowels, are produced, 
sometimes some of the putrid substances are absorbed, as there are signs of 
evident poisoning of the blood, a febrile condition, torpor and heaviness, feetor 
of the breath, and sometimes possibly even jaundice. It was, no doubt, cases 
of this kind which led to the routine practice of giving purgatives ; and as 
this condition, in a moderate degree, is not uncommon, the use of purgatives 
will probably never be discontinued. 

The excess of food may be absorbed. The amount of absorption of the 
different alimentary principles is not precisely known. Dogs can digest an 
immense quantity of meat, and especially if they are fed often, and not 
simply largely once or twice a day. In men, also, much meat and albumin- 
ous matter can be digested,? though it is by no means uncommon, in large 

-meat-eaters, to find much muscular fibre in the feeces. Still, enough can be 
taken, not merely to give a large excess of nitrogen, but even to supply 
carbon in sufficient quantity for the wants of the system. 

There is certainly a limit to the digestion of starch (though sugar, how- 

ever, is absorbed in large amount), as after a very large meal much starch 

passes unaltered. This is also the case with fat. But in all cases habit 
probably much affects the degree of digestive power; and the continued 
use of certain articles of diet leads to an increased formation of the fluids 
which digest them. 

When excess of albuminoids continually passes into the system, congestions 
and enlargements of the liver, and probably other organs, and a general state 
of plethora, are produced. If exercise is not taken at the same time, there is 
a disproportion between the absorbed oxygen and the absorbed albuminoids, 
which must lead to imperfect oxidation, and therefore to retention in the 
body of some substances, or to irritation of the eliminating organs by the 
passage through them of products less highly elaborated than those they are 

adapted to remove. 

Although not completely proved, it is highly probable that gouty affec- 
tions arise partly in this way, partly probably from the use of liquids which 
delay metamorphosis, and therefore lead to the same result as increased 
ingestion, and in some degree also from the use of indigestible articles of food. 

Very often large meat-eaters are not gouty, and do not appear in any way 

oyer-fed. In this case either a great amount of exercise is taken, or, as is 
often the case in these persons, the meat is not absorbed, owing frequently 
to imperfect mastication. 

A great excess of albuminoids, without other food, produces, in a short 
time (five days—Hammond), marked febrile symptoms, malaise, and diar- 

-rheea; and, if persevered in, albumen appears in the urine. Ranke has 
attributed the depression especially to the effect of the salts of the meat. 


1 A good case of this kind is recorded by Routh (Fecal Fermentation, p. 19). Some con- 
' viets in Australia received from 7} to 74 tb of food daily. _Obstinate constipation, dyspepsia, 
diarrhoea, skin diseases, and ophthalmia were produced. Purgatives brought away large 
‘quantities of half-putrid masses. 


| 
| : 5 
_ 2 Jones’s and especially Hammond’s experiments, Haperimental Researches, 1857, p. 20. 
| 


252 FOOD. | 
Excess of starches and of fats delays the metamorphosis of the nitrogenous | | 
tissues, and produces excess of fat. Sometimes acidity and flatulence are | 
caused by the use of much starch. It is not understood if profounder diseases | 
follow the excessive use of starches, unless decided corpulence is produced, | 
when the muscular fibres of the heart and of many voluntary muscles lessen | 
in size, and the consequences of enfeebled heart’s action occur. When an’ 
excessive quantity of starch is used to replace albuminoids, in physiological | 
experiments, the condition becomes of course a complex one. 

Tf an excess of starch be taken under any circumstances, much passes into 
the faeces, and the urine often becomes saccharine. [ 

There may be also excess of food in a given time,—that is, meals too fre- 
quently repeated, though the absolute quantity in twenty four hours may not 
be too great. 

2. Deficiency of Food.—The long catalogue of effects produced by fami 
is but too well known, and it is unnecessary to repeat it here. But the 
effects produced by deficiency i in any one of the four ereat classes of aliments, | 
the other classes being in normal amount, have “not yet been perfectly. 
studied. 

The complete deprivation of albuminoids, without lessening of the other 
classes, produces marked effects only after some days. Ina strong man kept 
only on fat and starch, Dr Parkes found full vigour preserved for five days ; 
in a man in whom the amount of nitrogen was reduced one half, full vigour 
was retained for seven days. If the abstention be prolonged, how ever, there 
is eventually great loss of muscular strength, often mental debility, some 
feverish and dyspeptic symptoms. Then follow anemia and great prostra- 
tion. The elimination of nitrogen in the form of urea greatly lessens, though 
it never ceases, while the uric acid diminishes in a less degree. If starch be 
largely supplied, the weight of the body does not lessen ‘for seven or een 
days (Hammond). 

If the deprivation of albuminoids be less complete (70 to 100 grains of, 
nitrogen being given daily), the body gradually lessens in activity, and passes 
into more or less of an adynamic condition, which predisposes to the attacks 
of all the specific diseases (especially of malarious affections and typhus) 
and of pneumonia, and modifies the course of some of these diseases, as, for 
instance, of enteric fever, which runs its course, with less elevation of tem- 
perature than usual, and with less or with no excess of ureal excretion. 

The deprivation bf starches can be borne for a long time if fat be given, 
but if both fat and starch be excluded, though albuminoids be supplied, ill: 
ness is produced in a few days. Nor is it difficult to explain this: as albu: 
minoids contain 53°3 per cent. of total carbon (of which about 49 per cent. 
is available for nutrition) and 16 per cent. of nitrogen, to supply 4800 grains 
of carbon, no less than 1585 grains of nitrogen must be introduced, a 
quantity five times as great as the system can easily assimilate, unless 
enormous exertion be taken, and then the quantity of carbon becomes in. 
sufficient. 1 

Men can be fed on meat for a long time, as a good deal of fat is ther 
introduced, and if the meat be fresh (and raw !), scurvy is not readily in 
duced. 

The deprivation of fat does not appear to be well borne, even if starciel 
be given ; but the exact effects are not known. The great remedial effecti 
produced by giving fat in many of the diseases of obscure malnutritior 
prove that the partial deprivation of fat is both more common and mort 
serious than is supposed. In all the diets ordered for soldiers, prisoners, &e. 
the fat is greatly deficient in every country. The deprivation of the sali 


t 
f 


' 
i 


DIGESTIBILITY AND QUALITY OF FOOD. PAS) 


is also evidently attended with marked results, which are worthy of more 
attention than they have yet received. 

Bad effects are also produced if the intervals between meals are too long ; 
this is a matter in which there is great individual difference, and need not 
be further referred to. 


Sus-Section IJ.—ConpiTIons oF DIGESTIBILITY AND ASSIMILATION. 


A ereat number of diseases are produced, not by alterations in quantity or 
by imperfections in the quality of the raw food, but by conditions of indi- 
gestibility, either dependent on physical or chemical conditions of the food 
itself or of the digestive fluids. To some persons certain foods are indiges- 
tible at all times, or at particular times. Indigestibility leads to retention, 
and then to the results of retention, viz., chemical changes and putrefac- 
tion going on in the stomach and bowels under the influence of warmth, 
moisture, and air. Then irritation is produced, and dyspepsia, diarrhea, 
or dysentery is caused. 

Indigestibility extends, however, farther than this. There is some reason 
for thinking that the albuminoids sometimes pass into the circulation less 
properly prepared than usual to undergo the action of the liver, and that 
they therefore produce irritation of that organ, and, passing into the blood 
in some unassimilable state, produce irritation of the skin or kidneys. Some- 
times, indeed, albumen appears in the urine, as if it had circulated like a 
foreign body in the blood. Such conditions are usually allied to some 
eyident error in primary digestion, but occasionally are not obviously accom- 
panied by any gastric disorder. Whether there is any similar imperfection 


‘in the digestion of starch or fat is not at present known, 


| 
| Sup-Secrion Il].—Conpirions oF QUALITY. 


| Altered quality of what is otherwise good food produces a great number 
of diseases. Most of these are referred to under the headings of the different 
a of food, and the subject is merely introduced here to complete the 


general sketch of the production of disease from food. 


1 
! 


Tn inquiring, then, into the effect of food, the following appears to be the 
best order of procedure :— 
1. Is the food excessive or deficient in quantity as a whole or in any of 

' the primary classes of aliments ? 

2. Are the different articles digestible and assimilable, or, from some 
cause inherent in the food or proper to the individual, is there 
difficulty in primary digestion or: want of proper assimilation ? 

3. Is the quality of the food altered either before or after cooking ? 


I 
{ 
i 
f 


CHAPTER IX. 


QUALITY, CHOICE, AND COOKING OF FOOD, AND DISEASES 
ATTRIBUTABLE TO IMPROPER QUALITY. 


SECTION I. 
MEAT. 


THE advantages of meat as a diet are—its large amount of nitrogenous 
substances, the union of this with much fat, the presence of important, 
salts (viz. chloride, phosphate, and carbonate of potassium, or a salt: 
forming carbonate on incineration), and iron. It is also easily cooked, and) 
is very digestible ; it is probably more easily assimilated than any vegetable, 
and there is a much more rapid metamorphosis of tissue in carnivorous 
animals than in vegetable feeders. Whether the use of large quantities of 
meat increases the bodily strength or the mental faculties more than other 
kinds of nitrogenous food is uncertain, The great disadvantage of meat is 
the want of starch. | 

The composition of fresh and salt meat has been already given; but the 
figures in such tables give a very imperfect idea of the value of a ration. 
For the most part they refer to the meat proper, without taking into 
consideration the amount of gristle, &c., which makes up part of the’ 
ration. Thus in rations analysed at Netley the following results were) 
obtained :— 


Rump of Beef. Shank of Mutton. 

Whole Ration, Whole,Ration,| | 

Flesh alone. | exclusive of Flesh alone. | exclusive of 

Bone. Bone. 
Water, ; : ; 74:0 60°5 71°9 52°7 
Albuminoids, 22:0 PAN) 18°8 130 
Hat 2°2 Bei 8°4 25°3 
Ash, . 16 1°3 1:0 09 
Mol, : 99°8 92°4 100°1 919 


Tn each case it will be observed that the analysis of the flesh alone aded 
not deviate very widely from the tabulated statements, whereas the whole 
ration does so materially. In particular, there is about 8 per cent. of total 
weight unaccounted for, due to tough gristle and fibrous tissue not! 
amenable to the ordinary method of analysis. The detailed constituents. 
a the albuminoids are also important, as the following results will 
show :— 


=a 


ANALYSES OF ARMY RATIONS. 255 

Rump of Beef. Shank of Mutton. 

Whole Ration, Whole Ration, 

Flesh alone. | exclusive of Flesh alone. | exclusive of 
Bone. Bone. 
Digestible albuminoids, 13°5 14:2 76 4:0 
Peptones, . $ 2°5 2-2 2°0 eG; 
Meat extracts, WW 0-9 155) 2°9 
Total useful, . P 172 WS iol 8-4 
Indigestible albuminoids, 4°8 4-2 3°7 46 
Total albuminoids per cent. 22-0 91°5 18°8 13-0 

as above, . j 


From this we see that there is great diversity in the value of different 
vations; the numbers given here may be taken to represent the extremes, so 
that the mean value may be assumed at about 17 per cent. total albumi- 
ioids, and about 13 per cent. of useful (7.e. assimilable) albuminoids. 

Bone constitutes one-fifth of the soldier’s ration on the average; in the 
‘wo rations above examined bone formed 17 per cent. in both cases. Bones 
sontain a large amount of nutrient matter, a considerable part of which is 
extracted by boiling, and more could be obtained if the bones were crushed 
w ground. The following was the composition of the bones in the beef 
vation :-— 


Moisture, 12:1 Constituents of albuminoids— 
Albuminoids, 24°5 Digestible albuminoids, 10°3 
| Fat, 11:0 Peptones, 19 
Ash, 48°6 Extractives, 1:0 

Loss, 3°8 

— Total useful, 13°2 
Total, 5 low Indigestible albuminoids, 113 
| owl, 24°5 


Bones make the most palatable soup, and, as above shown, may be made 
0 yield an important addition to the useful albuminoids. 

Another measure of the value of meat is the amount of extract which 
an be obtained from it by means of hot and cold water. Pure flesh 
should yield about 6 per cent., of which about 5 per cent. should be 
wrganic; but the average of a ration would, of course, be less. Thus in the 
yeef ration already mentioned the total extract of the flesh was 6:1 and 
he organic 4-95; whilst the whole ration (bone excluded) gave a total 
f 3°6, of which 2°8 was organic. 

The salts or ash of meat consist of chlorides and phosphates chiefly, 
nore than a third of the ash consisting of phosphoric acid. Stélzel! found 
+9 per cent. of carbonic acid in the ash, which probably indicates lactic 
‘cid, and it is suggested that this may perhaps give fresh raw meat some 
nti-scorbutic properties which may be altered by cooking. The ash is 
Ikaline. 

_ Beef, mutton, and pork form the chief meats eaten by the soldier. 

_ In time of peace he only receives as fresh, meat beef and mutton, and 
nore seldom pork; in time of war he has salt beef and salt pork. 

_ The corned beef (from Chicago, Australia, and New Zealand) is very 
‘ood meat, palatable, and more nutritious than the more strongly salted 


1 Liebig’s Annalen, Band lxxvii. p. 256, 


256 FOOD. 


beef. Only 10 per cent. of its total albuminoids (which ranged from 18 td 
31 per cent.) was found to be indigestible in experiments at N etley. The 
amount of extract is a little less than i in fresh meat, as some is necessarily 
lost in the salting and compressing, but it was found to be 6 per cent., of 
which 4 was animal, The nutritious value of the fully salted rations sis 
more uncertain. 

The meat is supplied by contractors, or is, at some stations, furnished by 
the Commissariat, who have their own slaughter-houses. | 

The medical officer may be called on to see the animals during life, or tc 
examine the meat. | 


SuB-SECTION ].—INSPECTION OF ANIMALS. 


this Sonny killing is ‘gab. tw oe ae or for ty- ae eae pete the meat 
is issued ; in the tropics only ten or twelve hours ‘previously. | 

Animals should be well grown, well nourished, and neither too young no 
too old. The flesh of young animals is less rich in salts, fat, and syntonin’ 
and also loses much weight (40 to 70 per cent.) in cooking. | 

Weight.—An ox should weigh not less than 600 hi, and will range from 
this to 1200 tb. The French rules fix the minimum at 250 kilogramme: 
(=550 tb ay.). The mean weight in France is 350 kilogrammes (=770 i 
ay.). A cow may weigh a few ‘pounds less ; a good fat cow will weigh fron 
700 to 740 ib. A heifer should weigh 350 to 400 tb. The French rules fir 
the minimum of the cow’s weight at 160 kilogrammes (= 352 fb). Th¢ 
mean weight of cows in France is 230 kilogrammes (= 506 fb). | 

There are several methods of determining the weight ; the one most com, 
monly used in this country is to measure the length of the trunk from j jus’ 
in front of the scapule to the root of the tail, “and the girth or cireum, 
ference just behind the scapule ; then multiply the square of girth by 0°08 
and the product by the length, the dimensions in cubic feet are obtained | 
each cubic foot is supposed to weigh 42 tb avoirdupois. The formula iy 
(C2 x 08) x Lx 42; or 2(C?x5L); the result in either case gives th¢ 
weight in Ib avoirdupois. An ox or cow gives about 60 per cent. of meat 
exclusive of the head, feet, liver, lungs, and spleen, &c.2 The skin is ;4 0) 
the weight; the tallow 54. In very fat cattle the weight may be 5 pe: 
cent. more, and in very lean cattle 5 per cent. less than the actual vel 
found by this rule. 

A full-grown sheep will weigh from 60 to 90 tb, but the difference in dif i 
ferent breeds is very great. It also yields about 60 per cent. of ay ala 
food. | 
A full-grown pig weighs from 100 to 180 ib or more, and yields about H 
to 80 per cent. of av ailable food. 

Age.—The age of the ox and cow should be from three to eight years; 
the age is told chiefly by the teeth, and less perfectly by the horns. Th 
temporary teeth are in part through at birth, and all the incisors ar 
through in twenty days ; the first, second, and third pairs of temporar) 
oles are through in thirty days; the teeth are grown large enough t 


— ——_—_ ne 
I 


1 may contract should have a clause giving officers the power of inspection. : 

2 The animal is divided into carcass and offal ; the former includes the whole of the skele, 

ton (except the head and feet), with the muscles, membranes, vessels, and fat, and th 
kidneys and fat surrounding them. ‘The offal includes the head, feet, skin, and "all inter 
nal organs, except the kidney 8. 
3 Dr Pavy gives four years for the highest perfection of ox beef, on the authority 0 
an “intelligent and experienced grazier. 


Y 
Ht 


INSPECTION OF ANIMALS FOR FOOD. BTL 


ouch each other by the sixth month; they gradually wear and fall in 
sighteen months ; the fourth permanent molars are through at the fourth 
month ; the fifth at the fifteenth ; the sixth at two years. The temporary 
eeth begin to fall at twenty-one months, and are entirely replaced by the 
hirty-ninth to the forty-fifth month; the order being—central pair of 
neisors gone at twenty-one months; second pair of incisors at twenty- 
seyen months ; first and second temporary molars at thirty months; third 
emporary molars at thirty months to three years; third and fourth tem- 
jorary incisors at thirty-three months to three years. The development is 
juite complete at from five to six years. At that time the border of the 
neisors has been worn away a little below the level of the grinders. At 
ix years the first grinders are beginning to wear, and are on a level with 
he incisors. At eight years the wear of the first grinders is very apparent. 
\t ten or eleven years the used surfaces of the teeth begin to bear a square 
nark surrounded with a white line; and this is pronounced on all the teeth 
vy the twelfth year ; between the twelfth and fourteenth year this mark 
akes a round form. 
The rings on the horns are less useful as guides. At ten or twelve 
nonths the first ring appears ; at twenty months to two years, the second ; 
t thirty to thirty-six months, the third ring ; at forty to forty-six months, 
he fourth ring ; at fifty-four to sixty months, the fifth ring, and so on. But 
t the fifth year the first three rings are indistinguishable, and at the 
ighth year all the rings. Besides, the dealers file the horns. 
_ In the sheep, the temporary teeth begin to appear in the first week, and 
Il the mouth at three months ; they are gradually worn and fall about 
fteen or eighteen months. The fourth permanent grinders appear at three 
i1onths, and the fifth pair at twenty to twenty-seven months. A common 
ale is “two broad teeth every year.” The wear of the teeth begins to be 
aarked at about six years. 
_ The age of the pig is known up to three years by the teeth; after that 
aere is no certainty. The temporary teeth are complete in three or four 
ionths ; about the sixth month the premolars, between the tusks and the 
rst pair of molars, appear ; in six or ten months the tusks and posterior 
cisors are replaced; in twelve months to twc years the other incisors ; 
ae four permanent molars appear at six months; the fifth pair at ten 
onths ; and the sixth and last molars at eighteen months. 
| Condition and Health.—There ought to be a proper amount of fat, which 
\ best felt on the false ribs and the tuberosities of the ischia, and the 
‘ne of the belly from the sternum to the pelvis; the flesh should be 
erably firm and elastic ; the skin should be supple. 

As showing health, we should look to the general ease of movements, the 
‘aick bright eye; the nasal mucous membrane red, moist, and healthy- 
oking ; the tongue not hanging; the respiration regular, easy; the ex- 
red air without odour; the circulation tranquil; the excreta natural in 
pearance. 

' When sick, the coat is rough or standing; the nostrils dry or covered 

ith foam ; the eyes heavy; the tongue protruded; the respiration diffi- 

it; movements slow and difficult ; there may be diarrhcea; or scanty or 

Joody urine, &c. In the cow the teats are hot. 

) The diseases of cattle which the medical officer should watch for are— 

1. Epidemic Pleuropneumonia (or lung disease).—Not easily recog- 

nised at first, but with marked lung symptoms after a few days. 

| 2. Foot and Mouth Disease (murrain, aphtha, or eczema epizootica).— 
At once recognised by the examination of the mouth, feet, and teats. 

R 


258 FOOD. 


3. Cattle Plague (typhus contagiosus, Steppe disease, Rinderpest).— 
Recognised by the early prostration (hanging of head, drooping of 
ears), shivering, running from eyes, nose, and mouth, peculiar con- | 
dition of tongue and lips, cessation of rumination, and then by 
abdominal pain, scouring, &e. i 

4. Anthrax (malignant pustule, carbuncular fever).—If boils and car- 
buncles form, they are at once recognised ; if there is erysipelas, _ 
it is called black quarter, quarter ill, or blackleg (erysipelas car-| 
bunculosum), and is easily seen. The peculiar organism, Bacillus” 
anthracis, may be detected. 

5. Simple inflammatory affections of the lungs, bronchitis, and simp 
pneumonia. All have obvious symptoms. 

6. Dropsical affections from kidney or heart disease. 

7. Indigestion, often combined with apoplectic symptoms. 

A great number of other diseases attack cattle, which it is not necessary. 
to enumerate. All the above are tolerably easily recognised. The pre 
sence of Tenia mediocanellata cannot, it would seem, be detected before’ 
death. 

The diseases of sheep are similar to those of cattle; they suffer also m 
certain cases from splenic apoplexy or “‘braxy,” which is considered by 
Professor Gamgee to be a kind of anthrax, and is said to kill 50 per cent. of 
all young sheep that die in Scotland ; the animals have a “peculiar look, 
staggering gait, bloodshot eyes, rapid breathing, full and frequent pulse, 
scanty secretions, and great heat of the body.”?! 

The smallpox in sheep (Variola ovina, clavelée of the French) is easily 
known by the flea-bitten appearance of the skin in the early stage, and by 
the rapid appearance of nodules or papulz and vesicles. 

The sheep is also subject to black quarter (Lrysipelas carbunculosum); 
one limb is affected, and the limp of the animal, the fever, and the rapid 
swelling of the limb are sufficient diagnostic marks. 

The sheep, of course, may suffer from acute lung affection, scouring, red 
water (hematuria), and many other diseases. Of the chronic lung affec 
tions, one of the most important is the so-called “ phthisis,” which is pro- 
duced by the ova of Strongylus filaria. This entozoon has not yet been 
found in the muscles, and the meat is said to be good. The rot in sheep 
(fluke disease) is caused by the presence of Distoma hepaticum in large 
numbers in the liver, and sometimes by other parasites. The principal 
symptoms are dulness, sluggishness, followed by rapid wasting and pallor 
of the mucous membrane, diarrheea, yellowness of the eyes, falling of the 
hair, and dropsical sw ellings. The animal is supposed to take in Cercaria 
(the embryotic stage of distoma) from the herbage. The so-called “ gid,’ 
“sturdy,” or “turnsick,” is caused by the development of Cenurus cere- 
bralis in the brain. | 
The pig is also attacked by anthrax in different forms, by enteric fever, 
and by hog cholera.” The swelling in the first case, and the scouring, fever, 
and prostration in the second, are sufficient diagnostic marks. In 1864a 


1 Fifth Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, p. 222. 

2 The late Dr Cobbold (Monthly Microscopical Journal, Nov. 1871) pointed out that the pig. 
is affected, both in America and Australia, with a large parasite (Stephanurus dentatus). This’ 
worm is found chiefly though not solely in the fat, and is at first free and then encysted: 
the cyst is large, and may “be 1% inch in length and 4 4 inch in diameter. The full grown 
worm may be as much as 13 4 inch in length. Three to six eggs are found in the cyst, and the 
young worms migrate. During their migration, it has been surmised that they cause the 
** hog cholera.” 


INSPECTION OF DEAD MEAT. 259 


severe fever of this kind, with or without scouring, prevailed among the 
pigs in London. 

_ The so-called measle of the pig is caused by the presence in the muscle 
of Cysticercus cellulose. It is detected in the following way :—The “ measle 
trier” throws the pig on its back, draws out and wipes the tongue, and 
looks and feels for the sublingual vesicles containing the Cysticerci. Some- 
times a bit is cut out of the muscle under the tongue, and the Cysticerct 
are microscopically examined. A small harpoon can be used for this 
purpose, and gives little pain. Sometimes the Cysticercus can be seen on 
the conjunctiva, or on the folds of the anus. When the disease is far 
advanced the animal is dull, the eyes heavy, appetite bad. These symptoms 
are, however, not peculiar; there is said to be sometimes tenderness in 
the groin (Gréve), but, according to Delpech, this is very uncertain; a 
better sign is a certain amount of swelling of the shoulder, which causes a 
sort of constriction of the neck, and somewhat impedes the movements of 
the animals (Delpech). The presence of Trichina spiralis is indetectable 
before death, unless found in the muscles under the tongue. 


SuB-Section [].—Inspection oF DEap Maart.! 


1. Fresh Meat. 


Meat should be inspected, in temperate climates, twenty-four hours after 
being killed ; in the tropics, earlier. 

The following points must be attended to :— 

(a) Quantity of Bone.—In lean animals the bone is relatively in too 
great proportion ; taking the whole meat, 20 per cent. should be allowed. 

(b) Quantity and Character of the Fat.—It should be sufficient, yet not 
excessive, else the relative proportion of albuminous food is too low; it 
should be firm, healthy-looking, not like jelly, or too yellow; without 
hemorrhage at any point. The kind of feeding has an effect on the colour 
of the fat ; some oil-cakes give a marked yellow colour. 

The late Professor Gamgee stated that pigs fed on flesh have a peculiarly 
soft diffuent fat, and emit a strong odour from their bodies. According to 
the same authority, the butchers rub melted fat over the carcass of thin 
and diseased animals to give the glossy look of health. 

(c) Condition of the Flesh.The muscles should be firm, and yet elastic ; 
not tough; the pale moist muscle marks the young animal, the dark- 
coloured the old one ; the muscular fasciculi are larger and coarser in bulls 
than oxen. A deep purple tint is said to indicate that the animal has not 
been slaughtered, but has died with the blood in it (Letheby). When good 
meat is placed on a white plate, a little reddish juice frequently flows out 
after some hours. Good meat has a marbled appearance from the ramifica- 


_‘ In the city of London, about 1 ton in 750 tons is condemned, but much escapes detec- 

tion. Letheby (Lectures on Food, 2nd edition, p. 209) stated that 700 tons of meat were 
destroyed in seven years; of this, 850,653 fb were diseased, 568,375 tb were putrid, and 
193,782 tb were from animals which had died of accident or disease. “Inthe city of London 
the practice is to condemn the flesh of animals infected with certain parasites, such as 
measles and flukes, &c.,and of animals suffering from fever or acute inflammatory affections, 
or rinderpest, pleuro-pneumonia, and the fever of parturition, and of animals emaciated by 
lingering disease, and those which have died from accident or from natural causes, as well 
as all meat tainted with physic, or in a high state of putrefaction” (Zbid., p. 210). It may 
be a question if meat should be condemned in some of these cases, as, for instance, pleuro- 
pneumonia. In India, meat with Cysticerci is now ordered to be received, but to be care- 
fully cooked ; but it would be very difficult to ensure that proper cooking shall be always 
had recourse to. 


260 FOOD. 


tions of little veins of fat among the muscles (Letheby). There should be 
no lividity on cutting across some of the muscles; the interior of the 
muscle should be of the same character, or a little paler ; there should be 
no softening, mucilaginous-like fluid, or pus, in the intermuscular cellular 
tissue. This is an important point, which should be closely looked to. 
The intermuscular tissue becomes soft, and tears easily when stretched in 
cemmencing putrefaction. 

The degree of freshness of meat in commencing putrefaction is judged of 
by the colour, which becomes paler; by the odour, which becomes at an 
early stage different from the not unpleasant odour of fresh meat, and by 
the consistence. Afterwards the signs are marked, the odour is disagree- 
able, and the colour begins to turn greenish. In diseased meat there is a 
disagreeable odour, sometimes a smell of physic; very discoverable when 
the meat is chopped up and drenched with warm water. It is a good plan 
to push a clean knife into the flesh up to its hilt. In good meat the 
resistance is uniform; in putrefying meat some parts are softer than 
others. The smell of the knife is also a good test. Cysticerct and Trichine 
should be looked for. 

(d) Condition of the Marrow.—In temperate climates the marrow of the 
hind legs is solid twenty-four hours after killing ; it is of a light rosy red. 
If it is soft, brownish, or with black points, the animal has been sick, or 
putrefaction is commencing. The marrow of the fore legs is more diffluent ; 
something like honey—of a light rosy red. 

(e) Condition of Lungs and Liver.—Both should be looked at to detect 
Strongylus filaria in the lungs, Distoma in the liver ; also for the presence 
of multiple abscesses. 

(7) To detect cattle plague, the mouth, stomach, or intestines must be 
seen; no alterations have as yet been pointed out in the naked-eye appearance 
of the muscles, though under the microscope they are found to be degenerat- 
ing like the muscles in human enteric fever (Buchanan). 

But meat cannot be fully judged of till it has been cooked, so as to 
see how much it loses in roasting or boiling; whether the fibres cook 
hard, &e. 

In countries where there are goats, the attached foot of the sheep should 
be sent in for identification. 

Decomposing sausages are difficult of detection until the smell alters. 
Artmann recommends 1 mixing the sausage with a good deal of water, boiling 
and adding freshly-prepared ‘lime water. Good sausages give only a faint 
not unpleasant, ammoniacal smell; bad sausages give a very offensive, 
peculiar ammoniacal odour. 


Microscopie Examination of Meat. 


In the flesh of cattle, or of the pig, Cysticerci may be found. They are 
generally visible to the naked eye as small round bodies ; when placed under 
a microscope with low power, their real nature is seen ; they are sometimes 
so numerous as to cause the flesh to crackle on section. The smallest 
Cysticercus noticed by Leuckart in the pig was about ;4,ths of an inch long 
a 7eoths broad; but they are generally much larger, and will reach to =2,ths 

(ths or {ths of an inch. In some countries they are extremely common 
in 7 aoe, and have been a source of considerable trouble in North-West 
India. Cysticercus of the ox produces in man Zcenia mediocanellata. In 
sheep Cobbold described a small Cysticercus with a double crown of hooks, 
26 in number. He thought that possibly a special Zenza might arise from 


MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION OF MEAT. 261 


this.1 In diagnosing Cysticerce of pork the hooklets should always be 
seen. 

Trichine may be present in the flesh of the pig; if encapsuled they will 
be seen with the naked eye as small round specks; but very often a 
microscope is necessary. A power of 50 to 100 diameters is sufficient. 
The best plan is to take a thin slice of flesh; put it into liquor potassz (1 
part to 8 of water), and let it stand for a few minutes till the muscle becomes 
clear ; it must not be left too long, otherwise the Trichine will be destroyed. 
The white specks come out clearly, and the worm will be seen coiled up. If 
the capsule is too dense to allow the worm to be seen, a drop or two of weak 
hydrochloric acid should be added. If the meat is very fat, a little ether or 
benzine may be put on it in the first place. The parts most likely to be 
infected are said to be the muscular part of the diaphragm, the intercostal 
muscles, and the muscles of the eye and jaw.?_ In diagnosing 7richine, the 
coiled worm should be distinctly seen. Stephanurus dentatus in the pig 
has been already referred to. 

The so-called Psorospermia, or Rainey’s capsules, must not be mistaken 
for Trichine, nor indeed with care is error possible. These are little, almost 
transparent, bodies, found in the flesh of oxen, sheep, and pigs. They are in 
shape oval, spindle-shaped, or sometimes one end is pointed and the other 
rounded, or they are kidney-shaped. The investing membrane exhibits 
delicate markings, caused by a linear arrangement of minute, hair-like fibres, 
which Mr Rainey ® stated increase in size as the animal gets older. They 
sometimes are pointed, and the appearance under a high power (1000 
diameters) is as if the investment consisted of very delicate, transparent, 
conical hairs, terminating in a pointed process. The contents of the cysts 
consist of granular matter,the granules or particles of which, when mature, 
are oval, and adhere together, so as to form indistinct divisions of the 
entire mass. The length varies from ;}5th to }th of an inch. They are 
usually narrow ; they lie within the sarcolemma, and appear often not to 
irritate the muscle. 

Up to the present time no injurious effect has been known to be produced 
on men by these bodies, notwithstanding their enormous quantities in the 
flesh of domestic animals, nor have they been discovered in the muscles of 
men. But in pigs these bodies sometimes produce decided illness ; besides 
general signs of illness, there are two invariable symptoms, viz., paralysis of 
the hind legs, and a spotty or nodular eruption.® In sheep, they have been 
known to affect the muscle of the gullet, and produce abscesses, or what 
may be called so, viz., swellings sometimes as large as a nut, and containing 
a milky, purulent-looking fluid, with myriads of these capsules in it. Sheep 
affected in this way often die suddenly.® 

It is by no means improbable that some effect on man may be hereafter 
discovered to be produced. 

Some bodies, which have been also termed Psorospermia, found in the 
liver of the rabbit, and other parts, and in the liver of man, and which have 
been described by many observers in different terms,’ may possibly be found 


1 Surgeon-Major Oldham describes Cysticercus tenuicollis (from Tenia marginata of dog) as 
common in the sheep of the Punjab ; it has four suckers and a double coronet of 32 hooks.— 
Indian Medical Gazette, August 1873. 

2 Lion, Comp. des Sanit.-Pol., p. 171. 3 Phil. Trans., 1857. 

Beale, in Third Report of the Cattle Plague Commission, Appendix. 

Virchow’s Archiv, Band xzxviii. p. 355. 

Leisering, in Virchow’s Archiv, Band xxxvii. p. 431. * 
Leuckart, Die Menschl. Paras., Bandi. p. 740; Stieda, Virchow’s Archiv, Band xxxii. 
132; Roloff, Virchow’s Archiv, Band xliii. p. 512. 


Po 


NH 


262 FOOD. 


in other animals, as they have been seen in the dog by Virchow. They are 
quite different from Rainey’s corpuscles ; they are oval or rounded bodies, 
at first with granular contents, and then with aggregations of granules into 
three or four rounded bodies, on which something like a nucleolus is seen. 
They have often been mistaken for pus cells. 

. Some other bodies occur in the flesh of pigs, the nature of which is not 
yet known. Wiederhold! described a case in which little white specks, with 
all the appearance at first of encapsuled 7richine, could not be proved to 
be so, and their real nature was quite obscure. 

Virchow has described little concretions in the flesh of the pig, which 
seemed to be composed of guanin ;? these were also at first taken for 
encapsuled Zrichine. 

Roloff? has noted little hard round nodules in the flesh of the pig ; some 
seem very small, others as large as the head of a pin, with little prolongations 
running to the surrounding muscular fibres to which they are attached. On 
the outside of these bodies are bundles of fine hairs or needles, sometimes 
arranged in quite a feather-like form. The bodies have a great resemblance 
to the guanin bodies of Virchow, but the needles are not crystalline. 
Roloff asked if these bodies were of post-mortem origin. 

It is hardly necessary to state that in cutting across meat small bits of 
tendons or fascia, sometimes very like a little cyst, will be found; but 
common care will prevent a mistake. 


2. Salt Meat. 


It is not at all easy to judge of salt meat, and the test of cooking must 
often be employed. The following points should be attended to :— 

(a) The salting has been well done, but the parts inferior.—This is at once 
detected by taking out a good number of pieces; those at the bottom of the 
cask should be looked at, as well as those at the top. 

(b) The salting well done, and the parts good, but the meat old.—Here the 
extreme hardness and toughness, and shrivelling of the meat, must guide us. 
It would be desirable to have the year of salting placed on the cask of salt 
beef or pork. 

(c) The salting well done, but the meat bad.—li the meat has partially 
putrefied, no salting will entirely remove its softness; and even there may 
be putrefactive odour, or greenish colour. <A slight amount of decomposi- 
tion is arrested by the salt, and is probably indetectable. Cystzcerez are 
not killed by salting, and can be detected. Measly pigs are said to salt 
badly, but according to Gamgee this is not the case. 

(d) The salting badly done, either from haste or bad brine.— In both cases 
signs of putrefaction can be detected ; the meat is paler than it should be ; 
often slightly greenish in colour, and with a peculiar odour. 

It should be remembered that brine is sometimes poisonous; this 
occurs in cases where the brine has been used several times; a large 
quantity of animal substance passes into it, and appears to decompose. 
The special poisonous agent has not been isolated, but is probably a 
ptomaine. 


1 Virchow’s Archiv, Band xxxiii. p. 549. 
2 [bid., Band xxxy. p. 358. 
% [bid., Band xliii. p. 524. 


DISEASES ARISING FROM ALTERED QUALITY OF MEAT. 263 


Sus-Section I]].—DIsEAsES ARISING FROM ALTERED QUALITY OF MEAT. 


A very considerable quantity of meat from diseased animals is brought 
into the market, but the amount is uncertain. 

Instances are not at all uncommon in which persons, after partaking of 
butcher’s meat, have been attacked with serious gastro-intestinal symptoms 
(vomiting, diarrhcea, and even cramp), followed in some cases by severe 
febrile symptoms. The whole complex of symptoms somewhat resembles 
cholera at first, and afterwards enteric fever. The meat has often been 
analysed for the purpose of detecting poison, but none has been found.’ In 
the records of these cases, the kind of meat, the part used, and the origin 
from a diseased animal are not stated, and, in some cases, it may be con- 
jectured that the cooking, and not the meat, was in fault. Still, the in- 
stances are becoming numerous, and are increasing every day, as attention 
is directed to the subject. We should conclude from general principles, 
that as all diseases must affect the composition of flesh, and as the composi- 
tion of our own bodies is inextricably blended with the composition of the 
substances we eat, it must be of the greatest importance for health to have 
these substances as pure as possible. Animal poisons may indeed be neu- 
tralised or destroyed by the processes of cooking and digestion, but the 
composition of muscle must exert an influence on the composition of our 
own nitrogenous tissues which no preparation or digestion can remove. _ 

On looking through the literature of the subject, however, we find less 
evidence than might be expected. This is probably partly owing to imper- 
fect observation, especially when we think for how long a time Zrichina 
disease was overlooked. 

1. The flesh of healthy animals may produce Poisonous Symptoms.—This 
is the case with certain kinds of fish, especially in the tropical seas. There 
is no evidence that the animal is diseased, and the flesh is not decomposed ; 
it produces, however, violent symptoms of two kinds—gastro-intestinal irri- 
tation, and severe ataxic nervous symptoms, with great depression and 
algidity. The little herring (Clupea harengo minor), the silver-fish (Zeus 
gallus), the pilchard, the white flat-fish, and several others, have been known 
to have these effects.2 In some cases, though not in all, the poison is 
developed during the breeding time. Oysters (even when in season) and 
mussels have been known to produce similar symptoms, without any decom- 
position. The production of dyspepsia and nettle rash in some persons from 
eating shell-fish need scarcely be mentioned. 

Among the Mammalia the flesh of the pig sometimes causes diarrhcea—a 
fact noticed by Dr Parkes in India, and often mentioned by others. The 
flesh is probably affected by the unwholesome garbage on which the pig 
feeds. Sometimes pork, not obviously diseased, has produced choleraic 
symptoms.? In none of these cases has the poison been isolated. 

2. The flesh of healthy animals, when decomposing, is eaten sometimes 
without danger; but it occasionally gives rise to gastro-intestinal disorder— 
vomiting, diarrhoea, and great depression; in some cases severe febrile symp- 
toms occur, which are like typhus, on account of the great cerebral compli- 
cation. Cooking does not appear entirely to check the decomposition. 


1 See Professor Gamgee’s paper in the Fifth Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy 
Council, 1863, p. 287. Reference is made to cases noted by Maclagan, Taylor, Letheby, 
Dundas, Thomson, and Keith. ay 

2 A list of more than forty fishes, which are occasionally poisonous, 1s given by Pappen- 
heim.—Hamnd. der Sanitéts-Pol., Band i. p. 395. : 

3 Kesteven cites a good case in which twelve persons were affected—Med. Times and 
Gazette, March 5, 1864. 


264 FOOD. 


It appears to be, in some cases, the acid fluids of cooked meat which 
promote this alteration. 

Sausages and pork-pies, and even beefsteak-pies,! sometimes become 
poisonous from the formation of an as yet unknown substance, which is per- 
haps of a fatty nature or a ptomaine. It is not trimethylamine, amylamine, 
or phenylamine—these are not poisonous (Schlossberger). The symptoms 
are severe intestinal irritation, followed rapidly by nervous oppression and 
collapse.? Neither salts nor spices hinder the production of this poison. 
M. van den Corput attributes the poisonous effects of sausages to a fungus, 
of the nature of Sarcina, or what he terms Sarcina botulina.® 

Dr Ballard has reported two remarkable cases of poisoning by ham and 
hot baked pork. The first occurred at Welbeck in 1880, and the second at 
Nottingham in 1881. In both instances a number of persons who partook 
of the meat were taken ill, and some died. Dr Klein examined the meat, 
and found it loaded with Bacillc, which were also found in the organs of 
the fatal cases. Guinea-pigs and mice, inoculated with the fluids of the 
body, died with pneumonia and peritonitic symptoms: Bacz/li were found 
in the organs.* 

Oysters and shell-fish, when decomposing, produce also marked symptoms 
of the same kind. Rotten fish are used, however, by the Burmese, Siamese, 
and Chinese as a sort of condiment, without bad effects. 

3. The fresh and not decomposing flesh of diseased animals causes in many 
cases injurious effects. A good deal of difference of opinion, however, exists 
on this point, and it would seem that a more careful inquiry is necessary. 
The probability is that, when attention is directed to the subject, the effect 
of diseased meat will be found to be more considerable than at present 
believed.® At the same time, we must not go beyond the facts as they are 
at present known to us, and at present certainly bad effects have been 
traced in only a few instances; perhaps the heat of cooking is the safe- 
guard. 

(a) Accidents.—The flesh of animals killed on account of accidents may 
be eaten without injury. 

(6) The flesh of over-driven animals, according to the late Professor 
yamgee, contains a poison which often produces eczema on the skin of those 
who handle it; and eating the flesh is said to “have been attended with 
bad effects.” 

(c) Early Stage of Acute Inflammatory Disease—The meat is not ap- 
parently altered, and it is said that some of the primest meat in the London 
market is taken from beasts in this condition ; it is not known to be injuri- 
ous, but it has been recommended that the blood should be allowed entirely 
to flow out of the body, and should not be used in any way. 

(d) Chronic Wasting Diseases—Phthisis, Dropsy, &c.—The .flesh is pale, 
cooks badly, and gives rise to sickness and diarrhea. It also soon begins 


1 Dr de Chaumont has seen very severe symptoms produced, diarrhoea and partial collapse, 
from eating beefsteak-pie which presented nothing unpleasant to the taste. ' 

2 A severe case of poisoning by liver sausages took place at Middelburg, in Holland, in 
March 1874. Nearly 400 were attacked, aud out of 343 reported cases 6 died. The symptoms 
commenced a few hours after the sausages were eaten, and consisted of nausea and vomiting, 
diarrhoea with offensive stools, and abdominal pain and high fever. The symptoms, after 
apparent convalescence, recurred for several days, and at last became quite of an intermittent 
character. Chemical and microscopical examination failed to detect anything, except that 
there were quantities of the minutest organisms in the sausages (Centralblatt fur die Med. 
Wiss., 1875, No. 14, p. 219). 

3% Quoted by Letheby, Chemical News, Feb. 1869. 

4 Report of the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board. 

5 Professor Gamgee said that one-fifth of the meat in London was more or less diseased, 


gq - 
DISEASES OF ANIMALS USED FOR FOOD. 265 


to decompose, and then causes very severe gastro-intestinal derangement. 
Grave doubts have recently arisen as to whether tuberculosis may not be com- 
municable to man through the flesh of cattle suffering from that disease.! 

(e) Chronic Nervous Fevers-—Same as above. 

(7) Epidemic Pleuro-pneumonia of Cattle.—Much doubt exists as to the 
effect of this disease on the meat. It is hardly possible that the flesh 
should not be seriously altered in composition, but it seems certain that a 
large quantity is daily consumed without apparent injury. It is said, on 
the authority of Drs Nicolson and Frank, who made very careful inquiries 
on this point, that the Kaffirs ate their cattle, when destroyed by the 
epidemic lung disease which prevailed at the Cape a number of years ago, 
without injury. Dr Livingstone, however, states that the use of the flesh 
produces carbuncle. 

(q) Anthrax and Malignant Pustule—Many of the older authors 
(Ramazzini, Lancisi, quoted by Lévy) mention facts tending to prove the 
danger of using the flesh of animals affected with malignant pustule. 
Chaussier also affirmed the same thing, but subsequently modified his 
opinion considerably. The apparent increase in the number of cases of 
malignant pustule in men has been ascribed to eating the flesh of animals 
with this disease, but it is quite as likely that inoculation may have taken 
place in other ways. 

The evidence laid before the Belgian Academy of Medicine led them to 
believe the flesh of cattle affected with carbuncular fevers to be injurious, 
and it is not allowed to be sold. 

It has been supposed that the outbreaks of boils, which have certainly 
become more prevalent of late years, are produced by meat of this kind, but 
the evidence is very imperfect. 

Menschel ? has recorded a case in which twenty-four persons were seized 
with malignant pustule, the majority aiter eating the flesh of beasts suffer- 
ing from the disease, the others from direct inoculation. Those who ate 
the flesh were attacked in three to ten days; those who were inoculated 
in three to six days. It is also stated that pigs fed on the flesh got the 
disease, and that a woman who ate some of the diseased pork was also 
attacked. 

On the other hand, several old authors, and more lately Neffel,? assert 
that the Kirghises constantly eat horses and cattle (either killed or dying 
spontaneously) affected with malignant pustule, without injury. 

Parent-Duchiatelet * quotes a case from Hamel (1737), in which a bull 
infected three persons who aided in killing it and a surgeon who opened 
one of the tumours of a person affected ; yet, of more than 100 persons who 
ate the flesh roasted and boiled, no one experienced the slightest incon- 
venience, and Parent states that many other cases are known in literature. 

Parent-Duchatelet and Lévy * quote from Morand (1776) an instance in 
which two bulls communicated malignant pustule to two butchers by inocu- 
lation, yet the flesh of the animals was eaten at the “ Invalides” without 
injury. But both these instances are of old date. Pappenheim® states 
(without giving special instances) that there are many cases in which no 
bad effect resulted from the cooked flesh of charbon—that the peasants of 


1 Creighton, on Bovine Tuberculosis in Man ; also Transactions of the International Medi- 
cal Congress, 1881, vol. iv. p. 481. 

2 Preuss. Med. Zeit., 4th June 1862; and Canstatt’s Jahresb., 1862, Band iv. p. 25/7. 

3 Canstatt’s Jahresb. for 1860, Band ii. p. 137. 

4 Tom. ii. p. 196. 3 Traité d’ Hygiéne, 1879, tom. ii. p. 630. 

® Handb. der Sanitiéts-Pol.., Band i. p. 587. 


266 FOOD. 


Posen eat such meat with perfect indifference, and believe it is harmless 
when boiled. 

With regard especially to Hrysipelas carbunculosum, or black-quarter, as 
distinguished from malignant pustule (if it is to be so distinguished), Professor 
Gamgee/ refers to cases of poisoning and two deaths mentioned to him by 
Dr Keith, of Aberdeen, causedby eating an animal affected with black- 
quarter. He also notices an instance which occurred ‘‘a number of years 
ago in Dumfriesshire,” when seventeen persons were more or less affected, 
and at least one died, and states that a number of cases have been related 
to him by different observers. 

The discrepancy of evidence is so great as to lead to the conclusion that the 
stage of the disease, or the part eaten, or the mode of cooking, must have 
great influence, and that a much more careful study than has yet been given 
to this subject is necessary to clear up these great variations of statement. 

(h) Splenic Apoplexy or Brary of Sheep.—Professor Simonds? states that 
pigs and dogs died in a few hours after eating the flesh of sheep dead of 
braxy. Professor Gamgee® affirms the same thing ; but, on the other hand, 
Dr M‘Gregor states that dogs eat the meat with perfect impunity. The 
experiments at Alfort* have also shown that pigs, dogs, and fowls are not 
incommoded by this poison, which yet acts violently when swallowed by 
sheep, goats, or horses. So also Dr Smith® states that the shepherds in 
the Highlands of Scotland eat by preference braxy sheep, and are quite 
healthy. Dr M‘Gregor says that the flesh of braxy sheep is never cooked 
until it has been steeped for two months in brine, and then suspended for a 
time from the kitchen roof. It is preferred to ordinary salt mutton, because 
it has rather a flavour of game. 

(t) Smallpox of Sheep.—The flesh has a peculiar nauseous smell, and is 
pale and moist. It produces sickness and diarrhcea, and sometimes febrile 
Symptoms. 

(j) Foot-and-mouth Disease (Aphtha (or Eczema) epizootica).—Lévy® states 
that at different times (1834, 1835, 1839) the aphthous disease has pre- 
vailed among cattle both at Paris and Lyons without the sale of the meat 
being interrupted or giving rise to bad results. The milk of cows affected 
with foot-and-mouth disease has been supposed to cause vesicular affection 
of the mouth in men.’ The evidence seems, however, very uncertain. The 
discharges from the mouth are constantly on the hands of the farm labourers, 
who are not very cleanly, and who must constantly convey them to their 
own mouths, and yet these discharges, so infectious to other cattle, produce 
no effect on them. 

(k) Cattle Plague (Rinderpest, Typhus contagiosus of the French).—A 
priori, such flesh would be considered highly dangerous, and the Belgian 
Academy of Medicine so consider it; but there is some strong evidence on 
the other side. In Strasbourg and in Paris, in 1814, many of the beasts 
eaten in those cities for several months had rinderpest, and yet no ill conse- 
quences were traced. But it may be questioned whether they were looked 
for in that careful way they would be at the present day.S Some other 


1 Fifth Report of Medical Officer to the Privy Council, p. 290. 
2 Agricultural Journal, No. 50, p. 232. 


3% Privy Council Report, 1863, p. 280. 4 Lévy, t. ii. p. 631. 
5 Social Science Trans. for 1863, p. 559. ; 
6 Traité d’ Hygiene, 1879, t. ii. p. 631. 7 Jour. of the Epid. Soc., vol. i. p. 425. 


8 The words of Coze (Parent-Duchdtelet, t. xi. p. 201) are, however, very strong. At 
Strasbourg, he says,—‘‘ Un millier de boeufs de grande taille, malades pour la plupart au 
plus haut dégré, puisqu’un assez grand nombre ont été égorgés au moment ou ils allaient ex- 
pirer, a été consommeé, pendant et aprés le blocus, et cet aliment n’a produit aucune maladie.” 


DISEASES OF ANIMALS USED FOR FOOD. 267 


evidence is stronger: Renault, the director of the Veterinary School at 
Alfort, made, for several years after 1882, many experiments, and asserts 
that there is no danger from the cooked flesh of cattle, pigs, or sheep dead 
of any contagious disease (“quelle que soit la répugnance bien naturelle 
que puissent inspirer ces produits”).! So, also, during the occurrence of the 
rinderpest in England (1865), large quantities of the meat of animals killed 
in all stages of the disease were eaten without ill effects. In Bohemia also, 
in 1863, the peasants dug up the animals dead with rinderpest, and ate 
them without bad results.” 

(1) Rabies in the dog and cow produce no bad effects.? 

(m) Diseases in the pig, like scarlet fever and pig typhus, have prevailed 
in London, and the flesh has been eaten. No injury has been proved.* 

(x) Cysticercus cellulose of the pig produces Tenia solium, and that of the 
ox and cow Tenia mediocanellata. These entozoa often arise from eating 
the raw meat, but neither cooking nor salting are quite preservative, though 
they may lessen the danger. Smoking appears to kill Cysticercz, and so, 
according to Delpech, does a temperature of 212° Fahr. T. Lewis® found 
that a much lower temperature sufficed. When Cysticerci had been exposed 
for five minutes to a heat of 130° Fahr. he could detect no movements, and 
he considered that a temperature of from 135° to 140° F. for five minutes 
would certainly kill them. Lewis considered there was no danger if the 
cooking were well done, as the temperature of well-done meat is never below 
150° F. 

(0) Trichina spiralis in the pig gives rise to the curious T'richina disease 
caused by the wanderings of the young 7richine. The affection is highly 
febrile, resembling enteric fever, or even typhus, or acute tuberculosis, but 
attended with excessive pains in the limbs and ceedema.® Boils are also some- 
times caused. The eating of raw trichiniferous pork is the chief cause, and 
the entozoon is not easily killed by cooking or salting. A temperature of 
144° to 155° Fahr. kills free Trichine, but encapsuled Trichinew may demand 
a greater heat (Fiedler). During cooking a temperature which will coagu- 
late albumen (150° to 155° Fahr.) renders 7richine incapable of propaga- 
tion, or destroys them. As a practical rule, it may be said that if the 
interior of a piece of boiled or roasted pork retains much of the blood-red 
colour of uncooked meat, the temperature has not been higher than 131° 
Fahr., and there is still danger. Intense cold and complete decomposition 
of the meat do not destroy Trichine.* Hot smoking, when thoroughly done, 
does destroy them (Leuckart) ; but the common kinds of smoking, when the 
heat is often low, do not touch Zrichine (Kiichenmeister). 

(p) Echinococcus Disease.—It is well known that many persons will eat 
freely of, and even prefer, the liver of the sheep full of flukes. No direct 
evidence has been given of the production of disease from this cause, at least 
in this country. In Iceland Echinococcus disease, which affects a large 


1 Payen, Des Substances Alimentaires, pp. 30, 31. 

2 Evidence of Cattle Plague Commission, question 997, and other places. 

3 Parent-Duchételet, t. ii. p. 197, cites a case of seven mad cows being sold without injury 
to those who ate the fiesh. 

4 Letheby, Chem. News, Jan. 15, 1869. 

5 The Bladder Worms found in Beef and Pork, by T. R. Lewis, M.D., Calcutta, 1872. 

6 Aitken’s Practice of Medicine, 7th edit., vol. i. p. 162. See also reports on Hygiene by 
the late Dr Parkes in the Army Medical Reports for 1860, 1861, 1862, and 1863, where re- 
ferences to most of the early cases will be found. See also Dr Thudichum’s treatise in Mr 
Simon’s Report to the Privy Council, 1864. 

7 Carré (Comptes Rendus, xev. p. 147) says that they are destroyed at 40° to 50° below zero 
of Centigrade (= 40° to 58° below zero of Fahrenheit). 


268 FOOD. 


, number of persons, is derived from sheep and cattle, who, in their turn, get 
the disease from 7'enia of the dog (Leared and Krabbe). 

(7) Glanders and farcy in horses do not appear to produce any injurious 
effects on their flesh when eaten as food. Parent-Duchatelet! quotes two 
instances, in one of which 300 glandered horses were eaten without injury. 
In 1870, during the siege of Paris, large quantities of flesh from horses with 
farcy and glanders were eaten without injury. 

(r) Medicines, especially antimony,” given to the animals in large quanti- 
ties, have sometimes produced vomiting and diarrhcea. Arsenic, also, is 
occasionally given, and the flesh may contain enough arsenic to be dangerous.* 

In time of peace, the duty of the army surgeon is simple. Under the _ 
terms of the contract, all sick beasts are necessarily excluded. Without 
reference, then, to any uncertain questions of hurtfulness, or the reverse, he 
must object to the use of the flesh of such animals. This is the safe and 
proper course. 

But in time of war he may be placed in the dilemma of allowing such 
meat to be used or of getting none at all. He should then allow the issue 
of the meat of all animals ill with inflammatory and contagious diseases, 
with the exception of smallpox, and, perhaps, splenic apoplexy in sheep. 
But it will be well to take the precautions—ls#, of bleeding the animals as 
thoroughly as possible ; 2nd, of using only the muscles, and not the organs, 
as it is quite possible these may be more injurious than the muscles, 
though there are no decided facts on this point ; and, 3rd, of seeing that the 
cooking is thoroughly done. But animals with smallpox, Cysticercz, and 
Trichine should not be used. If dire necessity compels their use, then the 
employment of a great heat in a baker’s oven, and smoking if it can be 
used, may lessen the danger. If such things can be got, it would be well 
to try the effect on the meat of antiseptics, especially of carbolic acid, which 
destroys low animal life of that kind with great certainty. 


Sus-Section [V.—Cooxine oF Meat. 


Boiling.—The loss of weight is about 20 to 30 per cent., sometimes as 
much as 40. If it is wished to retain as much as possible of the salts and 
soluble substances in the meat, the piece should be left large, and should be 
plunged into boiling water for five minutes to coagulate the albumen. After 
this the heat can scarcely be too low. The temperature of coagulation of 
the albuminoid substances differs in the different constituents: one kind of 
albumen coagulates at as low a heat as 86° if the muscle serum be very acid ; 
another albumen coagulates at 113° Fahr.; a large quantity of albumen 
coagulates at 167°; the hematoglobulin coagulates at 158° to 162°, below 
which temperature the meat will be underdone. If the temperature is kept 
above 170° the muscular tissue shrinks, and becomes hard and indigestible. 
Liebig recommends a temperature of 158° to 160°. Most military cooks 
employ too great a heat: the meat is shrunken and hard. In boiling, 
ammonium sulphide is evolved, with odoriferous compounds, and an acid 
like acetic acid. 


1 Hyg. Publ., t. ii. 194; see also Lévy, t. ii. p. 630. 

2 See a well-marked case cited by Pavy (A Treatise on Food and Dietetics, 2d ed., 1875, p. 
160), as quoted by Gamgee, from the Central Zeitung fiir die gessammte Veterindrmedizin fur 
1854, where 107 persons were attacked after eating the flesh of an ox which had been treated 
with tartar-emetic previous to being slaughtered. 

3 Lévy, Traité d Hygiene, 1879, +. ii. pp. 665-64; reference to experiments of Danger, 
Flandin, and Chatin. 


COOKING AND PRESERVATION OF MEAT. 269 


If it is desired to make good broth, the meat is cut small, and put into cold 
water, and then warmed to 150° F.; beef gives the weakest broth. Ina pint 
there are about 150 grains of organic matter, and 90 grains of salts. Mutton 
broth is a little stronger, and chicken broth strongest of all. About 82 per 
cent. of the salts of beef pass into the broth, viz., all the chlorides, and most 
of the phosphates. 

Broth made without heat, by the addition of four drops of hydrochloric 
acid to a pint of water and half a pound of beef, is richer in soluble albumen. 
Lactic acid and chloride of potassium added together have the same effect. 
If rather more hydrochloric acid be used but no salt, heat can be applied ; 
and, if not higher than 130° Fahr., nearly 50 per cent. of the meat can be 
obtained in the broth. 

Reasting—The loss varies from 20 to 35 per cent. ; in beef, it is rather 
less than in mutton (Oesterlen). This loss is chiefly water ; the proportion 
of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen remaining the same (Playfaiz). 
Roasting should be slowly done ; to retain the juices, the meat must be first 
subjected to an intense heat, and afterwards cooked very slowly; the dry 
distillation forms aromatic products, which are in part volatilised ; the fat is 
in part melted, and flows out with gelatin and altered extractive matters. 
The fat often, improperly, becomes the perquisite of the cook, and may be 
lost to the soldier. The loss in baking is nearly the same, or a little less. 

Stewing.—This is virtually the same as roasting, only the meat is cut up, is 
continually moistened with its own Juices, and is often mixed with vegetables. 
Like boiling and roasting, it should be done slowly at a low heat; the loss 
then is about 20 per cent., and chiefly water. 

In all cases there is one grand rule, viz., to cook the meat slowly, and with 
little heat, and, as far as possible, to let the loss be water only. The fault 
in military kitchens has been, that excessive heat is used. The meat is then 
oiten a sodden, tasteless mass, with hard, shrunken, and indigestible fibres. 
The thermometer will be found very useful, especially in showing cooks 
that the temperature is much higher than they think. In the cooking of 
salt meat the heat should be very slowly applied and long continued ; it is 
said that the addition of a little vinegar softens the hard sarcolemma, and it 
is certain that vinegar is an agreeable condiment to take with salt meat, and 
is probably very useful. It may be of importance to remember this in time 
of war. 

In cutting up meat there is a loss of about 5 per cent., and there is alsoa 
loss from bone, so that, all deductions being made, the soldier does not get 
more than 5 or 6 ounces of cooked meat out of 12 ounces. 

The large quantity of flesh extract contained in the brine can be obtained 
by dialysis ; from two gallons of brine a fluid has been obtained, which, on 
evaporation, yielded 1 ib of extract.} 


Sus-Section V.—PRESERVATION OF Mzar. 


Meat may be kept for some time by simply heating the outside very 
strongly, so as to coagulate the albumen; or by placing it in a close vessel, in 
which sulphur is burnt, or by covering the surface with charcoal, or strong 
acetic acid, or calcium disulphide, or weak carbolic acid. Injections of alum 
and aluminum chloride through the vessels will preserve it for a long time ; 
water should be injected first, and then the solution. Even common salt in- 


1 Whitelaw, Chemical News, March 1864. 


270 FOOD. 


jected in the same way will keep it for some time. So also will free exposure 
to pure air; charcoal thrown over it, and suspended also in the air; or, the 
meat being cut into smaller portions, and placed in a large vessel, heat should 
be applied, and, while hot, the mouth of the vessel should be closed tightly 
with well washed and dried cotton wool ; the air is filtered, and partially freed 
from germs. The application of sugar to the surface is also a good plan. 
Cold is a great preservative of meat; in ice it can be preserved for an 
unlimited period, and the supposed rapid decomposition after thawing 
seems to have been exaggerated.t Fresh meat is now largely imported from 
America and Australia by being kept in refrigerated chambers. 

Plans of this kind may be useful to medical officers under two circum- 
stances, viz., on board ship, and in sieges, when it is of importance to 
preserve every portion of food as long as possible. The covering the whole 
surface with powdered charcoal is perhaps as convenient as any plan. A 
coating of paraffin, and many other plans of excluding air, are also used. 

Meat is also preserved in tin cases, either simply by the complete exclusion 
of air (Appert’s process) or by partly excluding air and destroying the oxygen 
of the remaining part by sodium sulphite (M‘Call’s process). It is not 
necessary to raise the heat so high in this case, and the meat is less sapid. 
Meat prepared in either way has, it is said, given rise to diarrhcea, but this is 
simply from bad preparation : when well manufactured it has not this effect. 

' Meat is also preserved by drawing off the air from the case, and substituting 
nitrogen and a little sulphur dioxide (Jones and Trevithick’s patent), or the 
air can be heated to 400° or 500°, so as to kill all germs (Pasteur), and then 
allowed to tlow into an exhausted flask.? 

Various other plans have been proposed, such as the use of antiseptics, 
carbolic acid (?), borax, boric acid, salicylic acid, glycerin, &c., and various 
preparations such as glacialin, boro-glyceride, and the like, consisting of mix- 
tures of two or more. Of the preparations, boric acid and glycerin appear 
to be the most useful and least hurtful; but salicylic acid and salicylates 
are unadvisable on account of their depressing action. 


SECTION II. 
WHEAT. 


Advantages as an Article of Diet.—It is poor in water and rich in solids, 
therefore very nutritious in small bulk; when the two outer coats are 
separated, the whole grain is digestible. The nitrogenous substances 
are large and varied,® consisting of soluble albumen (1 to 2 per cent.) and 
glutin (8 to 12 per cent,), which itself consists of four substances, named 
by Ritthausen,* glutin-casein, gliadin (or vegetable gelatin), glutin-fibrin, 
and mucedin. The starchy substances (starch, dextrin, sugar) are large, 
60 to 70 per cent., and are easily digested ; and, according to Mége-Mouries, 
a nitrogenous substance (cerealin) is contained in the internal envelope, 


1 Bonley, Comptes Rendus, xcv. p. 147. 

2 Dr Letheby’s Cantor Lectures on Food, delivered before the Society of Arts in 1869, 2nd 
edition, 1872, give a good account of some of the patents for the preservation of meat. See 
also Meinert, Armee- und Volks-Erndhrung, Berlin, 1880, vol. ii. p. 265; also Renk, Con- 
servirung von Nahrungsmitteln, Deutsche Vierteljahrschr. f. off. Gesundheitspfl., Band xiii. 
Heft 1. 

% These reach 14 to 15 per cent., especially in the hard wheats of Italy and Sicily, which 
are used for macaroni (Letheby). 

4 Die Hiweisskérper der Getreidearten, von Dr H. Ritthausen, 1872. 


WHEAT GRAINS—FLOUR. 270 


which, like diastase, acts energetically in transforming starch into dextrin, 
sugar, and lactic acid. Some consider this cerealin to be merely a form of 
diastase. Cholesterin is found in wheat, but in very small quantity 
(Ritthausen). The salts are chiefly phosphates of potash and magnesia. 

Disadvantages.—It is deficient in fat, and in vegetable salts which may 
form carbonates in the system. 

As usually prepared, the grain is separated into flour and bran; the mean 
being 80 parts of flour, 16 of bran, and 4 of loss. The flour is itself divided 
into best or superfine, seconds or middlings, pollards or thirds or bran flour. 
In different districts different names are used. The wheats of commerce are 
named from colour or consistence (hard or soft, white or red); the hard 
wheat contains less water, less starch, and more glutin than the soft wheat. 


SuB-SECTION I].—WHEAT GRAINS. 


The medical officer will seldom be called on to examine wheat grains, but 
if so, the following points should be attended to. The grains should be well 
filled out, of not too dark a colour ; the furrow should not be too deep ; 
there should be no smell, no discoloration, and no evidence of insects or fungz. 
The heavier the weight the better. In the Belgian army the minimum 
weight is 77 kilogrammes the hectolitre.1 In England, good wheat weighs. 
60 tb to the bushel ; light wheat 58 Ib or even 50 ib. Mungi, if present, 
will be found at the roots of the hairs, and if in small amount are only 
microscopic. If in large amount they cause the diseases known by the 
name of rust, bunt or smut, or dust brand; they are owing to species of 
Uredo and Puccinia. If any grains are seen pierced with a hole, and on 
examination are found to be a mere shell, with all the starch gone, this is 
owing to the weevil, and the little insect can itself be found readily enough 
if a handful of wheat be taken and spread over a large plate. The weevil 
can hardly escape being seen. Acarus farinw may also prey on the wheat 
grain, but cannot be seen without a microscope. 


Sus-Section I].—Ftour. 


Almost all the bran is separated from the finest flour; it has been a 
question whether this is desirable, as the bran contains nitrogenous matter 
—as much sometimes as 15 per cent., with 3:5 per cent. of fat, and 5°7 per 
cent. of salts. But if the bran is used, it seems probable that much is left 
undigested, and all the nutriment which is contained in it is not extracted. 
A plan has been employed by Mége-Mouries, which seems to save all the 
most valuable parts of the bran; the two or three outer and more or less 
siliceous envelopes of the wheat are detached, and the fourth or internal 
envelope is left. Several plans of decorticating wheat have been proposed, 
but none of them at present have superseded the old system of grinding. 

If the whole wheat is used, it should be ground very fine, as the harder 
envelopes are irritating, and it is well to remember that for sick persons 
with any bowel complaints bread must be used entirely without bran. 
Dysenteries have been found most intractable, merely from attention not 
being directed to this simple point. It is all the more necessary to insist 
upon this, as wholemeal bread has been much recommended and used of 
late. At the same time there is no doubt that whole-meal bread, well made, 
is more nutritious than the fine white bread now so generally used. The 


1 Squillier, Des Subsist. Mil., p. 37. 


aie FOOD. 


principal constituents lost with the bran are fat and salts, the analysis of 
whole meal showing a marked excess of these over best sifted flour. The 
average of a number of samples of flour examined at Netley showed only 
1-3 of fat, instead of 2, as in the table (p. 243), and 0°91 of salts ; some very 
fine Russian flour yielded under 0°6 of salts, against 1:7 inthe table. It 
sis clear that these numbers are too high for finely-sifted flour. There is 
also a certain loss of nitrogenous matter, some of which is believed to aid 
digestion. But for the irritating qualities of the outer envelopes (which 
have, however, been much diminished by modern processes), whole-meal 
bread would be a more valuable nutrient. 
For the CHEMICAL examination of Flour, see Boox III. 


Microscopical Examination. 


This is especially directed to determine therelativeamountof flour and bran, 
the presence of fungi or acari, or the fact of adulteration by other grains. 

In examining wheat, or any other cereal grains, it is necessary to prepare 
them beforehand by soaking for some time in water. It will then be found 
easy to demonstrate the different structures. By means of a needle and a 
pair of fine forceps the different coats can be removed serzatim, sometimes 
quite separately, but generally more or less in combination. The only one 
that presents any difficulty is the third coat of wheat or barley, but generally 
it can be found accompanying the second or fourth coats. In the case of 
barley, the proper external envelope of the grain sometimes adheres to the 
interior of the husk, where it ought to be looked for in the event of its not 
being on the surface of the grainitself. After examining the separate coats, 
sections may be made of the whole grain, so as to see the structures i sztu. 
The hairs are generally found ina bunch at the end of the gram. The 
starch grains are best demonstrated by picking out a little from the centre 
of the grain ; glycerin mixed with water forms the best medium for demon- 
stration. 

Structure of the Wheat Grain.—There are four envelopes (some authors 


Fig. 45.—Transverse Section of Envelopes of Wheat. Scale 1000th of an inch. 


make five or six—the outer coat being divided into two or three) surround- 
ing a fine and very loose areolar tissue of cellulose filled with starch grains. 
Envelopes of Wheat.—The drawings show the coats i situ, cut transversely 


Zr a = 
- aol 


Fig. 46. Envelopes of Wheat (longitudinal section). Scale 1000th of an inch. 


ENVELOPES OF WHEAT. 273 


and longitudinally, also the separate coats. The outer coat is made up of 
two or three layers of long cells, with slightly beaded walls, running in the 
direction of the axis of the grain. The septa are straight or oblique, and, 


Fig. 47.—Outer Coat and Hairs of Wheat. Scale 100th of an inch. 


as will be seen, the cells differ in length and breadth. The size can be 
taken by the scale. The hairs are attached to this coat, and are prolonga- 
tions, in fact, of the cells. In the finest flour the hairs and bits of this 
coat (as well as of the other coats) can be found. 

The second coat, counting from without, is composed ofa layer of shorter 
cells, more regular in size, with slightly rounded ends and beaded walls, and 
lying at right angles to the first coat, or across the axis of the grain. It is 
impossible to mistake it. The third coat is a delicate diaphanous, almost 


Ss 
been 
\ 


Fig. 48.—Outer Coat and Hairs of Wheat. Scale 1000th of an inch. 


hyaline membrane, so fine that its existence was formerly doubted. Dr 

Maddox, however, has distinctly shown it to have faint lines crossing each 

other diagonally as seen in the drawing, which may be cells. With a little 

care, it is very easily demonstrated. In the transverse section of the 
S 


274 FOOD. 


envelope it appears as a thin white line. Internal, again, to this coat what 
appears to be another coat can sometimes be made out; it is a very fine 
membrane, marked with widely separated curved lines, which look like the 


Fig. 49.—Second and Third Envelopes of Wheat. Scale 1000th of an inch. 


outlines of large round or oval cells. The internal or fourth coat, as it is 
usually called, is composed of one or two layers (in places) of rounded or 
squarish cells filled with a dark substance which can be emptied from the 
cells. When the cells are empty, they have a remote resemblance to the 


Fig. 50.—Fourth Envelope of Wheat. Fig. 51.—Fresh Starch Grains of Wheat (moistened). 
Scale 1000th of an inch. x 360, 


areolar tissue of the leguminose, and there is little doubt that from this 
cause adulteration with pea or bean has been sometimes improperly 
asserted. 

The starch grains of wheat are very variable in size, the smallest being 


DISEASES OF WHEATEN FLOUR. 275 


almost mere points, the largest ,,,th of an inch in diameter or larger. 
In shape the smallest are round, the largest round oval, or lenticular. It 
has been well noticed by Hassall that there is often a singular want of 


intermediate-sized grains. The hilum, when it can be seen, is central, the 


Fig. 52.—Dried and then moistened Starch Grains of Wheat. Scale 1000th of an inch. 


concentric lines are perceived with difficulty, and only in a small number; 
the edge of the grain is sometimes turned over so as to cause the appearance 
of a slight furrow or line along the grain. Very weak liquor potasse 
causes little swellings; strong liquor potassee bulges them out, and even- 
tually destroys them. There is no difficulty in seeing if the pieces of 
envelope are too numerous, but it should be remembered the best flour 
contains some. 


Diseases of Flour. 


Fungi.—Several fungi are found in wheat flour. The most common 
fungus is a species of Puccinia. It is easily recognised by its round dark 
sporangia, which are either contoured with a double line, or are covered 
with little projections. It is said not to be injurious by some, but this is 
very doubtful. The symptoms have not been well described. 

The smut, or caries, is also a species of Puccinia; has large sporules, and 


Fig. 53.—Diseased Flour (Puccinia). 


gives a disagreeable smell to the flour and a bluish colour to the bread. 
It is said to produce diarrhea. 

Acarus.—Acarus farine is by no means uncommon in inferior flour, 
especially if it is damp. It does not necessarily indicate that leguminous 
seeds are present, as stated. It is no doubt introduced from the grain in 


276 FOOD. 


the mill, as it has been found adhering to the grain itself. It is at once 
recognised. Portions of the skin are also sometimes found. 


Fig. 54.—Acarus farine (x 85 diameters).—Mites found in flour alive. In the largest 
figures the insects are considerably compressed, to show the powerful mandibles, and have 
each a ventral aspect. In the smallest and middle-sized insect we have drawn the dorsal 
aspect; the former only possesses six legs, as before the first moult; several ova lie scattered 
in the field of view. It is unknown what office the capsular organs fulfil. They are well 
seen on each side of the largest figure. 


Vibriones.—These form for the most part in flour which has gone to 
extreme decomposition, and is moist and becoming discoloured. They 
cannot be mistaken. 

The presence of Acari always shows that the flour is beginning to change. 


~— 


\ Von 


RAY 


Fig. 55. 
W eevil—Natural size. 


Fig. 56.—Weevil. Magnified 12 diameters. 


A single acarus may occasionally be found in good flour, but even one 
should be looked on with suspicion, and the flour should be afterwards 
frequently examined to see if they are increasing. 


ADULTERATIONS OF WHEATEN FLOUR—BARLEY. TG 


Weevil (Calandra granaria).—The weevil is of course at once detected. 
It is by no means so common in flour as in corn. 

Lphestia.—The larva of the moth which feeds on cocoa (Hphestia elutella) 
has sometimes caused great ravages in flour and in biscuits. At Cork 
and Gibraltar many tons of biscuit have been rendered useless by this larva, 
which appears to have been introduced from the cocoa stored for the fleet + 


Adulterations of Wheat-Flour. 

At present there is very little adulteration of wheat-flour in this country, 
but with rising prices the case might be different. Abroad, adulteration 
is probably more common, and the medical officer must be prepared to 
investigate the point. 

The chief adulterations are by the flour of other grains, viz. :— 


Barley, Rice, 

Potato, Buckwheat, | 

Beans and peas, Millet, { in some 
Maize, Linseed, { countries, 
Oat, Melampyrum, | 

Rye, Lolium, 


and other grains noticed farther on. All these are easily recognised by the 
microscope. 
Other adulterations are by mineral substances, viz. :— 


Alum, Powdered flint, 
Gypsum, Calcium and magnesium 
Clay, carbonate. 


These are best detected by chemical examination. 

Detection of Barley.—This is not easy, but can, with care, be often done. 

The envelopes of barley are the same in number as those of wheat, but 
they are more delicate. The outer coat has three layers of cells; the walls of 
the external layer are beautifully 
waved, but not beaded; the cells 
are smaller than those of the 
outer coat of wheat. The second 
coat, disposed at right angles to 
the first, as in wheat, is like the 
second coat of wheat, except in 
being more delicate and not 
beaded. ‘The third is hyaline 
and transparent, with faint cross- 
lines, as in wheat. The fourth 
has the cells similar in shape to 
the corresponding wheat coat, but 
they are very much smaller, as may 
beseenonreferencetothescale, and 
there are two or often three layers. 

The starch grains of barley are 
very like the wheat, with a central 
hilum and obscure marking, but 
are on the whole smaller; some have thickened edges, instead of the 
thin edges of the wheat-starch grains, but it is very difficult and some- 
times impossible to distinguish them. It is therefore specially to the 
envelopes that we must attend. 


SS~ 


Fig. 57.—Barley (longitudinal section). 
Scale is the same as that of the Starch Grains. 


1 Professor Huxley has kindly given these interesting details. The larva of Lphestra 
Y 5 : a 
elutella (or “ chocolate moth”’) is small, and is never more than half an inch long. The 


278 FOOD. 


Detection of Potato Starch.—This is a matter of no difficulty; the starch 
grains, instead of being round or oval, and with a central hilum and obscure 
rings, are pyriform, with an eccentric hilum placed at the smaller end, and 
with well-marked concentric rings. Weak liquor potassz (1 drop of liq. 
pot. B.P. to 10 of water) swells them out greatly after a time, while wheat- 
Starch is little affected by this strength; if the strength is 1 to 3 (as in the 
figure), the swelling is very rapid. 

Detection of Maize (Indian Corn).—There are two envelopes; the outer 
being made up of seven or eight strata of cells; there is no transverse 


Fig. 58. Fig. 59. 
Outer Coat and Hairs of Barley (low power). Outer Coat of Barley (higher power). 


second coat, as in wheat; the internal coat consists of a single stratum of 
cells like the fourth of wheat, but less regular in shape and size. The 
cellulose, through the seed holding the starch in its meshes, forms a very 
characteristic structure, which on section looks like a pavement made of 
triangular, square, or polygonal pieces; the cells are filled with the starch 


female moths fly at night in swarms, and lay their eggs on the biscuits or the puncheons 
which hold them. The larve are soon hatched, and by means of strong jaws and active 
legs scrape and bore their way through crevices; they eat the biscuit, and spoil more than 
they eat by spinning their webs over the biscuit. Cocoa stores swarm with the moths and 
larve, and they even penetrated into many parts of H.M.S. ‘‘ Hercules.” 

After examining into the ravages caused by these larve in the biscuit at Gibraltar, Mr 
Huxley made the following suggestions :— 

1. To have no cocoa stored in any place in which biscuits are manufactured. 

2. To head up all biscuit puncheons as soon as they are full of the freshly baked biscuit. 

3. Coat puncheons with tar after they are headed up, or at least work lime wash well into 
all the joints and crevices. 

4. Line the bread-rooms of ships with tin, so that if the Ephestia has got into a puncheon 
it may not get into the rest of the ship. 

5. If other means fail, expose woodwork of puncheons to a heat of 200° Fahr. for two 
hours. 


ADULTERATIONS OF WHEATEN FLOUR—BEANS AND PEAS. 279 


grains, which are very small, and compressed, so as to have facets. They 
are very different from the smooth, uncompressed round cells of wheat. 
Bits of cellulose, with its peculiar angular markings, are always found if 
the wheat is adulterated with maize. 
Detection of Bean and Pea.—These adulterations are also at once dis- 
covered ; the meshes of cellulose are very much larger than those of the fourth 


. 


7000 
Fig. 60.-—Barley (second and third coats). 


coat of wheat, with which it has sometimes been confounded, and the starch 
grains are also quite different; they are oval or reniform, or with one end 
slightly larger; they have no clear hilum or rings, but many have a deep 
central longitudinal cleft running in the longer axis, and occupying two-thirds 


Fig. 61.—Barley (fourth coat). Fig. 62.—Barley (Starch Grains). 


or three-fourths of the length, but never reaching completely to the end ; this 
cleftis sometimes a line, sometimes almost a chasm, and occasionally secondary 
clefts abut upon it at parts of its course ; sometimes, instead of a cleft, there 
is an irregular-shaped depression. If a little liquor potassze be added, the 
cellulose is seen more clearly. Pea-flour is never added to a greater extent 
than 4 per cent., as it makes the bread heavy and dark. If the flour be mixed 
with a little boiling water, the smell of the pea or bean is perceptible. 


280 FOOD. 


Detection of Oat.—There are two or three envelopes; the outer longitudinal | 
cells ; the second obliquely transverse, and not very clearly seen; the cellsare 


L 
tooo 


Fig. 64.—Medium and small-sized Potato 
Fig. 63.—Potato Starch. x 285. Starch Grains, treated with Liq. Pot. B.P. 
See also Plate of Starches. (strength 1 to 3), and x 285. 


wanting in parts, or pass into the cells of the third coat; the third a layer, 
usually single, of cells like the fourth coat of wheat. The husk must be 
detached before the envelopes are looked for, for lining it is a layer of way 

cells, like the external envelope of barley, which might mislead. The starch- 


Se. Ph. 
Zu <S 
x 250 Fe i 


1000 
Fig. 65.—Indian-Corn Flour. See also Fig. 66.—Cellulose of Indian Corn x 500, wit] 


Plate of Starches. markings from the Starch Grains on th 
intercellular membrane. 


cells are small, many-sided, and cohere into composite round bodies, which 
are very characteristic, and which can be broken down into the separate 
grains by pressure. A high power is the best for this. The oat starch does 


ADULTERATIONS OF WHEATEN FLOUR—RICE. 281 


not polarise light. There is no difficulty in the detection of the starch 
grains. 

Detection of Rice.—The husk of rice is very peculiar; on the outer coat 
are numerous siliceous granules, arranged in longitudinal and transverse 


Fig. 67.—Longitudinal Section of Coats of Indian Corn and Cellulose. x 190. 


ridges (figs. 72 and 73) (a). There are numerous hairs, some of which are 
seated over stomata. Below this is a membrane of transverse and longitu- 
dinal rough-edged fibres (6, c), while below these again is a fine membrane of 


Fig. 68.—Bean Starch. 

transverse angular cells (d), covering a very delicate membrane of large cells. 
The starch corpuscles are very small (fig. 71); angular under low powers ; 
under high powers they are seen to be facetted and compressed. They can- 


282 FOOD. 


not be mistaken for the round cells of wheat, but may be confounded with | 
oat starch, from which, however, they are distinguished by the absence of the | 
compound cells or glomeruli. Their shape is also a little like maize, but — 


they are very much smaller. 


G00 ae 
Fig. 69.—Pea Flour. 


— 


peculiar to the older and drier grains. It is, however, to be seen even in 
the starch of fresh soft grains, whilst the plant is still green. In the starch 
of wheat it is only met with occasionally, when the grain is very old or dry. 


Detection of Rye.—The envelopes are very like those of wheat, and can | 
perhaps hardly be distinguished from them. The recent starch grains are | 
also like those of wheat, but they are much more distinctly spherical. They — 


have also sometimes a peculiar rayed hilum, which used to be thought 


ADULTERATIONS OF WHEATEN FLOUR-—RYE AND LINSEED. 283 


Rye, if in any quantity, is discovered by baking; it makes a dark, acid 


bread. 


€ : 
Ree ie 


OB Cr 

CAGES eS 
Me pe 
) seer re 


a 
_1000 


Fig. 71.—Ground Rice Flour. x 350. 


Linseed is not a common adulterant. The envelopes are peculiar: the 
external is made up of hexagonal cells containing oil; the second of round 


Fig. 72.—Rice. x 170. 

Fig. 72. Transverse section of the Husk of Rice. Ly 170 

gehe 3 P ; ; 
Fig. 73. Appearance of Husk as seen in a transparent medium of glycerin and gum. J ~~ 

a, Siliceous granules, arranged in longitudinal and transverse ridges, perforated by openings 

—stomata, some having hairs seated over them. 0, c, Transverse and longitudinal, brittle, 

rough-edged fibres. ad, A fine membrane of transverse angular cells; these overlie a very 


delicate membrane of large cells e. 


284 FOOD. 


cells ; the third of fibres ; and the fourth of angular cells containing a dark 
reddish colouring matter. 

Buckwheat (Polygonum Fagopyrum, or Fagopyrum esculentum).—Like 
rye, this is only likely to be found in wheat coming from the Baltic. The | 
drawing sufficiently shows the texture of the envelopes, which is very com- 

»plicated. The starch grains are small and round, and adhere together in 
masses. Under a high power there are indications of concentric rings. 
Bread made with this grain has a darkish, somewhat violet, colour. 
Millet.—In India, Egypt, China, and West Coast of Africa, millet of some 
kind is likely to be an adulteration. Dr Maddox’s 
drawing (page 286) shows the beautiful structure 
of the envelopes, which could not be confounded 
with those of wheat. The starch grains are very 
small, round, and tolerably uniform in size. 

Melampyrum arvense and other species (Purple 
cow-wheat — Scrophulariacee).—This has occa- 
sionally been mixed with flour ; it is not injurious, 
but gives the bread (not the flour) a peculiar 
smoky violet or bluish-violet tint. This depends 
on a colouring matter in the seed, which, when 
warmed with acid, gives the violet colour.t 

Trifolium arvense (Trefoil — Leguminose).— 

Fig.74.RyeStarch, with rayed This also gives the bread a red-violet colour. It is 
hilum (after Hassall). x 420. not known to be injurious. 


SHAT 
: \ 
| 


Fig. 75.—Rye—1, Transverse section of Testa, &c. x 108 ; 2, Coats in situ from without, x 170. 
a, External; 6, Middle; c, Internal coat; d, Starch grains, x 108. 


Rhinanthus major and crista galli (Yellow-rattle—Scrophulariacee) gives 


1 Pellischek, Schmidt’s Jahrb., 1863, No. 3, p. 287. 


ADULTERATIONS OF WHEATEN FLOUR—OTHER GRAINS. 285 


bread a bluish-black colour, a moist sticky feel, and a disagreeable sweet 


taste. Itis not injurious. Onobrychis sativa (Sainfoin—Leguminose) has 
also been used. 


SOOL 
cy 


— 
— 
— 


Fig. 76.—Outer coat of Buckwheat, ap- Internal coats. The most internal is com- 


parently of irregular and interlacing posed of cells with an irregular waved 
fibrospiral cells, separable by boiling outline, and longitudinal cells over the 
the testa and macerating it. Outside starch cells. x 170. 


these cellsis a very thin and delicate 
membrane, retaining the marks of at- 
tachment of the spiral cells. x 170. 


—————— ss 1000 


4 
1000 


Fig. 77.—Buckwheat—Transverse section of outer, middle, and internal \ 70 ee 
coats, with cellulose containing starch grains, Starch grains, x 500. 


. . . 


286 FOOD. 


Lolium temulentum (Darnel—Graminee ; other species may be used). | 
—This gives the bread no colour, but produces narcotic symptoms, vertigo, — 
hallucinations, delirium, convulsions, and paralysis. Pellischek states that | 
these symptoms do not occur if the grain be dried in an oven before baking, 


Fig. 78.—Millet Seed—a, Transverse section of testa coats, seen from inside; a, Outer; 
b, Middle ; c, Inner coat x 170; 6, Starch grains x 50). Seale 1-1000th inch. 


or if the bread is left for some days before being used. Under the name of 
“Drake,” Darnel grass seed appears to be an accidental adulteration of the 
poorer Australian flours. This has been detected by Dr Davidson, of the 
Mauritius, in flour imported into that colony from Australia. Samples of , 
“Drake” sent by him have been found by Professor Thistleton Dyer to be 
identical with Darnel seed. The detection of loliwm is best effected by 
means of alcohol, which gives a greenish solution with a disagreeable 
repulsive taste, and on evaporation a resinous yellow-green disagreeable 
extract is left. Pure flour gives with alcohol only a clear straw-coloured 


1 The peculiar symptoms produced by Loliwm temulentum, or bearded Darnel, were well 
known to the ancients. Pereira states that the first symptoms are gastro-intestinal, such as 
vomiting and colic, and then cerebro-spinal symptoms come on, viz., headache, giddiness, 
tinnitus, confusion of sight, dilated pupils, delirium, trembling and paralysis (Hlements of 
Materia Medica, 1850, vol. ii. p. 977). The same effects are produced on animals. Pereira 
states that he did not succeed in obtaining the chemical test noted in the text, viz., the green 
alcoholic solution and the yellow resin on evaporation. Hassall figures the starch grains of 
the lolium a's small and something like rice; fifty or sixty may adhere together and form a 
compound grain not very unlike the oat. The envelopes are tolerably distinctive ; the cells 
of the outer coat are made up of a single layer, and are disposed transversely instead of 
longitudinally. The second coat is in two layers, and the cells have a vertical arrangement. 
The third coat is like the inner coat of wheat. This account is taken from Hassall. 

It is not very likely that any other grains except those mentioned in the text will be mixed 
with wheat flour. The seeds of the Peruvian food, Chenopodium Quinoa, have not apparently 
been used as a falsification. The starch grains of the Quinoa are said to be the smallest 
known. It may be worth remarking that this seed is very rich in salts (2°4 per cent.), and 
particularly so in iron (0°75 per cent.) ; indeed, it is the richest in iron of any vegetable. It 
is possible that it might be a useful food in some cases of illness. It is fairly nutritious and 
digestible. 

The starch grains of the acorn, which might perhaps be added in times of great scarcity, 
would be immediately detected, as they have a very characteristic central depression, and 
are also quite different in shape from the flat, round, smooth starch cells of the wheat and 
barley. 


COOKING OF FLOUR—BISCUIT. 287 


solution, with an agreeable taste (Pellischek). Sulphuric acid reddens the 
outer envelope. 

Bromus or Serrafalcus (Brome-grass—Graminee ; different species— 
Arvensis or Secalinus).—Pellischek states that the seeds of this plant give 
the bread a dark colour, and make it indigestible. It is probably a most 
uncommon adulteration. 


It will be found that, when mixed with flour, the microscope will detect 
readily many of these substances. Detection is often very difficult when the 
flour is made into bread, and therefore, whenever, from the bread, there is 
any cause of suspicion, means should be taken to obtain some of the flour. 

Cones Flour.—A flour obtained from Revel wheat is used by bakers for 
dusting their troughs. Hassall has found this Cones flour to be greatly 
adulterated with rice, maize, beans, rye, and barley. Sometimes Cones 
flour is mixed with good flour. Several samples examined at Netley con- 
tained nothing but rice. This is sometimes sold as “ Rice Cones”; there 
may be some advantage in the dryness of the rice. 


Cooking of Flour. 


The effect of heat is to coagulate the albumen and to transform some of 
the starch into dextrin. Substances are also added to the bread to cause a 
further transformation of the starch. 

Cakes.—The unfermented cakes! are simply made with water and salt. 
As they are very readily made, are agreeable to taste, and nutritious, it is 
very desirable to teach every soldier to make them, so that in war, when 
bread is not procurable, he may not be confined altogether to biscuit. The 
Australian “damper” is simply made by digging a hole in the ground, 
filling it with a wood fire, and, when the fire has thoroughly burnt up, 
removing it, placing the dough on a large stone, covering it with a tin 
plate, and heaping the hot ashes round and over it. In a campaign, every 
soldier, if he could get flour and wood, would soon learn to bake a cake for 
himself. The only point of manipulation which requires practice is not to 
have the heat too great; if it be above 212° too much:of the starch is 
changed into dextrin, and the cake is tough. Exposed to greater heat, and 
well dried, the unfermented cakes become biscuit. 

Macaroni is flour from a hard Italian grain, moistened with water, and 
pressed through a number of small openings, while at the same time heat 
is applied. As it is very nutritious in small bulk and keeps well, it would 
be a good food for soldiers in war if its cost could be lessened. 


Sus-Secrion I1I.—Biscurr. 


To make biscuit, flour is often taken with little or no bran (on account 
of the hygroscopic properties of bran); but bran is also sometimes used ; no 
salt is added. The simplest biscuits are merely flour and water. Some 
biscuits are made with milk, eggs, &c. 

Choice of Biscuit.—Biscuit should be well baked, but not burnt; of a 
light yellow colour, and should float and partially dissolve in water; when 
struck, it should give a ringing sound; and a piece put into the mouth 
Should thoroughly soften down. It should be free from weevils, which are 
easily seen. 


1 The Chupatty of India, 


288 FOOD. | 


Advantages as a Diet.—As it contains little water, and, bulk for bulk, is | 
more nutritious than bread, three-fourths of a pound are usually taken to — 
equal 1 tb of bread. Its bulk is small, and it is easily transported. 

Disadvantages. —Like flour, it is deficient in fat. © After a time it seems | 
difficult of digestion. Perhaps the want of variety is objectionable; but — 
, certain it is that men do not thrive well upon it for long periods. In war, | 
“it has always been a rule with the best English army surgeons, for more — 
than a century, to issue bread as much as possible, and to use biscuit only — 
in cases where it cannot be avoided. 


Sus-Section [Y.—Breap. 


If carbon dioxide gas is in any way formed in or forced into the interior 
of dough, so as to divide the dough into a number of little cavities, bread 
is made. 

There are three kinds of bread :— 

1. Carbon dioxide is disengaged by a fermentative process, caused by 
yeast or leaven. During the baking a certain amount of preformed sugar 
yields CO,; a portion of starch is converted into dextrin and sugar, and 
also yields CO, ; a little lactic and butyric acids, and extractive matters are 
formed. It is of importance to prevent this change from going too far; 
and herein is one of the arts of the baker; and it is partly to prevent this 
that alum is added, which has the property of arresting the change. 

In making bread, the proportions are 20 tb of flour; 8 to 12 ib of tepid 
water; 4 oz. of yeast, to which a little potato is added; and 14 to 2 oz. of 
salt. 280 tb of flour (1 sack) will give from 90 to 105 4-tb loaves, or 100 ib 
of flour will make from 129 to 150 tb of bread. If there is 14 per cent. of 
water in the flour, the bread will contain in the former case 33°1 per cent., 
and in the latter 42-7 per cent. If 100 ib of flour contain 14 per cent. of 
water, and make 1414 ib of bread, the bread will contain 40 per cent. of 
water ; the baker always endeavours to combine as much water as he can, 
so as to get more loaves. 64 tb of dough yield 6 ib of bread. Machines 
are now generally used for mixing the dough (Stevens’ Machine). 

2. CO, is disengaged by mixing sodium or ammonium carbonate with the 
dough, and adding hydrochloric, tartaric, phosphoric, or citric acids. Baking 
powders are compounds of these substances. 

3. CO, is forced through the dough by pressure (Dauglish’s patent 
aérated bread). This process has the great advantage of rendering it im- 
possible that the conversion of starch into dextrin, sugar, and lactic acid 
shall go too far. About 20 cubic feet of CO, (derived from chalk and 
sulphuric acid) are used for 280 fb of flour; and about 11 cubic feet are 
actually incorporated with the flour ( (Odling). 


Advantages of Bread as an Article of Diet. 


It is hardly necessary to mention these. The great amount of nitro- 
genous matters and starch it shares with flour; the nitrogen is to the 
carbon as 1 to 21. It therefore requires more nitrogen for a perfect food. 
The process of baking renders it more digestible than flour. No satiety 
attends its use, although it may be always made in the same way; this is 
probably owing to the great variety of its components. 

Disadvantages.—It is poor in fat and some salts, especially in the case of 
the finest flour freed from the internal envelope. Therefore we see that 
the practice of using fat with it (butter for the rich, fat bacon for the poor 


SPECIAL POINTS ABOUT MAKING OF BREAD. 289 


man) is extremely common. As to the relative advantages of the three 
methods of making bread, the last (aération by CO,) is said to have the 
advantage of making white bread, though the inner envelopes are left ; of 
not causing any loss of starch, or permitting the change to go too far; of 
not containing any unwholesome yeast. The system of making bread with 
yeast has been objected to on the ground that bad yeast is often used ; the 
fermentative changes go on in the stomach, much CO, is disengaged, and 
dyspepsia, flatulence, and unpleasant sensations, such as heart-burn, are 
produced. There is no doubt that badly prepared bread gives rise to these 
symptoms, though that this is owing to bad yeast is at least uncertain, 
The second method yields a wholesome bread, but is too expensive for 
common use, and it has also been pointed out that the hydrochloric acid of 
commerce always contains arsenic. The amount would be too small to be 
hurtful, but might be of medico-legal consequence. 


Special Points about Making of Bread. 


Bread may be of bad colour—rather yellowish, from old flour; from 
grown flour (in which case the changes in the starch have generally gone 
on to a considerable extent, and the bread contains more sugar than usual, 
and does not rise well), and perhaps from bad yeast. The colour given by 
admixture of bran must not be confounded with yellowness of this kind. 

Bread is also dark coloured from admixture of other grains, as already 
noticed under flour (rye, buckwheat, melampyrum, sainfoin, &c.). Bread 
may be acid, from bad flour giving rise to an excess of lactic and perhaps 
acetic acids, or, it is said, from bad yeast. In finding the cause of acidity 
in bread, look first to the flour, which may be old and a little discoloured, 
and too acid ; if nothing can be made out, examine the yeast, and change 
the source of supply; then look to the vessels in which the dough is 
kneaded, and to the water. Enforce great cleanliness on the part of the 
men who make up the dough. In India bread becomes sour from bad 
cleaning of the flour. Dr Godwin, M.S.,! states that at Bareilly the wheat 
was imperfectly ground in small hand-mills; it was then separated by 
sifting into four portions, viz., bran; ‘“attar,” which corresponds to 
pollards ; ‘‘soojie,” which consists of glutin and starch; and “maida,” 
which is nearly all starch. The soojie, from imperfect grinding, is granu- 
lated, and chiefly used for bread, a small portion only of maida being mixed 
with it. To cleanse the wheat before grinding it, it was washed and then 
dried in heaps in the sun. The heaps of corn were quite hot to the feel. 
A very acid bread was given, but when the wheat was not thus washed it 
yielded a good bread. 

Bread is heavy and sodden from bad yeast fermenting too rapidly, or when 
the fermentation has not taken place (cold weather, bad water, or some other 
cause will sometimes hinder it), or when the wheat is grown; when too 
little or too much heat has been employed. It is said also that if the flour 
has been dried at too great a heat (above 200° Fahr.) the glutin is altered 
and the bread does not rise well. It is bitter from bitter yeast. 

It becomes mouldy rapidly when it contains an excess of water. 

Rice is used as an addition because it is cheaper ; it retains water, and 
therefore the bread is heavier. Rice bread (if 25 per cent. of rice be added) 
is heavier, of closer texture, and less filled with cavities. Potatoes are some- 
times added, but are generally used only in small quantity with the yeast. 


1 Army Medical Reports, vol. vii. p. 451. 


290 FOOD. 


Alum is added to stop an excess of fermentation, when the altering glutin 

or cerealin acts too much on the starch, and it also whitens the bread ; it 
does not increase the amount of water ; it enables bread to be made from 
flour which otherwise could not be used. Sulphates of copper and of zine, 
in very small amount, are sometimes employed for the same purpose. 
» For acid flour, lime water is used instead of pure water; lime water has 
this advantage, that, while it does not check the fermentation of yeast, it 
hinders the action of diastase on starch. It must be caustic lime water, and 
not chalk and water, as sometimes is the case. 

Loaves are generally weighed when hot, and that is considered to be their 
weight. In the Austrian army, a loss of 2°9 per cent. in four days is 
permitted. 

After being taken from the oven bread begins to lose weight.? 

The loss of weight depends upon size, amount of crust, temperature, and 
movement of air. 

In a sheltered place, at ordinary temperature, a 2-Ib loaf, baked with crust 
all over, loses about # per cent. in cooling, and from 1 to 14 in five hours. 

A similar loaf, with only top and bottom crust, loses 3 per cent. in cooling, 
and about 4 per cent. in five or six hours. A loaf with four sides crust loses 
2 per cent. in cooling, and retains its weight without much further loss for 
five hours. For each of six sides that is not crust there is a loss of weight 
of about 1 per cent. in the first five hours. 

At the end of twenty-four hours the proportion is about one half more, 
and the total loss is doubled at the end of seventy-two hours (three days). 
If the bread is baked in larger loaves (4 tb, for instance) the loss will be 
proportionately less, the ratio of the evaporating surface to the bulk of the 
loaf being diminished. 

When loaves become stale they can be dipped in water and rebaked, and 
then taste quite fresh for twenty-four hours ; after that they rapidly change. 

Old biscuit also, soaked in water, can be rebaked, and becomes palatable. 

In the French army different kinds of bread are used:? ordinary bread, 
biscuited bread, bread half biscuited, bread one quarter biscuited, hospital 
bread. The “ Pain biscuité ” is used only on service ; it is baked more firmly 
than ordinary bread. 

Pain de munition ordinaire keeps 5 days in summer and 8 in winter. 


» au quart biscuité » 10 to 15 days. 
» demi i ay P20tors Ones 
»  biscuité 400505 


The French munition loaf weighs 1-5 kilogrammes (3:3 tb avoir.), and con- 
tains two rations of 750 grammes (each 1°65 Ib). The ration of biscuit is 550 
grammes (1-2 ib). 

It would be useful to adopt the practice of strongly baked bread in our 
army ; it isa good substitute for biscuit. 

For CHEMICAL examination of Flour and Bread, see Boox III. 


Microscopical Examination of Bread. 


This is of very little use, as far as adulteration is concerned, but the pre- 
sence of fungi can be detected. 

The most common fungus is a kind of Penicillium (sitophilum and roseum), 
which gives a greenish, brownish, or reddish-yellow colour ; sporules, spo- 
rangia, and mycelium can all be seen. The Oidiwm aurantiacum has been 


1 See Report on Hygiene, Army Medical Reports, vol. xviii. p. 219. 
2 Code des Officiers de Santé, 1863. 


DISEASES CONNECTED WITH FLOUR AND BREAD, 291 


several times detected in France and Algeria; it is distinguished by its 
orange-red colour. A greenish J/ucor is often found in bread. Puccinia, so 
common in flour, has not been detected. 


Diseases connected with the Quality of Flour and Bread. 


1. The Flour originally bad.—It may be ergoted, or grown and ferment- 
ing, or with fungi forming. An anomalous disease approaching to ergotism 
should lead at once to an examination of the flour. The fermenting flour 
produces dyspepsia and diarrhcea ; the heat and moisture of the stomach, no 
doubt, excite at once very rapid fermentation ; the glutin, already metamor- 
phosing, acts very energetically on the starch, and CO, is rapidly developed ; 
hence uncomfortable feelings, flatulence, imperfect indigestion, and diarrhea. 
It is to remedy this condition of flour that alum is added, and some of the 
effects ascribed to alum may be really owing to the flour. 

The most important disease connected with flour is, however, ergotism ; 
this is less common in wheat than in rye flour, but yet is occasionally seen. 
Sometimes ergoted meal produces at once violent stomach and intestinal 
symptoms, at other times primary digestion is well performed, and the early 
symptoms are great general depression and feverishness, ushering in the 
local symptoms of acrodynia. 

2. Flour originally good, but alteriny either from age or from not having 
been well dried.—The bread is often acid, and sometimes highly so ; this may 
produce diarrhoea, though such bread has sometimes been used for a long 
time without this effect ; usually persons will not eat much of it, and thus 
the supply of nutriment is lessened. If the bread be too moist, fungi form, 
and Oidium aurantiacum, in particular, has been known in Algiers to give 
rise to little endemics of diarrhoea (Boudin and Foster). Jucor mucedo 
either does not produce this, or rarely. Itshould be remembered, however, 
that mouldy oats (the fungus being Aspergillus) have given rise to paralytic 
symptoms in horses, so that these fungi are to be looked on with suspicion ;7 
and a case of the kind has been reported by H. Hoffman in Giessen.? 
Professor Varnell also states + that six horses died in three days from eating 
mouldy oats; there was a large amount of matted mycelium, and this, 
when given to other horses for experiment, killed them in thirty-six hours; 
there was a “peculiar growth” on the mucous membrane of the small 
intestine. It is not known that Acarus, so common in flour, has any bad 
effects when eaten. 

3. Substances added.—Alum, of course, is the chief substance ; there has 
been much difference of opinion as to its effects. It has been asserted to 
produce dyspepsia ; to lessen the nutritive value of bread by rendering the 
phosphoric acid insoluble, and to be also a falsification, inasmuch as it 
permits an inferior flour to be sold for a good one. The last allegation is 
no doubt correct; the second probably so, as there is little doubt of the 
formation, and none of the insolubility, of aluminum phosphate. The first 
point is more doubtful, though several physicians of great authority 
(Carpenter, Dundas, Thomson, Gibbon, Normandy) have considered its 
action very deleterious, and that it causes dyspepsia and constipation. 
Pereira considered that whatever may have been the effect in the case of 
healthy persons, sick persons did really suffer in that way. A question like 
this is obviously difficult of that strict proof we now demand in medicine. 


1 Archives Gen. de Méd., 1848, p. 244. 
2 Sanderson’s Report in Syd. Soc. Year-Book for 1862, p. 462. we 
% Virchow’s Archiv, Bana xliii. p. 173. 4 Journal of the Society of Arts, April 1865. 


292 FOOD. 
Seeing, indeed, that the usual effect of bad flour is flatulence and diarrhea, 
if constipation were decidedly produced by bread, it would be more likely 
to proceed from alum than from any other ingredient of the bread. Looking 
again to the fact that sometimes bread has contained large quantities of 
alum,—sometimes as much as 40 grains in a 4-Ib loaf, and probably more,— 
We get an amount in an ordinary meal which (if the aluminum phosphate 
is an astringent) might very well cause constipation. Looking, then, to the 
positive evidence, and the reasonableness of that evidence, it seems extremely 
likely that strongly alumed bread does produce the injurious effects ascribed 
to it. 

The addition of alum is forbidden by law. 

Sulphuric acid is said to be added! before grinding instead of alum: it 
has the same power of preventing decay. 

Sulphate of Copper.—The amount is so small that it seldom produces 
any symptoms ; still it is possible that some anomalous cases of stomach 
irritation might be owing to this. 

Lead.—Dr Alford,” medical officer for Taunton, reports a case of poison- 
ing from lead getting into flour. Six or seven families, including fifteen to 
twenty persons, suffered, some very severely. The water was analysed, but 
no lead found, and then it was noted that the persons attacked all got their 
flour from the same mill. On making inquiries, it was found that the mill- 
stones used had (from the nature of the stone) large spaces in them, which 
had been filled up with lead! It was mentioned at the meeting of the 
sanitary authority, by one of the members, that lead was not usually 
employed in that way, that what was generally used was red-lead and borax, 
or alum and borax, both highly objectionable. If such be the case, this is 
another possible source of alum, which ought to be recollected. 

Lolium temulentum gives rise to narcotic symptoms. 

Flour from other Grains.—I\t is not known whether the addition of 
potatoes, rice, barley, peas, &c., in any way injures health, except as it may 
affect nutrition or digestion. Occasionally, in times of famine, other sub- 
stances are mixed—chestnuts, acorns, &c. In 1835, during famine, fatal 
dysentery appeared in Kénigsberg owing to the people mixing their flour 
with the pollen of the male catkin of the hazel bush. In India the use of a 
vetch, Lathyrus sativus (kisari-dal), with barley or wheat, gives rise to a 
special paralysis of the legs when it exceeds one-twelfth part of the flour ; 
L. cicera has the same effect. During the siege of Paris, straw, to the 
extent of one-eighth, was introduced into the bread: this had a very 
irritating effect. 


SECTION III. 
BARLEY. 


As an article of diet, barley has the same advantages and disadvantages as 
wheat. It is said to be rather laxative (Pereira), and it was noticed by the 
late Dr Parkes that, either from this cause or from the imperfect separation 
of the sharp husks, barley bread was particularly unsuited for dysenteric 
cases. The barley grain contains about as much protein bodies as wheat, 


1 Dr Angus Smith, Annual Report of the Manchester and Salford Sanitary Association 
for 1863.—Report of Sub-Committee. 

2 Sanitary Record, May 25, 1877. 

* Dr Irvine (Jndian Annals, Jan. 1868) described the symptoms produced by the Kisari- 
dal, or Lathyrus. The first symptoms are gastro-intestinal irritation, and the paraplegia 
follows on this. 


BARLEY—OATS. 293 


and these consist of glutin-casein, glutin-fibrin, mucedin, and albumen.! 
In the table on page 243 an analysis of barley meal is given, showing its 
richness in nitrogenous principles. The analysis of pearl barley is from 
Professor Church, and shows a much smaller amount, due perhaps to the 
more complete removal of the outer envelope ; but in a sample analysed at 
Netley as much as 11°37 of albuminoids was found. Barley is certainly 
very nutritious, and the Greeks trained their athletes on it. Its richness in 
phosphoric acid and iron render it particularly adapted for this. 

Choice of Barley (Scotch or pot barley, viz., the grain without the husks). 
—For the barley grains the same points are to be attended to as in wheat. 

For the pearl barley (which is merely the grain rounded off) the best 
tests are the physical characters, colour, freedom from dust, grit, and insects, 
and the test of cooking. 

The patent prepared or powdered barley should be examined with the 
microscope ; any kind of cheaper grain may be mixed with it. 

Diseases arising from Altered Quality.—These are the same as those of 
wheat, viz., indigestion, flatulence, and diarrhoea. There appears to be 
nothing peculiar in the action of diseased barley as distinguished from 
diseased wheat. 


SECTION IV. 
OATS. 


Oats have been considered even more nutritious than wheat or barley, and, 
certainly, not only is the amount of nitrogenous substance great, but the 
proportion of fat is large. Unfortunately the nitrogenous substance has no 
adhesive property, and bread cannot be made of it ; the amount of indigest- 
_ ible cellulose is large. But, on the other hand, oatmeal has the great advan- 
tage of being very readily cooked, much more so than wheat or barley. The 
researches of Kreusler ? show that the nitrogenous substances of oats contain 
gliadin, and especially glutin-casein. This last substance is that called 
“avenin” by Norton and Johnstone; it approaches very closely to the 
legumin of peas and beans, and is so called by Ritthausen. In nutritive 
properties it causes oatmeal to stand nearer to the Leguminose than the 
cereals do. It contains double as much sulphur as the legumin of peas. 

For this reason, and because it contains much nutriment in small bulk, 
because it can be eaten for long periods with relish, and keeps unchanged for a 
long time, it would seem to be an excellent food for soldiers during war—an 
opinion which does not lose in force when we remember that it formed the 
staple food of one of the most martial races on record, the Scotch Highlanders, 
whom Jackson considered also one of the most enduring. Formerly, when 
oats were badly cleaned, intestinal concretions of the husk and hairs were 
common among those who lived on oatmeal, but these are now uncommon. 
It has been thought to be ‘“‘heating” when taken continually, but this is 
probably a prejudice. The supporting qualities of oatmeal used as a drink, 
imade into a thin gruel, are testified to in hard work by the chief and 
divisional engineers of the Great Western Railway.? 

Adulterations.—Barley meal and the husks of barley, of wheat, and of oat 
itself are added very frequently. A single look through the microscope 


1 Ritthausen, op. cit., p. 103. 

2 Ritthausen, op. cit., p. 125. 

3 On the Issue of a Spirit Ration during the Ashantce Campaign of 1874, Appendix ii., by 
E. A. Parkes, M.D., F.B.S., &c., 1874. 


294 FOOD. 


detects the round and smooth barley starch ; the envelopes are recognised 
with very little more trouble. Rice and maize are also sometimes used. 
The drawings already given will also enable these substances to be detected. 
Hassall found about half the samples of oatmeal adulterated. 

Choice of Oatmeal.—There should be a good proportion of envelope, but 
Ho branny character, which usually arises from barley husks; the starch 
should not be discoloured. A microscopic examination should always be 
made, both for adulterations and Acarz. 


SECTION V. 
MAIZE AND RYE. 


Both these grains are very nutritious ; maize contains a large quantity of 
yellowish fat (6 or 7 per cent.). The glutin cannot be washed out as in 
wheat, though this was stated by Gorham, who found a special substance 
which he termed ‘“‘ Zein.” This is called “ maize-fibrin” by Ritthausen. It 
requires very careful cooking, as otherwise much passes out undigested. 
Dr Johnstone noticed an outbreak of diarrhcea in a military prison clearly 
due to badly cooked maize. It should be soaked in water, but not too long 
(two to four hours), and then thoroughly boiled for several hours (four to 
six) at a rather low heat. Maize cakes are both palatable and nutritious. 

Rye makes a very acid dark bread, which causes diarrhoea in those un- 
accustomed to it; custom, however, soon remedies this, and, as far as 
nutritive value goes, it appears equal to wheat. It contains less vegetable 
fibrin, and more casein and albumen, and a peculiar odorous substance. 


Diseases connected with Maize and Rye. 


It is presumed that alterations in the flour will produce the same dis- 
eases as in the analogous case of wheat. Ergotism is, however, more 
common in rye than any other grain. The Pellagra of Lombardy has been 
ascribed to a fungus (Verderame, or Verdet) forming in the maize. Many 
volumes, with different statements, have been written on this point, and it 
is still doubtful whether or not the Verdet has this effect. The evidence 
is not sufficient, but, on the whole, seems most in favour of the view which 
connects Pellagra with diseased maize. 


SECTION VI. 
RICE. 


The whole grain (paddy) deprived of the husk is sold as rice. There are 
many varieties, of different colours (white, red, brown?) and composition. 
The amount of nitrogenous matter varies greatly, from 3 to 7°5 per cent. 
As an article of diet it has the advantage of an extremely digestible starch- 
grain, and, like the other Cerealia, there is a great admixture of substances ; 
it is, however, poorer in nitrogenous substances than wheat, and is much 
poorer in fat. Consequently, among rice-feeding nations, leguminous seeds 
are taken to supply the first, and animal or vegetable fats to remedy the 
latter defect. Rice is also poor in salts. 

Cooking of Rice.—It should properly be steamed, not boiled, and the ~ 
steaming should be thoroughly done, else the starch grains are not swollen 


MILLET—RAGGY—BUCKWHEAT. 295 


and digestible. If boiled, it should not be for too long a time, otherwise 
the rice (or conjee) water contains some albuminous matter, and the grain 
loses in nutritive power. 

Choice of Rice.—The grains should be clean, without grit ; the individual 
grains without spots or evidence of insects. The size varies much, accord- 


ing to the kind; the large kinds usually command the highest market 
price. 


SECTION VII. 
MILLET, RAGGY, BUCK WHEAT. 


Various other grains belonging to the Cerealia, or to other natural orders, 
but having similar properties, are used as food in different countries. Of 
these, the above-named are chiefly those the medical officer may have to 
report on. 

Millet is used largely in Africa (west coast) and Algeria, in Italy, Spain, 
Portugal, some parts of India, China, &c. 


English Names. Botanical Names. Indian Names. 
Sanwa Chhenawari 
Common millet, Panicum miliaceum, < (Hindustani). 


| Varagi (Tamul). 
Spranih Dank { Dharra (Arabic). 
Small millet, cep EA a peo Olam (Tamul). 
Duna, Joar or Joari (Hind.). 
Spiked millet, Ropediients eatetin, | pee Goan 
Golden-coloured millet, Sorghum saccharatum, 
Italian millet, Setaria Italica, , ne fens (Hind) 
enay (Tamul). 
German millet, Setaria Germanica, 
Ragi or Raggy (Hind., 

Canarese, and Tamul). 
) Murha and Maud in the 

N. Proy. of Hindustan.? 

The millets are very similar in composition (as given in the table, p. 243). 
The ash is rich in silica and phosphates. 

Millet bread is very good, and some was issued to the troops in the last 
China Expedition. This should always be done in a millet country, if 
wheat or barley cannot be got. In Northern China millet is almost ex- 
clusively used. 

Raggy or Ragi, Murha and Maud of the upper provinces (Hleusine 
corocana), is largely used in Southern India (Mysore) and in some parts of . 
Northern Hindustan, and is considered even more nutritive than wheat. 
It is indestructible, and can be preserved for many years (even sixty) in dry 
grain pits. 

Buckwheat is not so likely to be used. It is poor in nitrogenous sub- 
stances (7 to 8 per cent.) and fat, and contains a good deal of indigestible 
cellulose, but it makes a good-tasting bread. 


Hleusine corocana, 


1 The larger grains—especially the American kinds—-have often much less flavour than the 
smaller and less attractive Indian kinds. K 

2 The native names of the Indian grains and pulses used, especially in Southern India, are 
given very fully in a paper by Mr Elliot (Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, July 1862); and 
also in Mr Cornish’s excellent paper (Madras Medical Journal, February 1864). 


296 FOOD. 


SECTION VIII. 
LEGUMINOS &. 


The Leguminose, in respect of dietetic properties, are broadly dis- 
tinguished from other vegetables by their very large amount of nitrogenous 
substance, called legumin or vegetable casein ; there are, in addition, a little 
albumen and other protein bodies. The advantages of peas and beans as 
articles of diet are the great amount of legumin, and the existence of much 
sulphur and phosphorus in combination with the legumin ; in salts also they 
are a little richer than the Cerealia, especially in potash and lime, but are 
rather poorer in phosphoric acid and magnesia; 1 tb of peas contains about 
168 grains of salts. The disadvantage of peas and beans is a certain amount 
of indigestibility ; about 6°5 per cent. of the indigested pea passes out un- 
changed, and starch-cells, giving a blue reaction with iodine, are found in 
the feeces ; much flatus is also produced by the hydrogen sulphide formed 
from the legumin. Still, they are a most valuable article of food, and 
always ought to be used when much exercise is taken, as they are an ex- 
cellent addition to meat and Cerealia. Both men and beasts can be 
nourished on them alone for some time. Added to rice, they form the 
staple food of large populations in India. Mr Cornish mentions that, in the 
Sepoy Corps, the men are much subject to diarrhoea from the too great use 
of the “dal” (Cajanus indicus). Gram (Cicer arietinum), although chiefly 
used for horses and cattle, is sometimes employed as food for men in India: 
it makes palatable and nutritious cakes. 

Choice of Pea.—By keeping, peas lose their colour, become very pale and 
much shrivelled, and extremely hard. Anything like decomposition, or 
existence of insects, is at once detected. The powder does not keep very 
long ; the whole peas should be split. The microscope should be used to 
detect Acarus. 

Cooking of Peas and Beans.—They must be boiled slowly, and for a long 
time, otherwise they are very indigestible. If old, no amount of boiling 
softens them,—in fact, the longer they are boiled the harder they become; 
they should then be soaked in cold water for twenty-four hours, crushed, 
and stewed ; in this way even very old peas may be made digestible and 
palatable. Chalk-water must be avoided in the case of peas as of other 
vegetables, as the lime-salts form insoluble compounds with the legumin. 

Lathyrus sativus (Kisari-dal of India).—Occasionally in Europe, and con- 
stantly in some parts of India, this vetch has been used when mixed with 
wheat or barley flour for bread. When used in too great quantities, it 
produces (without there being necessarily any alteration of the grain ?) 
constipation, colic, and some form of indigestion, and, if eaten in large 
quantity, paraplegia. It is also injurious to horses, but less so to oxen. 
In Bengal, Dr Irvine! found in some villages no less than from 10 to 15 
per cent. of the people paralytic from this cause. From its composition, it 
would not appear to be innutritious. 


1 Indian Annals, 1857. TIbid., Jan. 1868, p. 89, Dr Irvine notices the resemblance of the 
symptoms to the Barbiers of Bontius. 


STARCHES—ARROWROOTS —TAPIOCA. 297 


SECTION IX. 
STARCHES! AND SUGAR. 


Sus-Secrion J.—ARRowRooTS. 


Maranta Arrowroot (West Indian).—The chief kind is obtained from 
Maranta arundinacea. The quality of Maranta arrowroot is judged of by 
its whiteness ; by the grains being aggregated into little lumps, and by the 
jelly being readily made, and being firm, colourless, transparent, and good 
tasted. The jelly remains firm for three or four days without turning thin 
or sour, whereas potato flour jelly in twelve hours may become thin and 
acescent. Under the microscope the starch grains are easily identified. 
They are slightly ovoid, like potato starch, but have a mark or line at the 
larger end (the hilum of the potato starch is at the smaller end); the 
concentric lines are well marked. The most common adulterations are 
sago, tapioca, and potato starch. All these starch grains are readily de- 
tected by the microscope. 

Curcuma Arrowroot.—Arrowroot obtained from Curcuma has the same 
physical characters as Maranta, but under the microscope the starch grains 
are large and oblong, marked with very distinct concentric lines, which, 
however, are not entire circles, having an indistinct hilum at the smaller end. 

Manihot Arrowroot.—This comes from Rio, and is obtained from Jatropha 
manihot. 'The starch grains are very marked.! From this starch tapioca 
is made. 

Tacca or Otaheiti Arrowroot.—Hassall gives a figure which shows that 
the starch grains resemble those of Manihot. 

Arum Arrowroot.—The Arum or Portland arrowroot has small, angular, and 
facetted starch grains, which cannot be confounded with any of the former. 
They are a little like maize. This is sometimes called Portland Sago. 

British or Potato Arrowroot.—Under the term “Farina,” potato starch 
is sold in the market, so white and crackling, and making so good a jelly, 
that it is not always easy to distinguish it from Manzhot. The microscope 
at once detects it. The pear-shaped grains, marked hilum towards the 
smaller end, and the swelling with weak liquor potassee, render a mistake 
impossible. In making the jelly a much larger quantity is required than 
of Maranta arrowroot. Maranta arundinacea, mixed with twice its weight 
of hydrochloric acid, produces a white opaque paste, whereas potato starch 
treated similarly produces a transparent acid jelly-like paste. 

Canna or Tous-les-Mois Arrowroot, obtained from Canna edulis, N.O. 
Marantaceew.—The starch grains are like those of the potato, but much 
larger, and the concentric lines are beautifully marked and distinct.! 


Sus-Section I[.—Tapioca. 


This is obtained from the finest part of the pith of Jatropha manihot or 
Cassava. 

Under the microscope the starch grains are small, with a central hilum ; 
and sometimes three or four adhere together and form compound grains. 

It is adulterated with sago and potato starch, both of which are easily 
detected by the microscope. 


1 See table, p. 298-9, and plate of drawings by Dr Maddox further on. 


298 FOOD. 


Sus-Section IIl.—Saco./ 


The best kinds are derived from the sago palm (Sagus farinifera), but 
the sago of Cycas circinalis is also sold ; it is, however, inferior. 

Granulated sago is either “common” or “ pearl”; the latter is chiefly 
used in hospitals. The starch is soluble in cold as well as in hot water. 
‘The starch grains are elongated, rounded at the larger end, and compressed 
at the other; and hence “their shape is quite different from the potato 
starch. The hilum is a point, or more often a cross, slit, or star, and is 
seated at the smaller end, whereas in Maranta arrowroot the hilum is at 
the larger end. Rings are more or less clearly seen. 

In the market is a factitious sago made of potato flour. This is some- 
times coloured red or brownish, either from cochineal or sugar. In thirty 
specimens Hassall found five to be factitious. The microscope easily detects 
potato starch. 

It is sometimes difficult to remember the characters of the different 
forms of starch, but it may be to a certain extent facilitated by a tabulated 
arrangement. The following table has been compiled by Dr J. D. Mac- 
donald, NS elo: 


Microscopical discrimination of the principal Arrowroots and Starches. 


I. Starches with isolated smooth or unfacetted grains, being originally 
free in the cell cavity. 


General Characters. Particular Characters. Name. 
A. ~ co a’ ~ 
‘donk Form. Hilum. if Form. Hilum. | 
| | Outlineeven. Con- Avlum distinct. Potato; British 
tinuous rings, ob- arrowroot. | 
lique, including 
( Grains large. more than half 
Hilumat } the grain. 
| the small }\ Outlineeven. Con- ( Hilum distinct. Tous - les - Mois | 
| end. tinuous rings, | (Canna) arrow- | 
nearly transverse, } root. 
| including less } 
than half the | Hilum indistinct. Curcuma arrow- 
| A.—Contour | . eam ( is 
ovoid. | i ; e 
1 Hilum | Outli Hil lit-like, tri. B d Man Y 
serena (Outline _ uneven, ilum slit-like, tri- Bermuda (Mar- | 
| often with beak- radial or crucial. anta)  arrow- | 
like projections. root. 
Grains me- . 
: dium sized. | Outline more even, Alum similar, but St Vincentarrow- | 
eg Hilumat + beak less _ fre- less apparent. root. 
Sel the larger | quently seen. 
34 ft end. | i 
& Whole grain still Alum similar, but Natal arrowroot. | 
5 smoother and still less marked. 
( more regular. 
Hilum (Grains often broad Hilum  cleft-like, Bean starch. 
B.—Contour J longitudinal | Pe OHNE eee ee ny 
: < on eA ar. 
oval, | ee | Grainsnarrowerand Ailwmlesspuckered Pea starch. 
Hose ( more uniform. and more regular. 
(Surface convex at Wheat starch. 
thehilum. Grains 
large and minute 
. ( Form lenticular se ONE 
C.—Contour § HMilum * | Surfacedepressedat Barley starch. 
| round. (central. thehilum. Grains 
J large, medium- 
1  sized,and minute. 
Form spherical. { Hilum often deeply Rye starch. 


\ fissured, star-like. 


1. Potato Starch 4. St Vincent Arrowroot 7. Rio Arrowroot 
} 2. Bermuda Arrowroot 5. Sago of Commerce 8. Tapioca 
q 3. Tous les Mois 6. Port Natal Arrowroot 9. Maize 


SUGAR—SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 299 


II. Starches with the grains facetted by original juxtaposition in the cell 
cavity. Hilum central. 
( (Grains very large, with a Sago. 
central sinus or caver- 
nous antrum. 
(Rings sinuous, irregular. ) 


| ( Hilum often 
| cavernous. } 

A.—Often presenting the 

rounded free surface of } L 

grains originally super- } 

ficial in the cluster. 


Grains small. Tapioca. 
(Sago in miniature. ) 


| . Grains smal]l. Rio arrowroot. 
; | ee stel- J (Like Tapioca without 
= tat preparation. ) 
3} (Gas Grains small. Maize. 
= ee er (Discoidal with facetted 
: margin.) 
B. —Altogether facetted. 4 ( In rounded glo- Oats. 
| meruli or com- 
| pound grains, 
| Hilumincon- § Grains } and free in the 
 spicuous. | minute. | cells. 
| | Closely packed Rice. 
in the cells, 
v L and fixed. 


Sup-Section [V.—SuGarR. 


Choice and Examination.—The sugar should be more or less white, crys- 
talline, not evidently moist to the touch, and should dissolve entirely in 
water, or leave merely small fragments, which, on examination with the 
microscope, will be found to be bits of cane. The whiter the quality the 
less is the percentage of water, which varies in different kinds of sugar, from 
about 0-25 per cent. (in the finest sugar) to 9 or even 10 per cent. (in the 
coarser brown sugars). Most of the sugar now sold is very good and pure. 

The unpurified sugars contain albuminous matters which decompose, and 
a sort of fermentation occurs. Acarus, or the sugar-mite, is usually found 
in such sugar, which is not known to be hurtful. ungi also are very fre- 
quently present. 


SECTION X. 
SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 


Almost all other vegetables (except potatoes) are used, not so much on 
account of nutritive qualities, as for the supply of salts ; some of them, how- 
ever, contain very digestible starch and sugar, or other substances, such as 
pectin or asparagin, or peculiar oils which act as condiments, as in onions. 


Sup-Section I.—Poratons (Sozavum TUBEROSUM). 


The potato contains only a small amount of nitrogenous matter and 
hardly any fat. Its ash is also poor in potash and phosphoric acid. But its 
starch is very digestible, and it contains a large quantity of vegetable acids 
and their salts (malates? tartrates? citrates), which form carbonates on in- 
cineration. he juice is acid, and there is no better anti-scorbutic. The 
acids are combined with potash, soda, and lime. 

As the amount of salts is small, and that of water large, at least 8 to 12 
ounces of potatoes should be taken daily if no other vegetables are eaten 
(=8 ounces at 1 per cent. of salts contain 35 grains; at 1°5 per cent. =52°5 
grains). 


300 FOOD. 


Choice.—Potatoes should be of good size, firm, cut with some resistance, 
and present no evidence of disease or fungt. | 
A still better judgment may be formed by taking the specific gravity, | 
and using the following tables :—Multiply the specific gravity by the factor : 
opposite it, and divide by 1000; the result is the percentage of solids:— 


Specific gravity, Specific gravity, 


between Backers between Factor. 
1061-1068 16 1105-1109 24 : 
1069-1074 18 1110-1114 26 
1075-1082 20 1115-1119 27 
1083-1104 22 IM2Z0=1l29 28 


If the starch alone is to be determined, deduct 7 from the factor, and — 
proceed as before ; the result is the percentage of starch. 
If the specific gravity of the potato is— 


Below 1068 The quality is very bad. 
Between 1068-1082 a inferior. 
Between 1082-1105 a rather poor. 
Above 1105 sn good. 
Above 1110 5 best. 


As, however, the medical officer will seldom have an hydrometer! which 
will give so high a specific gravity, and must work, therefore, with a common 
urinometer, the following plan must be adopted :—Take a sufficient quantity 
of water, and dissolve in it $ an ounce or an ounce of salt, and take the 
specific gravity ; then add another } ounce or ounce, and take again the 
specific gravity ; do this two or three times, so as to get the increase of 
specific gravity for each addition of a known quantity of salt ; then add salt 
enough to bring up the specific gravity to the desired amount. This is, of 
course, not quite accurate, but in the absence of proper instruments it is the 
only plan that seems feasible. 

Cooking of Potatoes.—The skins should not be taken off, or a large amount 
of salts passes into the water; using salt water is a good plan, as fewer of 
the salts then pass out. The boiling must be complete, as the starch-grains 
are otherwise undigested, and it must be slow, else the cellulose and albu- 
minates are hard. Steaming potatoes is by far the best plan; the heat must 
be moderate ; the steam penetrates everywhere, and there is no loss of salts. 

Preservation of Potatoes.—Sugar, in the form of molasses, is the best plan 
on a large scale ; a cask is filled with alternate strata of molasses and peeled 
and sliced potatoes. Onasmall scale, boiling the potatoes for a few minutes 
will keep them for some time. Free exposure to air, turning the potatoes 
over and at once removing those that are bad, are useful plans.” 

The preserved potatoes are sliced, dried, and granulated, and when well 
prepared are extremely useful. 

The Sweet Potato and the Yam are somewhat similar to the ordinary 
potato, and form good substitutes when potatoes cannot be obtained. 


Sus-Secrion I].—OrTHerR VEGETABLES. 


The composition of Carrots and Cabbage has been already given. The 
composition of the other kinds of vegetables is similar. 


1 Baumé’s or Twaddell’s hydrometers are the best for the purpose. 

2 In the Crimean war there was a considerable loss of potatoes sent up to Balaclava, and 
at a time when the men were most in need of them. The addition of sugar to the raw pota- 
toes might have been made. 


COoW’S MILK. 301 


Some vegetables contain special ingredients, such as asparagin in aspara- 
gus (a small amount is also contained in potatoes), wax, pectin, which is a 
little more oxidised than starch or sugar; or peculiar oils and savoury or 
odoriferous matters. 

On account of its volatile oils, the onion tribe is largely used, and is a 
capital condiment, and has an effect as an anti-scorbutic. It contains some 
citrate of calcium. 

There are many vegetables which can be employed as anti-scorbutics 
besides potatoes, onions, and green vegetables. The wild artichokes and 
Agave americana (cactus) are both excellent anti-scorbutics, and the latter 
is said to be better than lime-juice. Sorrel, and, in a less degree, scurvy- 
grass and mustard and cress, are useful. In New Mexico a salad made of the 
“Jamb’s quarter” (Chenopodium album) has been found very useful. 

In war almost any kind of vegetables may be used rather than that the 
troops should be left without such food. In one of the Caffre wars, an 


African corps kept free from scurvy by using a sort of grass (?) in their 


soup. 

The dried vegetables, and especially the dried potato, have considerable 
anti-scorbutic powers (Armstrong).2 The dandelion was largely used in the 
French army in the Crimean war. The American Indians put up for winter 
quantities of dried plums, buffalo berries, and choke berries, and thus escape 
scurvy.® 

If vegetables cannot be procured, lime-juice ought to be given ; or citric 
acid, or citrate, tartrate, and lactate of potassium. These can be carried as 
lozenges. 


SECTION XI. 


COWES eT ae 


A cow gives very variable quantities of milk, according to food and race, 
and age of the calf; perhaps 20 to 25 pints in twenty-four hours is the 
average for the year; but with poor feeding it will fall much below this ; 
occasionally a cow, soon after calving, will give 50 pints, but this is not 
common. A goat will give 6 to 8 pints. 


Sus-Section I.—MILk as AN ARTICLE oF DIET. 


Milk contains all the four classes of aliment essential to health. Being 
intended especially for feeding during growth, the proportions of nitrogenous 
substances and fat, as compared to sugar, are large. 

For the average composition of good milk, see table, p. 243. . 

In addition to casein, a small quantity of true albumen remains in solution 
after the casein has been thrown down; and there is also, according to 


1 Mil., Med., and Surg. Essays prepared for the U. S. Sanitary Com., 1864, p. 202. This 
curious name is said to be given to Atriplex patula, on account of its blossoming about the 
1st August, from Lammas quarter (Palmer’s Polk Etymology, quoting from Prior). 

2 Naval Hygiene, p. 112. In the American war, however, the anti-scorbutic effects of the 
dried vegetables were not found to be very great. Dr de Chaumont found that, in a sound 
raw potato, the amount of free and combined acid (reckoned as citric) was 0°5405 per cent. ; 
and that in the preserved potato used in the Arctic Expedition (1875-76) it was 1:085; or in 
the ratio of 1 to 2-4. From this we find that 7 ounces of the preserved potato contained the 
equivalent of 314 grains of citric acid, or one ounce of navy lime-juice. The ration usually 
issued (2 to 4 ounces) is therefore too small, unless other anti-scorbutics be given. (See 
Report of Committee on Sewrvy, Appendix, xiii. 365.) 

* Hamilton’s Mil. Swrg., p. 222. 


~ 


302 FOOD. 


Millon,! another albuminoid substance, which he calls lactoprotein. In 
cow’s milk the amount of albumen is said to be 5:25 grammes per litre; the 
amount of lactoprotein is much smaller, but has not been precisely de- 
termined.” 

The amount of salts varies from 0°5 to 0°8 per cent., but seldom, if ever, — 
exceeds 1 per cent. The usual average is about 0°7 to 0°75. This is of 
importance in the detection of adulteration by salts. In poor milk the salts 
may be as low as 0°3 per cent. 

Milk is very largely used in some countries, especially in India and Tartary, 
where the use of the koumiss, prepared from mare’s milk, has been supposed 
to prevent phthisis. This fermented drink is now also prepared from cow’s | 
milk, and largely used in this country. 

Milk varies in quantity and composition according to—l1s¢, the age of the | 
cow ; 2nd, the number of pregnancies, less milk being given with the first | 
calf (Hassall) ; 3rd, to the age of the calf, being at first largely mixed with 
colostrum ; 4th, to the kind of feeding, beet and carrot augmenting the 
sugar ;° 5th, and remarkably according to the race, some cows giving more 
fat (as Alderneys), others more casein (as the long-horns). The last portion 
of the milk given in milking is richest in cream (Hassall). 

Wanklyn states that the proportion of solids is more stable, and never — 
falls below 11-5 per cent. In Sweden, the milk of a herd of cows being | 
analysed daily for a year, the solids never fell to 11°5, and only four times to 
12 per cent. (Wanklyn). 

The goat’s milk is rather richer in solids (14:4 per cent.—Payen), and | 
contains also a peculiar smelling acid (hircin or hircic acid). Specific 
gravity, 1032-1036. 

Ass’s milk is rather poorer in solids (9°5 per cent.—Payen). This is 
owing to a small amount of casein and fat; itis rich in lactin. The specific 
gravity varies from 1023 to 1035. 

The buffalo milk is richer in all the ingredients. 

Taking the total solids of cow’s milk at 13-2 per cent. (specific gravity 
1030), one pint (20 ounces) will contain, in round numbers— 


Casein, : : : : : : 350 grains, 
Fat, . : : : Bee Be 
Lactin, ; : ; : : : 420, 
Salts, : : : : ; 6 
Total, . : 5 NG og 7 


or more than 24 ounces avoir. of water-free food. 

To give 23 ounces of water-free food (or one day’s allowance for an adult), 
about 9 pints of milk, of specific gravity 1030, are necessary. For an 
adult this would be far too much water, and the albuminoids and fat would 
be in great excess. But for the rapid formation and elimimation of the 
young, the water and fat are essential. It is a question whether, in old age, 
large quantities of milk might not be a remedy for failures in tissue forma- 
tion and elimination,* 


1 Comptes Rendus, t. lix. p. 396. 

2 Commaille (Comptes Rendus, Nov. 9, 1868) found creatinin in some putrid milk, derived, 
he thinks, from creatin. He admits also, after Lefort, that there is a little urea. He found 
also some organic acids, the nature of which is doubtful. 

2 Some observations of Dr Subbotin (Virchow’s Archiv, Band xxxvi. p. 561) on the milk of 
bitches show a marked effect by food: the fat was much increased by meat; the casein was 
less affected; a large quantity of fat greatly lessened the secretion. 

4 This was a point debated by Galen, so old is this suggestion. It isstill undecided. Some 
old persons cannot digest milk, but this difficulty might be obviated by its being peptonised. 


ALTERATIONS AND PRESERVATION OF MILK. 303 


Sup-Secrion I].—AtLtrerations oF MILK. 


The cream rises in from four to eight hours ; it is hastened by adding warm 
water, but its quantity is not increased (Hassall). The centrifugal appa- 
ratus now in use remoyes all, or nearly all the cream in a few minutes. 

Milk alters on standing ; it absorbs oxygen, and gives off CO, ; placed in 
contact with a volume of air greater than its own bulk, it absorbs all the 
oxygen in three or four days (Hoppe-Seyler). The CO, is formed at the 
expense of the organic matter (probably casein—Hoppe-Seyler), and bodies 
richer in carbon and hydrogen are formed ; fat increases in amount, and 
oxalic acid is said to be formed. 

Subsequently lactic acid is formed in large quantities from the lactin ; the 
milk becomes turbid, and finally casein is deposited. The cream which had 
previously risen to the surface disappears. 


Milk given by Diseased Cows. 


Milk from diseased animals soon decomposes ; it may contain colostrum, 
or heaps of granules collected in roundish masses, pus cells, or epithelium, 
and occasionally blood. It then soon becomes acid, and the microscope 
usually detects abnormal cell forms, and casts of the lacteal tubes. 

In cattle plague, it is said by Husson that the lactin lessens, while the 
nitrogenous matters are increased, and blood and aggregated granules are 
seen under the microscope. In foot-and-mouth disease the specific gravity 
rapidly falls (from 1030 to 1024), though this is not invariable; there are 
granular heaps under the microscope, and often blood or pus cells; Mr 
M‘Bride says pus can be found for a month after recovery. Bacteria and 
small oval and round cells are common.!' The milk sometimes coagulates 
on boiling. 


Sup-Section II].—PRESERVATION oF MILK. 


1. Boiled, the bottle quite filled, and at once corked up and well sealed, 
the milk lessens in bulk, and a vacuum is formed above. It will keep for 
some time. A little sugar aids the preservation. If the heat is carried in a 
close vessel to 250° Fahr., the milk is preserved for a long time, even for 
years; the butter may separate, but this is of no consequence, 

2. Sulphur dioxide passed through it, or sodium sulphite added. This 
may be done after boiling. 

3. A little sodium carbonate and sugar added, with or without boiling. 
This will keep for ten days or a fortnight. 

4. The addition of salicylic acid, borax, boracic acid, or boroglyceride 
(Barff’s patent). 

In the market are—milk in tins, preserved in the usual way by exclusion 
of air, concentrated milk mixed with sugar, and desiccated or dried milk. 
This last is milk carefully dried at a low temperature, with a little sugar. 
Dissolved in water, it forms an excellent milk. 

The preserved liquid milk often has the butter separated; if so, it may be 
spread on bread. It is not easy to remix it with milk, but it is said that 
the separation may be prevented by adding a little yolk of egg. 


1 Figures of the microscopical appearances are given in some very good papers on the sub- 
ject in the British Medical Journal, Oct. 1869. 


“ 


304 FOOD. 


Sus-Section 1[V.—HFrrects oF Bap Minx. 


Professor Mosler? has directed attention to the poisonous effects of “blue 


milk,”? that is to say, milk covered with a layer of blue substance, which is 


in fact a fungus, either Oidiwm lactis or Penicillium, which seems to have 


the power, in certain conditions, of causing the appearance in the milk of 
an aniline-like substance.? The existence of this form of fungus was noted 
by Fuchs as long ago as 1861. Milk of this kind gives rise to gastric irrita- 


tion (first noted by Steimhof); and, in four cases mentioned by Mosler, it | 


produced severe febrile gastritis. 
Milk which is not blue, but which contains large quantities of Oidium, 
appears from Hessling’s observations! to produce many dyspeptic symptoms, 


and even cholera-like attacks, as well as possibly to give rise to some aph- — 


thous affections of the mouth in children. 

Milk contaminated with pus from an inflamed udder, or an abscess on the 
udder, will give rise to stomatitis in children, and to aphthz on the mucous 
membrane of the lips and gums.°® 

There has been much discussion whether the milk from foot-and-mouth 
disease in cows (Hezema epizootica) can cause affections of the mouth, or 


give rise in human beings to any disease similar to that of cattle. Pigs can | 


certainly get the disease from the milk of the cow; sheep and hares, which 
also have the disease, perhaps get it from the saliva on herbage. In men 
the evidence is discordant, and in a great measure negative ;° still there are 
some striking cases, which seem sufficient to prove that disease of the mouth 
(aphthous ulceration, general redness, diphtheritic-like coating, swollen 
tongue), and sometimes, though rarely, an affection of the feet may occur.’ 
Some positive evidence has been adduced by Professor M‘Bride,® Gooding,® 
Hislop,!? Latham,!" and Briscoe.!* It is, of course, possible that some pus or 
blood from abscesses on the teat or udder may have got into the milk, but 
it is unlikely that this should have been overlooked. 

A remarkable outbreak, which took place in Aberdeen in April 1881, has 
been recorded by Dr Beveridge. The symptoms were febrile, but anoma- 
lous, and their cause is as yet unexplained. The cases were limited to the 
area of a particular milk supply, 88 per cent. of the families using the milk 
being attacked.’ There seems reason to believe that bovine tuberculosis 
may be communicated to man through milk.“ 


1 Virchow’s Archiv, Band xliii. p. 161 (1868). 

2 Blue milk is given by feeding cows with some vegetable substances, as Myosotis palustris, 
Polygonum aviculare and fagopyrum, Mercurialis perennis, and other plants (Mosler) ; but 
this is different from the blue colour referred to above. 

8 Erdmann (Jowrnal fir Prakt. Chem., xcix. p. 385, quoted by Mosler) has discovered that 
vibriones have the power of producing aniline colouring matter from protein substances. 

4 Virchow’s Archiv, Band xxxy. p. 561. See also Report on Hygiene, Army Medical 
Rep ort, vol. vi. p. 385. 

> See a good ease by Dr Fagan (British Med. Journal, Nov. 13, 1869). 

6 See Dr Thorne’s paper in the Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, p. 294, 
and Mr Simon’s remarks on it, p. 62. Also Report on Hygiene, Army Med. Blue Book, 
vol. x. p. 225. Dr Lawson Tait’s negative evidence against it is exceedingly strong (Medical 
Times and Gazette, October 1869); the disease was all round, and the milk was used, yet not 
a case occurred which could be referred to it. See also Whitmore’s evidence in Marylebone 
(British Medical Journal, Oct. 1869). 

7 A case of the foot being involved is recorded by Mr Amyot (Med. Times and Gazette, 

Nov. 4, 1871). 

8 Brit. Med. Journal, Nov. 15, 1869. An anonymous writer in the same Journal, Sept. 
1869, adduces also a few doubtful cases (p. 327), though his evidence is otherwise negative. 

9 Medical Times and Gazette, Jan. 1872. 10 Hdin. Med. Journal, Nov. 1868. 

British Medical Journal, May 1872. 12 Thid., Oct. 1872. 

13 Sanitary Record, vol. ii. new series, p. 425. 

14 On Bovine Tuberculosis in Man, Creighton. 


UNWHOLESOME MILK—BUTTER. 305 


A peculiar disease has several times prevailed in the Western States of 
America, which is caused by the unboiled (not by the boiled) milk of cows 
affected with the “trembles,” which is supposed to be produced by the cows 
feeding on Rhus Toxicodendron. In children who get this milk-sickness, 
there is extreme weakness, vomiting, fall in bodily temperature, swollen and 
dry tongue, and constipation. Boiling appears to remove the hurtful quali- 
ties of the milk.! Cases of severe diarrhcea have occurred from the use of 
milk from goats that had fed on Huphorbium ; this has been observed at 
Malta. 

Milk may also be a means of conveying the poisons of enteric fever, of 
scarlet fever, and of diphtheria. In the first, it has probably usually arisen 
from the watering of the milk with foul water containing the agent,” but it 
may possibly have in some cases arisen from the typhoid effluvia being 
absorbed by the milk, as in the case at Leeds. The scarlet fever and diph- 
theria poisons have probably got into the milk from the cuticle or throat 
discharges of persons affected with those diseases, who were employed in the 
dairy while ill or convalescent, But the recent investigations by Power 
and Klein seem to show pretty conclusively that cows may either be infected 
with scarlatina poison from man, or are liable to a disease which, although 
comparatively mild as regards the animal itself, is capable of communicating 
scarlatina to man. Klein, by means of careful cultivations, has shown that 
the micrococct found in such milk are identical with those found in scarla- 
tina, and that they are also capable of exciting the disease in animals.? 
There seem also grounds for believing that milk may be the means of trans- 
mitting diphtheria from diseased cows, apart from direct contamination from 
human beings. Mr Ernest Hart,* in 1881, collected and tabulated 50 epi- 
demics of enteric fever, 15 of scarlet fever, and 7 of diphtheria, which were 
traced to milk poisoning, and since that time many others have occurred. 

A new poison, a ptomaine, has been discovered by Professor Vaughan of 
the University of Michigan, U.S.° As it was originally found in cheese, he 
gave it the name of Tyrotoxicon, or cheese-poison. He has since found it 
in milk that had been kept a considerable time (three or more months). It 
would thus appear that some time is necessary before its development, but 
it has been found in marked quantity in ice cream, and is probably the cause 
of many of the cases of poisoning by that article which are on record. 


SECTION XII. 
BUTTER. 


As an article of diet, butter supplies to most people the largest amount 
of fat which they take. Many persons take from 1} to 2 oz. daily, if the 
butter used in cooking be included, and the average amount for persons in 
easy circumstances is 1 oz. daily. Butter appears to be easily digested by 
most persons, except when it is becoming rancid. It then causes dyspepsia 
and diarrhcea, and as arule it may be said that decomposing fats of all 
kinds disagree. 


1 Boston Med. and Surg. Journal, January 1868, and Transactions of the Kentucky State 
Medicine Society, quoted in Medical Times and Gazette. There have been many instances 
in the last half century, and they have all been collected by Hirsch. 

ie Report by Mr W. Harvey to the Local Government Board on Fever at Swanage im 


® Lecture to the Royal Institution, by E. Klein, F.R.S., May 1887 ; also Proc. Roy. Soc. 
4 Transactions of the International Medical Congress, vol. iv. p. 31. 
> Report of Michigan State Board of Health; see also Analyst, Nov. and Dec. 1886. 

10) 


306 FOOD. 


COMPOSITION AND EXAMINATION. 


1. Water.—The average amount of water varies from 5 to 10 per cent., but 
may be higher, even in genuine butter. Hassall has found as much as 154 
per cent. in fresh, and 284 per cent. in salt butter ; Wanklyn records 23:6 


“per cent. in fresh butter supplied to Paddington Workhouse. The retail | 


dealer, by beating up the butter in water, endeavours to increase the amount. 
This can be detected by evaporation in a water bath ; if the quantity of water 


be very large, melting the butter will show a little water below the oil. An — 


unusually small amount of water is suspicious (Angell), as suggestive of the 
presence of foreign fat. 

2. Casein.—All butter contains some casein, as some milk is taken up 
with the cream. The best butter contains least. The amount can be told 
roughly by melting in a test tube. The casein collecting in the bottom 
does not exceed one-third of the height of the contents of the tube in the 
best butter, or between one-third and one-half in fair butter. In bad butter 


it may reach to more than this. A better plan is dissolving the fat by. 


ether, washing and then weighing the remainder; the casein then weighs 
from 5 to 3 grains in every 100 of very good butter. In bad butter it is 
much more than this. 

The rancidity of butter is chiefly owing to changes in the fat, produced 
apparently by alterations in the casein, and therefore the greater amount of 
casein the more the chance of rancidity. 

3. Fat.—The fat amounts to from 86 to 92 per cent. of the butter. 
Butter oil consists of volatile fatty acids (butyric, caproic, caprylic, and 
capric) and of non-volatile acids (stearic, palmitic, and oleic), all combined 
with glycerin. In examining it, the butter should be melted in a beaker- 
glass placed in hot water, and the fat should be poured off the casein, and 
allowed to cool. It then forms a solid and usually yellow mass, with the 
characteristic smell of butter, and should be futher examined as follows :— 


(a) Smell, taste, and colour of this recongealed fat.—The smell and taste | 


are very characteristic, and with a little care the quality of butter, and even 
the presence of some adulterations, such as mutton fat, can be determined. 
The colour is usually yellowish white; other fats are white, but annatto 
may be used for colouring them, or true butter may be white, so that the 
coloration is not a safe test. 

(b) Examine the recongealed fat with the microscope.—Butter shows nothing 
but oil globules ; lard and other fats often, but not always, contain acicular 


and stellate crystals of margaric (really a mixture of palmitic and oleic) and — 


stearic acids, as pointed out by Hassall. Starch and other impurities may 
be sometimes seen, and tinged by iodine. The casein left after the fat has 
been poured off should be also examined, and starch, membrane, or other im- 
purities may be seen in it. The polariscope may be used to bring out more 
strongly the stellate stearic acid crystals, if present. Angell and Hehner 


point out that even genuine butter sometimes shows crystals after melting | 
and recongealing ; they therefore think the presence of crystals ground for — 


apprehension only, showing no more than that the fat has been melted. 

(c) Determine the melting-point of the fat after separation from the casen.— 
Some of the fat should be put into a wide tube, and placed in an evaporat- 
ing dish with water ; a thermometer should be in the water and another in 


the fat. Raise the temperature of the water very gradually ; remove the © 
I > B) 


lamp from time to time, so that the temperature of the fat may rise slowly. 


Note the temperature when it begins to melt; when it is completely © 
melted ; and when (after removal from the warm water) it begins to recon- | 


COMPOSITION AND EXAMINATION OF BUTTER. 307 


geal, and becomes quite solid. The melting-points are, however, not con- 
stant, owing to the variable amounts of stearin and olein and the volatile 
fatty acids, but still they run within tolerably narrow limits. 

The temperature when the fat is completely melted appeared to be the 
most marked point in Dr Parkes’ experiments. The butter oil is most 
easily melted, and requires the greatest amount of cooling before recongeal- 
ing; usually there is a difference, often 12° to 15°, between the points of 
commencing and completed fusion. The determination of the melting-point 
is, however, certainly more useful in proving that the butter has only slight 
admixture, than in proving complete purity, ¢.e., the presence of a small 
quantity of lard or beef dripping would not raise the melting-point suffi- 
ciently for detection. In the case of beef dripping, also, the melting-point 
is rather close to that of butter. 


Temperature+ of Melting and Solidifying (Degrees Fahr.). 


Fusion. Solidification. 
Commencing. Completed. Commencing. Completed. | 
Degrees. Degrees, Degrees. Degrees, 5 

Butter oil, “4 ‘ 5 65-68 80-90 70-80 60-822 
Lard, ; : : ; 76-80 100-115 90-100 71-75 
Beef dripping, . : ; 68-85 100-120 90-100 72-76 
Mutton dripping, . : 86-100 140-150 _ 120-130 86-92 
Palm oil,? j : ; 81-92 110 88 69 


(dq) Angell and Hehner* recommend examining the sinking-point, by 
means of a little glass bulb weighted with mercury to 3-4 grammes; the 
mean sinking-point of 24 genuine butters was 35°°5 C. (96° Fahr.), ranging 
ptrom 34°°3 C. to 36°°3 ©. (93°°7 Fahr. to 97°-3 Fahr.). The butter is 
_ melted and poured into a test-tube, and allowed to cool; as it cools a slight 
conical depression appears on the surface ; this must be rendered even by 
remelting the upper part. If other fats are present, the depression is much 
more marked. The tube, with the bulb on the top of the fat, is then 
plunged into a larger beaker of water, which is gradually heated until the 
bulb sinks, the temperature of sinking being noted by means of a thermo- 
meter placed in the water.® 

(e) Another method, recommended by the same chemists, consists in deter- 
mining the percentage of fixed fatty acids, which seems to be pretty constant 
in butter fat, forming about 87-3 per cent. of its weight ; 88°5 being adopted 
as a maximum, whereas most other fats give about 95:5 per cent.,—the difter- 
ence in butter being made up by volatile fatty acids. The plan employed is 
to saponify the fat by boiling with caustic potash and water, to decompose 
the soap with hydrochloric acid, filter and wash with boiling water, and then 
weigh the fatty acids remaining undissolved on the filter. The saponification 


! Dr Parkes attached more importance to the melting-point than to the solution in ether. 

+ It is rare for butter oil to be completely solid at 82°, but Dr Parkes once found it so in an 
undoubtedly pure butter, made during the winter on a gentleman’s private farm. But usually 
butter is not solid till 68° or 65°. 3 Dr Campbell Brown, of Liverpool. 

= Butter : its Analysis and Adulterations, 2nd ed., 1877. 

° Hassall employs a converse plan, using a float instead of a sinker, the temperature at 
which it rises to the surface being noted; this generally occurs about 2° C., or 5°°6 Fahr. 
lower than the sinking-point above mentioned. Other plans have been proposed by Dr 
Tripe, Mr Heisch, Dr Redwood, and Mr Bell. Mr P. Duffy has pointed out the curious fact 
that pork, mutton, and beef fats have two or three allotropic conditions, with different 
melting-points. 


“ 


308 FOOD. 


is much facilitated by commencing the process with methylated spirit, as 
suggested by Mr G. Turner. 

(7) The specific gravity of butter fats has also been suggested by Mr Bell 
as a good means of determining purity. He melts the fat at 100° Fahr., and 
weighs in a specific gravity bottle. He shows that the specific gravity of 
ordinary fats varies between 902°83 and 904°56, whilst that of butter fat 
rarely falls below 910, generally ranging between 911 and 913.1 

4, Salt is added to all butter. In fresh butter it should not be more than 
0-5 to 2 per cent. (8 grains per ounce) ; in salt butter, not more than 8 per 
cent. (35 grains per ounce). To determine the salt, wash a weighed portion 
of butter thoroughly with cold distilled water, and. determine the chloride 
of sodium by standard nitrate of silver. Dr Tidy recommends incineration 
and weighing the residue ; he places the limit at 7 per cent. 

By this method the amount of water, casein, oil, and salt will be deter- 
mined, and the quality of the butter oil will have been examined. 


Scheme for a Short Examination. 


1. Determine quality by the taste and smell of the whole butter, and of 
the melted, poured off, and recongealed fat.? 

2. When melting for the fat in a tube, notice approximate amount of 
casein. 

3. Determine the sinking-point by Angell’s plan, or the floating-point by 
Hassall’s. 

4, Examine butter and recongealed fat with microscope, and add a weak 
solution of iodine to test for starch. 

5. If time and means allow, determine the percentage of fixed fatty acids 
in the butter fat, by Angell and Hehner’s method, or 

6. Determine the specific gravity by Bell’s method. 


Adulterations. 


Butter is supposed to be frequently adulterated with lard, and with Leef, 
mutton, and horse fat, and with vegetable oils. In a process devised by 
Mége-Mouriés,* fresh beef suet is converted into a kind of butter (oleo- 
margarine). But the original process was so complicated that it would not 
pay a dishonest tradesman to do it, and it could only be practised on a large 
scale. 

A similar substance from New York has made its appearance of late years 
in the market under the name of Butterine. Oleo-margarine is now 
generally defined as a preparation of animal fats, whereas butterine is animal 
fat beaten up with milk. Large quantities are manufactured in Holland and 
other countries and sent over to this country. It appears to be a whole- 
some fat, and as long as it is sold honestly as a substitute for butter, but 
not as genuine butter, its introduction will probably be a boon to many on 
account of its cheapness. The sinking-point and the determination of the 
amount of fixed fatty acids would probably detect it when sold for genuine 
butter. The Act of 1887 has now decided that the name Butterie shall be 
no longer used, and that artificial butter shall be known as Margarine. 

Butter is sometimes adulterated by beating up with water : this is frequent 
in the tropics. It is also sometimes mixed with milk (Angell and Hehner). | 


1 Pharmaceutical Journal, July 22, 1876. 
2 Butter becomes rank and bad by the cream being allowed to become sour before churning, 

in consequence of dirty vessels ; it is a good plan to stir up the cream from time to time. 
2 Pharmaceutical Journal, Oct. 1872. 


CHEESE—EGGS. 309 


Potato or other starches are sometimes added. It isa rare adulteration, 
and is at once detected by iodine, either at once or after melting. Gypsum 
and sulphate of barium have been added, it is said ; this must be very rare, 
and be at once detected by melting and pouring everything off the insoluble 
powder, or by incinerating. Annatto is frequently used to colour butter. 

Preservation of Butter.—Pouring water which has been boiled over butter 
will keep it for some time ; but a better plan is one discovered by M. Breon,1 
viz., water acidulated slightly (3 grammes to 1 litre) with acetic or tartaric 
acid, is added, and the whole is placed in a close-fitting vessel. Sugar also 
has a preservative effect, especially when mixed with a little salt. Borax, 
boric acid, or any of the preparations containing these substances, may also 
be employed. 


SECTION XIII. 
CHEESE. 


As an Article of Diet.—It contains a very large amount of nitrogenous 
matter in small bulk (p. 243), and as it is agreeable to the palate, it must be 
an excellent food for soldiers in war. About } tb contains as much nitro- 
genous substance as 1 tb of meat and } of a tb as much fat. It does not, 
however, keep well in warm climates. 

The quality is known by the taste. The only adulteration is from sub- 
stances to give weight. Starch is chiefly employed, and can be detected at 
once by iodine. There is usually about 5 or 6 per cent. of salt. 

Sulphate of copper and arsenious acid are sometimes used to destroy 
insects ; the rind is then the most poisonous part. Copper is detected by 
ammonia or potassium ferrocyanide. Arsenic by any test (Reinsch’s or 
Marsh’s). Sometimes cheese becomes sour, particularly if made from sheep’s 
milk, and may cause diarrhoea. The occasional production of the ptomaine 
tyrotoxicon should be remembered when poisonous symptoms arise. 

Acarus domesticus, Aspergillus glaucus (blue and green mould), and 
Sporendonema casei (red mould) form during decay. During decay the fat 
augments at the expense of the casein; leucin is produced, and valerianic 
and butyric acids. Lactic acid is also often produced, from the lactin of the 
milk contained in the cheese. The aroma of cheese partly arises from this 
decomposition, and the production of volatile acids. 


SECTION XIV. 
EGGS. 


Composition and Choice.—An egg weighs from 600 to 950 grains, or even 
more ;? the average weight is about 2 ounces avoir.; 10 parts are shell 60 
white, and 30 yolk ; the white contains 86 per cent. of water; the yolk 52 


per cent.; 100 grains of egg, therefore, contain— 


10 grains shell. 
22°8 ,, albumen and fat. 
O12 55 waber: 


100-0 


1 Payen, Des Subst. Alim., 4th ed., p. 179. 

2 Dr de Chaumont weighed the egg of a Brahma fowl which weighed 1555 grains, of which 
112 were shell, or 7‘2 per cent., a diminished ratio which would naturally follow from the 
increase of bulk. 


310 FOOD. 


lf an egg weighs 2 ounces, it contains nearly 200 grains of solids; this 
is a convenient number to remember, as 100 grains correspond to 1 ounce. — 

For choice, look through the egg; fresh eggs are more transparent in 
the centre, old ones at the top. Dissolve 1 ounce of salt in 10 ounces of © 
_ Water: good eggs sink ; indifferent swim. Bad eggs will float even in pure 

water. 

Preservation.—Eggs are packed in sawdust or salt, or are covered with 
gum, butter, or oil, or placed in lime-water, with a little cream of tartar.1 
Boiling for half a minute also keeps them for some time ; in fact, anything 
which excludes air. 

The lime-water gives them, it -is said, a peculiar taste, and makes the 
albumen more fluid. 


SECTION XV. 
CONCENTRATED AND PRESERVED FOOD.2 


For the military surgeon this subject is so important, that it is desirable 
to put the chief facts under a separate section. 

It is obvious how important it must be in time of war to have a food 
which may be at once nutritious, portable, easily cooked, and not liable to 
deterioration. Lind’s sagacious mind long ago saw this, and he strongly 
urged the advisability of having on board ship prepared food of this kind. 
It must be remembered, however, that a man must get his 260 to 300, or 
even 350 grains of nitrogen, and 8 to 12 ounces of carbon, in each twenty- 
four hours, besides some hydrogen aud salts. The work of the body when 
in activity cannot be carried on with less; and at present these elements 
cannot be presented to us in a digestible form in a smaller bulk than 22 or 
23 water-free ounces. Concentration at present cannot be carried beyond 
this, and practically has not really been carried to this point. Life, how- 
ever, and vigour may for some days be preserved with a much less amount ; 
and the total amount of food has been reduced to 11 water-free ounces 
daily, with full retention of strength for seven days, though the body was 
constantly losing weight. For expeditions of three or four days, if trans- 
port were a matter of great difficulty, soldiers might be kept on 10 or 12 
ounces of water-free food daily, provided they had been fully fed before- 
hand, and subsequently had time and food to make up the tissues of their 
own bodies, which would be expended in the time, and would not have been 
replaced by the insufficient food. 

When we inquire into the concentrated foods now in the market, some 
of which profess to supply all the substances necessary for nutrition, we 
find many of them not very satisfactory. They are often not so con- 
centrated as they might be, or are deficient in important principles, or are 
disagreeable to the taste. 

Dried Meat.—Meat dried at a very low heat. It has lost the greater 
part of its water, is hard, and requires very careful cooking, but is believed 
to be nutritious when well prepared. 

Messrs M‘Call of London have prepared an excellent dry meat ; it is sold 


1 It is said that covering them with a solution of bees-wax in warm olive oil (4 of bees- 
wax, 4 of olive oil) will keep them for two years.—Chemical News, August 1865, p. 84. 

2 Dr Letheby stated that from 1800 to 1855 there were 177 patents taken out for drying 
and preserving food. Of these 26 were for drying the food, 31 for excluding atmospheric 
air, and 8 for giving an impervious coating. ‘Fhe number has since vastly increased, 
especially in recent years. 


CONCENTRATED AND PRESERVED MEAT. an 


in packets, each of which weighs 4 oz., and is intended for one meal. It 
contains salt and pepper, and 12 per cent. of water. 

Hassall’s Flour of Meat.—Good fresh meat, freed from visible fat, is 
carefully dried at a very low temperature, and is pulverised by machinery, 
so that a very fine smooth powder is formed. This is mixed with about 8 
per cent. of arrowroot, 24 per cent. of sugar, and 3 per cent. of a mixture 
of salts, pepper, spices, and colouring matter. The object of the arrowroot 
is to assist its suspension in water. When to this substance bread and a 
fair amount of fatty and vegetable foods is added, it seems to answer well. 
It keeps very well; but if the open tins are exposed to the air, after several 
months it slightly changes colour, and then acquires a peculiar odour. 
Subsequently it decomposes. But if well fastened, it will keep for a very 
long time. Dr C. A. Meinert! has also brought out a flour or powder of 
meat (Fleischpulver), which is nutritious and digestible. It contains 68 
per cent. of albuminoids, of which 66 per cent. is digestible, including 
extractives. 

Under the terms Jasajos and Charqui, two kinds of meat are prepared 
in South America; it is probable that these terms have not always been 
used in the same sense. According to Mr Bridges Adams, Tasajos is meat 
cut in thin slices, dipped in brine, and then partially dried. Charqui is 
thin strips of muscular fibre from which the fat is removed, dried rapidly 
by sun heat, and sprinkled with maize. 

The dried meat of the Kaffirs (beltong) is very much the same; great 
hunks of beef are sun-dried, and remain undecomposed for a long time. So 
also in Egypt the meat is dried by exposure to the sun and north wind. 

The Pemmican of the Arctic voyagers is a mixture of the best beef and 
fat dried together, and is an excellent food, though rather expensive. Sugar 
is sometimes added, and sometimes raisins and currants; the latter would 
be a very desirable addition where there was a deficiency of vegetable food. 

Liebig’s Hxtractum Carnis is the juice of meat extracted on the following 
plan :—Every particle of meat is separated from fat and tendons, and is 
then subjected for some time to a moderate heat; a viscid dark extract at 
last collects, which contains the salts, creatin, and other organic nitro- 
genous substances. Mixed with warm water, this extract gives a highly 
agreeable and nutritious beef-tea or mutton broth. One tb of mutton gives 
about two-fifths of an ounce of extract. It has the remarkable quality of 
not decomposing; Liebig had some for fifteen years in a bottle loosely 
stoppered. On the other hand, the most of the more fluid or jelly-like 
preparations are apt to decompose or become mouldy early, so that a tin 
once opened ought to be consumed at once. 

There are now numerous samples of Hxtractum Carnis in the market, 
prepared in South America and Australia. The majority have an almost 
identical composition. 

When Liebig’s extract is taken during fatigue, it is found to be remark- 
ably restorative, increasing the power of the heart, and removing the sense 
of fatigue following great exertion. Mixed with wine, it has been employed 
with great success in rousing men in collapse from wounds. As, however, 
most of the nitrogenous compounds in the Hxrtractum are not in the form 
of albumen or fibrin, but of other compounds (creatin, extractives soluble in 
water and alcohol), it has been supposed that the nitrogen is not capable of 
being employed in the nutrition of muscles or gland-cells, and, in fact, that 


1 Armee- und Volks-Erndhrung, von Dr C. A. Meinert, Berlin, 1880. This work contains 
a great amount of information on the subject of food, as well as extensive tables of analyses. 
See also Massen-Ernahrung, 1885, by the same author. 


ole FOOD, 


the £xtractum Carnis does not represent a true nutritive albuminoid.t 
Liebig considered it to be a condiment which increases the power of the 
stomach to digest vegetable food ; and Hérschelmann,? who does not con- 
sider it a substitute for meat, yet thinks that it aids in digesting hard 
meat, and that the meat ration can be lessened when it is used. By some 
ats action has been compared to that of tea and coffee, but there does not 
appear to be any close parallel. 

When taken in very large doses, the extract (like large quantities of meat) 
does sometimes cause heaviness and torpor, and this has been ascribed to the 
potash salts, but it may be a question whether it is not owing to the excess 
of the nitrogenous extractive matter. 

About 230 grains of extract in one pint of water are nearly equal to a 
pint of beef-tea made from ;5ths tb of fresh beef; ?ths ounce of extract in 
one pint are equal to a pint made from | fb of fresh beef. There is, how- 
ever, a general opinion that the extract beef-tea is not so good as that made 
at once from fresh beef; a mixture of the two is well spoken of. 

The “concentrated beef-tea” is beef-tea and the juices of the compressed 
beef mixed and evaporated. This is a highly nutritious substance, and most 
useful to the army surgeon. Mixed with wine, and given as soon as possible 
after wounds are received, in the time of shock and collapse, it was found in 
the Austrian army (in 1859) to save the lives of many wounded men, and 
the experience of the Federal American army was to the same effect (Ham- 
mond). Hxtractum Carnis is now made also by pressure without heat. 

Kemmerich’s Concentrated Beef-Tea seems a good form ; it contains about 
13 per cent. of nitrogenous matter. The extract of beef by the same maker 
is also useful ; it contains 22 per cent. of albumen and peptones, and about 
39 of extractives. 

Johnston's Fluid Beef contains a large proportion of the fibrin of meat, in 
addition to the juices. It appears to be a good preparation ; according to 

_ Stiitzer, it contains 35 per cent. of albumen and peptones, and about 9 of 
extract. 

Extract of Mutton.—An Australian extract of mutton is now sold, which 
is more solid than Liebig’s extract, and differs from it in containing much 
fat. It is a very good preparation. 

Carnrick’s Beef Peptonoids are a mixture of meat, wheat glutin, and 
evaporated milk, reduced to a powder. They contain between 50 and 60 
per cent. of digestible albuminoids and peptones (Stiitzer). It is claimed 
that 4 oz. of this powder contains the nutriment of 10 hb of Liebig’s extract : 
this is absurd. 

Brand’s Essence of Beef contains 8 per cent. digestible albuminoids and 
peptones and about 1 per cent. of extract. 

Benger’s Peptone Jelly has a similar composition. 

Valentine's Meat-Juice has a large quantity of extractive—about 9 per 
cent. 

Savory & Moores Fluid Meat contains 8 per cent. of albuminoids and 
peptones and 47 of extractives, 

Murdoch’s Iiquid Food is very nutritious, containing 13 per cent. of 
albuminoids and 1:2 extractives. 

There are various others in the market; among them are some from 
tussia, Which seem very good. 


1 According to Stiitzer’s analysis (Analyst, 1885), Liebig’s extract contains 5‘3 per cent. 
of digestible albumen, 1°5 of peptones, and 4°9 extractives of meat. There is thus about a 
third to a half of the nutritive matter of ordinary meat, weight for weight. 

~ Schmidt’s Jahrb., Jan. 1872, p. 21. 


CONCENTRATED AND PRESERVED FOOD. 313 


Mason & Co.’s preparations, beef-tea, extract and meat lozenges, are also 
good; the last contain 71°75 per cent. of albuminoids, of which only 3°7 is 
indigestible. 

Kochs’ Meat Peptones, in the form of extract of meat, and also of tablets 
and lozenges, are very good. The extract (a jelly-like mass) contains about 
53 per cent. of nitrogenous matter, of which about 28 is peptones and 24 
meat-juice extract. The tablets and lozenges are similar in composition, but 
are more concentrated. 

Bellat’s Extract of Meat..—This contains the juice of cooked vegetables in 
addition to that of meat. A little less than an ounce (25 grammes) in 1} 
pint (1 litre) of water makes good beef-tea. 

Edward's Patent Desiccated Soup consists of a mixture of beef and veget- 
ables ; is easily prepared by boiling in water, about an ounce to a pint of 
water ; it was well spoken of in the Ashantee war. 

Meat Biscuits.—These biscuits or powders, for they are generally powdered 
and sold in canisters, are formed by mixing rich extract of meat with wheat 
flour, and drying. They were very much used in the American war. In 
some cases the meat is so much dried as to be quite indigestible. 

Meat biscuits can be made in a very simple way, by mixing together, 
cooking, and baking 1 tb flour, 1 Ib meat, 1 tb fat (suet), $ Ib potatoes, witha 
little sugar, onion, salt, pepper, and spices. A palatable meat biscuit, 
weighing about 13 tb, containing 10 to 12 per cent. of water, is thus obtained, 
which keeps quite unchanged for four months. 

Pea Sausage.—In the Franco-German war the Germans made great use of 
a pea sausage (Erbswurst), made by mixing pea-flour and fat pork, with a 
little salt. It is ready cooked, but it can be made into a soup. It was 
much relished for a few days, but the men got eventually tired of it, and in 
some it produced flatulence and diarrhea. The original erbswurst con- 
tained about 16 per cent. of albuminoids, about 35 of fat, and about 27 of 
starch, &c. Other forms vary in composition. The latest German samples 
contain 15-7 per cent. total albuminoids, of which 3°5 is indigestible, and 
about 23 of fat. English samples contain a larger percentage of both 
albuminoids and fat. 

Flour Sausages.—A mixture of pork and wheat flour has been used in the 
same way. 

Maize and Beef —The Germans in 1870 made use also of a mixture of maize 
and beef, which appears to have been much liked. 

Dried Cerealia.—Many flours, if well dried, will keep for a long time. 
There are now in the market different kinds of malt biscuit and granulated 
malt food. Liebig’s food for infants is composed of equal parts of wheaten 
flour and malt flour mixed with a little potassium carbonate and cooked with 
10 parts of milk. The wheat and malt flour are usually cooked, and sold 
in powder ready to be boiled with the milk. 

Dried Bread.—In addition to biscuit already described, bread has been 
partially dried by being pressed in an hydraulic press (method of Laignel). 
Much water flows out, but when taken out the bread still feels moist. Ina 
day or two, however, it becomes as hard as a stone, and in a year’s time will 
be found good and agreeable. Placed in water, it slowly swells. The 
“pain biscuité” of the French army is bread dried by heat. 

Dried Potatoes are sold in two forms—slices and granulated. In either 
case the potato is easily cooked, and is very palatable. It should be soaked 
in cold water first for some time, then slowly boiled, or, what is much better, 


1 Poggiale, Rec. de Mem. de Méd. Milit., Avril 1868, p. 268. 


~ 


ol4 FOOD. 


steamed. The directions for cooking Edward’s preserved potato (which is 
granulated) are: “To three-quarters of a pound add about one quart of 
boiling water, stirring it at the same time; cover it closely; the basin or 
vessel used should be kept hot ; let it stand for ten minutes ; then well mash, 
adding butter, salt, &c., at discretion.” It is stated to be equal to six times 
its bulk of the fresh vegetable, but this is hardly borne out by analysis : four 
times is as high as it would be safe to allow. The analyses made by Professor 
Attfield and Dr de Chaumont! show that a tb of preserved potato contains 
the solid matter of only 35 of ordinary fresh potatoes. 

Dried Vegetables (other than Potatoes).—Dried and compressed vegetables 
of all kinds (peas, cauliflowers, carrots, &c.) are now prepared, especially by 
Messrs Masson and Challot, so ‘perfectly that, if properly cooked, they furnish 
a dish almost equal to fresh vegetables. Professor Attfield found that dried 


compressed cabbage contained the solids of seven times its weight of fresh — 


cabbage, whilst the mixed vegetables contained jive and a half times the 


solids of the fresh vegetables. They must be cooked very slowly. If there | 


is any disagreeable taste from commencing putrefaction, which is very rare, 


a little chloride of lime removes it at once. Potassium permanganate can — 


be also used for this purpose. 


As anti-scorbutics they are said to be inferior to the fresh vegetable — 


(experience of American war), but are still much better than nothing.” 
Dried Apples in slices are now imported largely from America: they are 
palatable when cooked, and would be a useful article in the field. i 


Preserved Vegetables, that is, vegetables preserved in their natural condi-_ 


tion (cooked), are much to be preferred, both as being more palatable and as 
being more nutritious and better anti-scorbutics. They occupy, however, 
much greater bulk. 


Various excellent forms of mixed rations of meat and vegetables in tins are — 


prepared by Moir d Son and others at home and abroad: they are ready 
cooked and very palatable, and may be eaten either cold or warmed up when 
that is possible. 

Dried Milk.—Preserved milk is sold in a liquid form, but is also sold as a 
powder, which is very well prepared. 

Concentrated Milk.—Milk is evaporated at low steam heat to the consistence 
of a thick syrup, and white sugar is added. After opening the tins the 
samples remain good for over a month. The amount of sugar, however, is 
very large ; in one sample it was found to be as much as 16-7 lactin and 
60-7 cane sugar. Other samples, such as the Swiss and Bavarian (Loef- 
lund’s), are preserved without extra sugar, and are reduced in bulk to $ or $ 
of the original: these, however, must be used as soon as possible after the 
tin is opened, for they do not keep like the sweetened preparations. 

Dried Lggs. —The yolk is not easily kept after drying, but the white can 
be so; it is cut into thin scales, and forty- four eggs make about 1 tb. The 
yolk and white are also mixed with flour, g eround rice, &c., and are then 
dried, 


i Report of Committee on Scurvy, 1877. 
2 Professor Attfield (loc. cit.) considers that in the compressed vegetables some at least of 
he juice is lost in the preparation, probably by pressure. 


CHAPTER X. 


BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


SECTION I. 


ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. 


ALTHOUGH it is convenient to place all the beverages which contain Alcohol 
under one heading, they yet differ materially in composition and effects. 


Sus-Secrion J.—BeEEr. 


Composition.—The law formerly allowed only malt and hops to be used 
in brewing,! but sugar (under the name of saccharum) is now largely sub- 
stituted, as well as bitter substances other than hops. 

The specific gravity varies from 1006 to 1030, or even more, in the thick 
German beers; the average in English beers and porters is from 1010 to 
1014. The percentage of extract (dextrin, cellulose, sugar, lupulite, and 
hop resin) is from 4 to 15 per cent. in ale, and from 4 to 9 per cent. in 
porter. It is least in the bitter, and highest in the sweet ales. The 
alcohol varies from 1 to 10 per cent. in volume. The free acidity which 
arises from lactic, acetic, gallic, and malic acids ranges (if reckoned as 
glacial acetic acid) from 18 to 45 grains per pint. The sugar has a great 
tendency to form so-called glucinic (or glucic) acid (C,,H,,0,). There is a 
small quantity of albuminous matter in most beers, but not averaging more 
than 0°5 per cent. The salts average 0:1 to 0-2 per cent., and consist of 
alkaline chlorides and phosphafes, and some earthy phosphates. There is 
a small amount of ammoniacal salt. The dark beers, or porters, contain 
caramel and assamar. Free carbon dioxide is always more or less present ; 
the average is 0-1 to 0-2 parts by weight per cent., or about 1 cubic inch 
per ounce. Volatile and essential oils are also present. 

Adopting mean numbers, 1 pint (20 ounces) of beer will contain— 


Alcohol, 5 ‘ : é 3 ; 1 ounce. 
Extractives, dextrin, sugar, . : : 1:2 ,, (524 grains). 
ree acid, ~~ : 5 : : ; 25 grains. 

Salts, ' ; ‘ : 5 ; 13 grains. 


Physiological Action.—The action on tissue metamorphosis, so far as is 
known, is supposed to be one of lessened excretion, the urea and pulmonary 


1 In the Licensing Act (1872), clause 19 contains penalties for using any deleterious sub- 
stance for mixing with liquors sold by persons having licences under the Act, and in the first 
schedule to the Act is a list of deleterious ingredients, viz.:—‘‘ Cocculus indicus, chloride of 
sodium (otherwise common salt), copperas, opium, Indian hemp, strychnine, tobacco, darnel 
seed, extract of logwood, salts of zine or lead, alum, and any other extract or compound of 
any of the above ingredients.” Several articles which are supposed to be used as adulterants 
are omitted from this list. 


316 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


carbon dioxide being both decreased. If this be the case, it is not owing to 
the alcohol, at least in moderate dietetic doses, but to some of the other 
ingredients ; but the experiments require repetition. On the nervous 
system the action is probably the same as that of alcohol. The peculiar 
exhausting or depressing action of beer taken in large amount has been 
ascribed by Ranke? to the large amount of potash salts, but probably the 
other constituents (especially the hop) are also concerned. 

When beer is taken in daily excess, it produces gradually a state of 
fulness and plethora of the system, which probably arises from a continual, 
though slight, interference with elimination both of fat and nitrogenous 
tissues. When this reaches a certain point appetite lessens, and the forma- 
tive power of the body is impaired. The imperfect oxidation leads to excess 
of partially oxidised products, such as oxalic and uric acids. Hence many 
of the anomalous affections, classed as gouty and bilious disorders, which 
are evidently connected with defects in the regressive metamorphosis. 

The question, What is excess? is not easy to answer, and will depend both 
on the composition of the beer and on the habits of life of those who take 
it; but, judging from the amount of alcohol which is allowable, from one 
pint to two pints, according to the strength of the beer, is a sufficient 
amount for a healthy man. 

For Examination of Beer, see Boox III. 


SuB-Section [J.—WInzEs.? 
Composition. 


The composition of wine is so various that it is difficult to give a sum- 
mary. The following are the chief ingredients :— 

1. Alcohol.—From 6 to 25 per cent., volume in volume, of. anhydrous 
alcohol. It has been, however, stated that the fermentation of the grape, 
when properly done, cannot yield more than 17 per cent., and that any 
amount beyond this is added.4 Some of the finest wines do not contain 


more than 6 to 10 per cent. 
Per cent. of Alcohol 
(volume in yolume). 


Port (analysed in England), . : ; : : 16-625 to 23-2 
Sherry (analysed in England), : a we : 16 Zo 
Madeira (analysed in England), . P : 3 UGE Way 21 
Marsala (analysed in England),  . : ‘ : 15 ay eo 
Bordeaux wines, red (mean of 90 determinations of 
different sorts: Chateau Lafite, Margaux, Larose, O:8De Eglo 
St Emilion, St Estéphe, &c.), : : : 


1 Binz (Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, May 1874) states that alcohol diminishes both 
the pulmonary carbonic acid and urea. 

2 Phys. des Menschen, 1868, p. 139. 

3 For a full account of wines, see the work by Thudichum and Dupré (Origin, Nature, and 
Use of Wine, 1872). 

4 Mulder (On Wine, p. 186) quotes Guijal to the effect that pure port never contains more 
than 12°75 per cent. of pure alcohol; but Mulder doubts this. Dr Gorman stated before the 
Parliamentary Committee that pure sherry never contains more than 12 per cent. of alcohol, 
and that 6 or 8 gallons of brandy are added to 108 gallons of sherry. Thudichum and Dupré 
(On Wine, p. 682) state that a natural wine may contain a minimum of 9, while the maxi- 
mum limit is 16 per cent. (of weight in volume). They also state that a pipe of 115 gallons 
of port wine has never less than 3 gallons of brandy added to it, and the rich port wines 
have 13 to 15 gallons added. It would seem that the natural wines of Australia contain a 
larger quantity of alcohol in some instances than any European wine. 

5 Some port used in the Queen’s establishment contained only 16°62, and the highest per- 
centage was 18°8 (Hofmann). The sherry contained only 16 per cent. and the claret 685 to 
7 per cent. The highest percentage found by Thudichum and Dupré in port wine was 19:2 
per cent. of weight in volume=23"4 per cent. volume in volume. 


COMPOSITION OF WINES. 317 


Per cent. of Alcohol. 


Bordeaux wines, white (mean of 27 determinations 1 to 18-7 
of sorts: Sauternes, Barsac, Bergerac, &c.), j . : 
Rhone wines, red (Hermitage, Montpellier, Fron- ; ae 
; : 2 Se ny Jey 
tignan, &c.), -. 5 ; : : : : 
Rousillon, ; : : : : 11 o5 1G 
Bureundy, red (Beaune, Macon), : ; COA op DE 
uy white (Chablis, &c.), ; : i ely 
Pyrenean, . : ; ; : : ; ' 9 oy 1 
Champagnes, 3 5 ; ; : DS} gg Ils 
Moselles, . : 8 malts) 
Rhine wines (J ohannisberger, Hochheimen Rudes: ; 
Oz 
heimer, &c.), : : ' : : : 
Hungarian wine, . : : P 3 A : ISN ple el kta) 
Ttalian, ; : ; 14 Jo IG) 


Syria, Corfu, Samos, Smyrna, Hebron, ibebemorn, ; 13 ks 


So various is the amount of alcohol in wines from the same district, that 
a very general notion only can be obtained by tables, and a sample of the 
wine actually used must generally be analysed. 

To tell how much pure alcohol is taken in any definite quantity of wine, 
measure the wine in ounces, multiply it by the percentage of alcohol, and 
divide by 100. 

Lxrample—Wine drunk being 9 oz., and the percentage 13, then a 


= 1-17 oz. of absolute alcohol by measure. 


The amount of alcohol can be determined by distillation or evaporation, 
as given in the section on Examination of Beer, Boox III. Instruments, 
however, are required which indicate a less specific gravity than pure water. 
If the medical officer has only a common urinometer, the only plan will be 
to dilute with an equal part of pure water at 60°, and then to add a little 
salt, so as to bring the specific gravity above that of the water ; then evapo- 
rate as usual. Take the difference of the specific gravities (before and after 
evaporation) ; deduct from 1000, and look in the specific gravity table (Book 
III.) for the amount of alcohol in the diluted wine; by multiplying the result 
by 2 the percentage of alcohol in the undiluted wine is found, Sometimes, 
besides ethyl alcohol, small quantities of propyl, butyl, and amyl alcohols 
are found in wine. A little acet-aldehyde is present in some Greek wines 
(Thudichum and Dupré), but is not considered to indicate unsoundness.1 
anthic, citric, malic, tartaric, racemic, acetic, butyric, cap- 
rylic, caproic, pelargonic, and many others. Dr Dupré states that there are 
25 or even more compound ethers in wine, and some of them are in very 
small quantities. The “bouquet” of wine is partly owing to the ethers 
(especially to the volatile), partly, it is said, to extractive matters. (Hnanthic 
ether is that which gives its characteristic odour to wine. Dr Dupré has 
given a very good plan of estimating the amount of the volatile and non- 
volatile ethers, but it is too delicate for medical officers.” 

3. Albuminous Matters—Extractive Colouring Matter.—The quantity of 
albumen is not great; the extractives and colouring matter vary in amount. 
The colouring matter is derived from the erape- skins: it is naturally greenish 
or blue, and is made violet and then red by the free acids of wine. The bluish 
tint of some Burgundy wines is owing, according to Mulder, to the very small 


1 Tf it is present in white wines (such as Sauterne) it isa certain sign of unsoundness. 
2 Chem. Journal, Noy. 1867, and Origin, Nature, and Use of Wine. 


318 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


amount of acetic acids which these wines contain. It is, according to Ba- 
tilliat, composed of two matters—rosite and purpurite. With age changes 
occur in the extractive matters; some of it falls (apothema), especially in 
combination with tannic acid, and the wine becomes pale and less astringent. 

4. Sugar exists in varying amounts, and in the form, for the most part, of 
fruit sugar. Sherry generally contains sugar, but not always; it averages 
8 grains per ounce,! and appears to be highest in the brown sherries, and 
least in Amontillado and Manzanilla. In Madeira it varies from 6 to 66 
grains per ounce ; in Marsala a little less; in Port, from 16 to 34 grains per 
ounce, being apparently greatest in the finest wines. In Champagne it 
amounts to from 6 to 28 grains, the average being about 24 grains; but a 
good deal of Champagne is now drunk as “vin brut,” without any sugar. 
In the Clarets, Burgundy, Rhine, and Moselle wines it is absent, or in small 
amount. 

In determining the sugar, if the copper solution be used, the colouring 
matter is acted on by the alkali of the copper solution, and interferes with 
the appreciation of the change of tint, and must be got rid of by acetate of 
lead, animal charcoal, boiling, and filtering. If any substance exists which 
is still turned green by the alkali of the copper solution, the wine must be 
neutralised, evaporated to dryness, and the sugar dissolved. As a rule, the 
copper solution employed directly with wine gives $ per cent. too much 
sugar (Fehling), and a correction to this amount should be made.” 

5, Fat.—A small amount exists in some wine. 

6. Free Acids.—Wine is acid from free acids and from acid salts, as the 
potassium bitartrate. The principal acids are racemic, tartaric, acetic, malic, 
tannic (in small quantities), glucic, succinic, lactic (?), carbonic, and fatty 
acids, such as formic, butyric, or propionic. Some acids are volatile besides 
the acetic, but it does not seem quite certain what they are. The tannic 
acid is derived from the skins ; it is in greatest amount in new Port wines ; 
it is trifling in Madeira and the Rhine wines; it is present in all white and 
most red-fruit wines, except Champagne. The tannic acid on keeping precipi- 
tates with some extractive and colouring matter (apothema of tannic acid). 

7. Salts.—The salts consist of bitartrate of potassium, tartrate of calcium 
and sodium, sulphate of potassium, a little phosphate of calcium and mag- 
nesium, chloride of sodium, and iron. The magnesia is in larger amount 
than the lime, and exists sometimes as malate and acetate. A little man- 
ganese and copper have been sometimes found, In Rhine wine a little 
ammonia is found (Mulder). The total amount of salts is 0-1 to 0°3 per cent. 
—i.e., about 9 to 26 grains per pint, or $ to 14 grains per ounce. The salts 
can only be detected by evaporation and ignition. 

8. The total solids in wine vary from 3 to 14 per cent., or in some of the 
rich liqueur-like wines to more. The specific gravity depends upon the 
amount of alcohol and of solids, and varies from 0°673 to 1-002 or more. An 
approximate notion can be formed of the total solids by taking the specific 
gravity, after driving off the alcohol by evaporation and then replacing the 
water. 

Sup-Secrion II].—Spirits. 

The Queen’s Regulations for the Army (1885, sec. xv. paragraph 70) for- 
bid the sale of spirits in canteens at home, but permit it in foreign stations 
at the discretion of the commanding officer. 


1 Bence Jones, in Mulder on Wine, p. 386. 
2 The addition of extraneous sugar to wine may be detected by the use of the saccharo- 
meter along with Fehling’s solution, 


ALCOHOL AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET IN HEALTH. ail 


Brandy contains, besides alcohol, cenanthic ether, acetic, butyric, and 
valerianic ethers. Tannin, and colouring matter from the cask, or from 
caramel, are present. If sugar is present in any quantity, it must have been 
added. The inferior kinds of brandy, prepared from potatoes as well as 
grain, contain potato fusel-oil. Rum contains a good deal of butyric ether, 
to which the aroma is chiefly owing. Gin, besides containing the oil of 
juniper, is flavoured with various aromatic substances, as Calamus aro- 
maticus, coriander, cardamoms, cinnamon, almond-cake, and orange-peel ; 
Cayenne is often added. Whisky often derives a peculiar flavour from the 
malt being dried over peat fires, or by the direct impregnation of peat 
smoke.! Peach stones and pine sawdust are also said to be added. 


Composition of Sprrits. 


The following table gives the chief points of importance’ :2 — 


ae Acidity 
Sp. gr. at Alcohol oucs Ash Des MINES, Sugar 
Name. 62° F. per cent, ed per ceiit, peed per cont 
acid 

Brandy, . . | 0°929-0°934 50-60 12 (0:05 to 02} 1 grain | 0 or traces 
Gimeaes | |: 0°930-0°944 49-60 12 Qal ||) Ow il 
Whisky, 0°915-0°920 50-60 06 trace 02 0 
Rum, 0°874-0:926 60-77 1 — Ol | O% 0 


AtcoHon As AN ARTICLE oF Diet In HeEattru.? 


In endeavouring to determine the dietetic value of alcoholic beverages, 
it is desirable to see, in the first place, what are the effects of their most 
important constituent, viz., alcohol. 

Three sets of arguments have been used in discussing his question, 
drawn, namely, from—1, the physiological action of alcohol ; ; 2, experience 
of its use or abuse; and o moral considerations. 

The last point will not be further alluded to, for without underrating 
the great weight of the argument drawn from the misery which the use of 
alcohol produces,—a misery so great that it may truly be said, that if 
alcohol were unknown, half the sin and a large part of the poverty and 
unhappiness in the world would disappear,—yet this part of the subject is 


1 It may be worth while to give the names of some of the distilled spirits used in different 
parts of the world, as the army surgeon may meet with them in the course of service :— 


Nations by whom employed. Name. Obtained from 
Hindus, Malays, &e., . ; Arrack, Rice or Areca-nut. 
Greeks, Turks, &c., . 2 Raki. Rice. 

Eaidas { Tari (corrupted to Coco-nut and several other 
Z i is 7 Toddy). palms. 
r (Mahrattas), . ; Boja. Eleusiné Corocana, 
55 (Sikkim), : : Marwa. 5 A 
Chinese, : ; ; , Samshu. Rice. 
Japanese, . 5 ; Sacie. wae 
Pacific Islanders, ; ; Kawa. Macropiper. 
Mexicans, . 5 5 Pulque. Agave. 
South ‘Americans, . 3 Chica. Maize. 
Tartars, } ; , Koumiss. Mares’ milk. 
Russians and Poles, ; 3 Vodka, Raka. Potato. 
Abyssinians, : Tallah. Millet. 


* This table is chiefly tela roan Bence Jones’ Observations ; Appendix to Mulder on 
Wine, p. 389; and from Hassall’s Food and Adulteration, p. 645. 

3 The subject of spirits in sickness is another point altogether. Dr Parkes believed they 
were often of great use, although, like every other strong medicine, they require to be given 
carefully. 


320 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


so obvious that it seems unnecessary to occupy space with it. The argu- 
ments, however, which are strongest for total abstinence, are drawn from 
this class. Nor does any one entertain a moment’s doubt that the effect 
of intemperance in any alcoholic beverage is to cause premature old age, to 
produce or predispose to numerous diseases, and to lessen the chance of 
“living very greatly. The table given below,! taken from Neison’s Vetal 
Statistics, puts this in a strong light. 


1 Effects of intemperance (Neison’s Statistics, p. 217 et seq.) :— 
Ratio per cent. from the undermentioned Causes to Deaths from all Causes. 


Head diseases, . : 3 - 9-710 15°176 20-720 27°10 
Digestive organs (especially those 6-240 8-377 11-994 9330 
| of the liver), ; : : 
Respiratory organs, . : : 33150 27-843 23676 22-98 | 
Total of above three classes, . 49-100 51-396 56-390 73°38 / 


It thus appears that the intemperate have a much greater mortality from head and 
digestive diseases than other classes. 

In intemperate persons the mortality at 21-30 years of age is five times that of the tempe- 
rate ; from 30-40 it is four times as great. It becomes gradually less. 


A Temperate person’s chance An Intemperate person’s chance 
of living is, of living is, 
At 20=44°2 years. At 20=15°6 years. 
,, 80=36°6 ,, »» 30=13°8 ,, 
», 40=28°3__,, = A0=i1CGue 
5» DO=2125 » D0=10°8,, 
5, 60=14'285 ,, ,, 60= 89 4, 


All these deductions appear to be drawn from observations on 357 persons with 6111°5 
years of life. The facts connected with these persons are well authenticated, but the 
number is small. 

The average duration of life after the commencement of the habit of intemperance is— 


Among mechanics, working and labouring men, : a : 18 years. 
a traders, dealers, and merchants, . 0 - : F Wi 
» professional men and gentlemen, . : : ; j UB) 55 


;,  temales, ; : : A ‘ : ‘ ‘ ‘ . 
- Those who are intemperate on spirits have a greater mortality than those intemperate on 
eer. 
Those who are intemperate on spirits and beer have a slightly greater mortality than those 
intemperate on only spirits or beer, but the difference is immaterial. 
Mortality per annum, 
Spirit drinkers, ¢ . . ; 5996 per cent. (nearly 60 per 1900). 
Beer drinkers, : : : 4°597 per cent. (nearly 46 per 1000). 
Spirit and beer drinkers, c - 6194 per cent. (nearly 62 per 1000). 
_ Very striking evidence in favour of total abstinence, as contrasted with moderation, is 
given by the statistics of the United Kingdom Temperance and General Provident Institu- 
tion. One section consists of abstainers, another of persons selected as not known to be 
intemperate. The claims for five years (1860-70), anticipated in the Temperance section, 
were £100,446 ; but there were actually only claims for £72,676. In the general section, the 
anticipated claims were £196,352; and the actual claims were no less than £230,297. The 
much greater longevity of the abstainer is better seen by the amount of bonuses paid to each 
£1000 whole-life policy in the two sections for the same five years :— 


Age at tree A : Bonus added in Bonus added in 

Entrance. Premiums paid. ner euce General Section. 
4B th #2 & ah a St OF 
15 85) 2716 Gil at 35 10 0 
20 93 6 8 64 0 O af 10) 0 
25 | 106 9 2 68 10 0 40 0 0 
30 We Il fe 74 0 0 43 0 0 
35 188 19 2 78 19 0 46 0 0 
40 162 5 10 86 0 0 50 4 0 
45 188 10 10 9218 0 54a ON 10 
50 Behe) fy (0) 104 2 0 60 13 0 
55 284 3 4 122 14 0 7A il 


DESTRUCTION OF ALCOHOL IN THE BODY. BPN 


The physiological argument for the use or disuse of alcohol requires to 
be used with caution, as our knowledge of the action of pure alcohol (much 
more of the alcoholic beverages) is imperfect. 

When taken into the stomach, alcohol is absorbed without alteration, or 
is perhaps in some small degree converted into acetic acid, possibly by the 
action of the mucus or secretion of the stomach. The rate of absorption 
is not known, and it has been supposed that when given in very large 
quantities it may not be absorbed at all. It has not, however, been 
recovered from the feces in any great amount. After absorption it passes 
into the blood, and then throughout the body; if the observations of 
Schulinus! are correct, it is equally distributed, and does not accumulate, 
as was formerly supposed, in the liver and nervous tissue. It can easily be 
detected in all the organs soon after it is taken. It commences to pass out 
from the body speedily, as it may be detected in the breath soon after it is 
taken ; it emerges by the lungs, by the skin, in smaller quantities by the 
urine, and slightly by the bowels, or this may be merely from unabsorbed 
portions passing out. The amount recoverable from all these channels is 
usually small,? but occasionally, when very large quantities have been 
taken, the kidneys excrete it largely, so that the specific gravity of the 
urine has been below that of water, and distillation has given an inflam- 
mable fluid.? 

Much debate has taken place as to whether all or how much of the 
alcohol is thus eliminated, and whether any is destroyed in the body. The 
experiments of Dr Percy, and subsequently of Strauch, and especially of 
Masing in Buchheim’s laboratory at Dorpat, followed as they were by the 
confirmatory observations of MM. Perrin, Lallemand, and Duroy, seemed at 
one time to have settled the question, and to have proved that alcohol is 
very little or not at all destroyed in the body. Since then the criticisms 
and experiments of Baudot, and especially the observations of Schulinus,* 
Anstie,® Dupré, and Subbotin, have again altered the position, and although 
the experimental evidence is incomplete (chiefly on account of the difficulty 
of collecting the amount given off by the lungs and skin), the opinion that 
some, and perhaps much, alcohol disappears in the body is generally 
admitted.® 


At every age, therefore, the abstainer has a very great advantage. Mr Vivian, the Presi- 
dent of the Temperance and General Provident Institution, brought before the British 
Association at Bristol in 1875 the following statistics :— 


Abstinence Section. General Section. 
Years, 
Expected. Actual, Expected. Actual, 
1866-70 (5 years), 549 411 1008 944 
1871-74 (4 years), 561 390 994 1033 
Totals (9 years), 1110 801 2002 1977 


On the Gold Coast during the Ashantee war the evidence (slight as it was) was decidedly 
in favour of the teetotallers (Parkes, On the Issue of a Spirit Ration, p. 28, 1875). 

1 Archiv der Heilk., 1866, p. 97. 

2 Experiments on this point by Schulinus, Anstie, Dupré, Thudichum, and others prove 
that ordinarily the urinary elimination is slight. When it becomes at all marked, or even 
when it occurs at all, the detection of alcohol by potassium bichromate and sulphuric acid 
has been proposed by Anstie as an indication of the point when as much alcohol has been 
taken as can be disposed of by the body. 

% A good case is given by Dr Woodman (Medical Mirror, July 1865). 

4 Archiv der Heilk., 1866. 

> Lancet, 1868. 

6 The amount eliminated by these channels has been variously stated. The latest observa- 

x 


wt 


322 ; BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS, 


If alcohol is destroyed in the body, through what stages does it pass? 
The statement of Duchek, that it forms aldehyde, has been disproved. Its 
easiest transformation out of the body is into acetic acid; but when 
animals are poisoned with alcohol, Buchheim and Masing could detect no 
acetic acid in the blood; still the amount would be so small it might be 
overlooked, or the acetic acid might be soon transformed. Lallemand, 
Perrin, and Duroy could find no oxalic acid. It it be true that the pul- 
monary carbonic acid is lessened, it cannot be oxidised to carbonic acid and 
eliminated by the lungs unless the transformation of some other substance 
ordinarily furnishing carbonic acid is arrested. The mode of destruction is, 
in fact, unknown. The only poimt which throws any light upon it is the 
slight increase of acidity in the urine during the use of alcohol, wu looks 
as if an acid of some kind were formed out of it. 

Present experiments show, then, that some portion passes out, and 
another, and probably the larger portion, is gradually destroyed. The 
place where the partial destruction of alcohol occurs is yet doubtful ; but it 
is impossible that the transformation takes place in the various gland-cells 
in which almost all, or all, the changes in the body take place. As the 
change out of the body which most easily occurs is the formation of acetic 
acid, “it seems at present most likely that some of the alcohol is thus trans- 
formed. The acetic acid would then unite with the soda of the blood, and 
a carbonate would eventually be formed which would be eliminated with 


tions are by Dupré,! Anstie, and Subbotin.2 According to Dupré, from experiments on 
himself, the amount eliminated by the urine and breath (he did not examine the skin) is 
only a minute fraction of that taken in, and it takes place chiefly in the first nine hours; 
subsequently the amount is excessively small. When taken day after day there is no 
accumulation of alcohol, so that the inference is, that as so little is eliminated almost all 


must be destroyed. Subbotin’s experiments were on rabbits, enclosed in a closed chamber — 
through which the air was slowly drawn. Like Dupré, he determined the amount by 


oxidising the alcohol obtained into acetic acid by chromic acid; but he found that not incon- 
siderable quantities (nicht unbetrdchtliche Mengen) were eliminated through the lungs, and 
skin, and kidneys in the first five hours. Contrary to Perrin, Lallemand, and Duroy, he 


found twice as much passed from skin and lungs as from the kidneys. In 11 hours he found © 


12°6 per cent. was eliminated, and in 24 hours 16 per cent., and he gives reasons for suppos- | 


ing that the difficulties of the experiments (viz., the difficulty of changing all the alcohol | 


into acetic acid ; of obtaining the alcohol from the chamber; of regulating the ventilation ; 
and by the diminution of absorption at the end of the experiment, and by the limited time 
tle experiment could be carried on) made the amount actually recovered far less than it 
should have been. Anstie made numerous experiments on the urine and sweat, and always 
found the quantities very minute. 

With regard to the length of time the elimination goes on, Dupré found it to be finished 
within a few hours; Subbotin found that the elimination was not quite ended in 24; Perrin, 
Lallemand, and Duroy found it to go on for 32 hours. The late Dr Parkes and Count 
Wollowicz found that minute quantities could be found in the urine even on the fifth day 
after a large quantity of brandy had been taken, though the elimination by the lungs ceased 
much sooner. In some later experiments, with small quantities of beer and wine, Dr Parkes 
found the elimination to be finished in 24 hours. 

Lieben noticed some years ago, that a substance which had some of the characters of 
aleohol was found in the urine of persons and animals who had taken none. Dr Parkes and 


Count Wollowicz noticed on one occasion that a substance which slightly reduced chromic | 
acid was obtained from the sweat of a man who had taken no alcohol,? though in other cases | 


(E. Smith, British Medical Journal, Nov. 2, 1861) there is certainly no substance of this 


kind in the sweat. Dupré also found in the urine a substance furnishing acetic acid, form- 
ing iodoform, and having a lower specific gravity and a higher vapour tension than pure 
water. The amount of this substance is so minute that its nature cannot be perfectly made 
out, but Lieben considers it not to be alcohol, but perhaps to be derived from the odoriferous 
principles of the urine. Dupré doubts this, and Dr Parkes’ observation of the sweat shows 
that it can hardly be so, unless the same odorous substances are passing off by the skin. Dr 
Parkes doubted whether it was an invariable constituent of urine, as he could find none in 
the urines of three teetotallers which were examined. 


1 Proceedings of Royal Society, No. 138 (p. 268, 1872). 2 Zeitschrift fiir Biol., Band vii. p. 361 (1872). 
% Proceedings of Royal Society, No. 113, p. 87 (1870), 


INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL ON THE ORGANS. 323 


the urine, as in the case when acetates are taken.t This would account 
for the pulmonary carbonic acid not being increased. If this view be 
correct, the use of alcohol in nutrition would be limited to the effects it 
produces, first as alcohol, and subsequently as acetic acid, when it neutralises 
soda, and is then changed into carbonate. 

The first point only (its effects as alcohol) need be considered — 


Influence of Alcohol on the Organs. 

1. On the Stomach.—In very small quantities it appears to aid digestion ; 
in larger amount it checks it, reddens the mucous membrane, and produces 
the “chronic catarrhal condition” of Wilson Fox, viz., increase of the con- 
nective tissue between the glands; fatty and cystic degeneration of the 
contents of the glands, and, finally, more or less atrophy and disappearance 
of these parts.2 Taken habitually in large quantities it lessens appetite. 

2. On the Liver.—The action of small quantities on the amount of bile, 
or glycogenic substances, or on the other chemical conditions of the liver, is 
not known. Applied directly to the liver by injection into the portal vein, 
it increases the amount of sugar (Harley). Taken daily in large quantities, 
it causes either enlargement of the organ by producing albuminoid and 
fatty deposit, or it causes at once, or following enlargement, increase of con- 
nective tissue, and, finally, contraction of Glisson’s capsule, and atrophy of 
the portal canals and cells, by the pressure of a shrinking exudation. The 
exact amount necessary to produce these changes in the liver and stomach 
has not yet been fixed with precision. 

3. On the Spleen.—Its action is not known. 

4. On the Lungs.—It is said to lessen the amount of carbon dioxide (and 
of watery vapour ?) in the air of expiration,’® though there are some discrep- 
ancies in experiments with different kinds of spirits. EH. Smith, for example, 
found the expired carbon dioxide lessened by brandy and gin, but increased 
by rum. It is very important these experiments should be repeated, but 
they show, at any rate, that the usual effect is not to increase the carbon 
dioxide. In large quantities habitually taken it also alters the molecular 
constitution of the lungs, as chronic bronchitis and lobar emphysema are 
certainly more common in those who take much alcohol. 

5. On the Heart and Blood-Vessels.—Alcohol in healthy persons at first 
increases the force and the quickness of the heart’s action. Dr Anstie° 
confirmed this opinion by careful sphygmographic observations ; these effects 
are still more marked in febrile diseases if alcohol acts favourably (in some 


1 Tn experiments on large quantities of alcohol, Dr Parkes found the acidity of the urine 
slightly increased. This would quite agree with the above view, as the union of the acetic 
acid or carbonic acid formed from it, with some of the alkali ordinarily united to other acids, 
would increase the urinary acidity. This case is, of course, not parallel with that of acetate 
of potash given by the mouth, which makes the urine alkaline from carbonate, as some 
alkali in that case is introduced. 

2 These changes were considered by Wilson Fox to be closely allied with those occurring 
in cirrhosis of the liver, and in the contracted and indurated kidney. See Diseases of the 
Stomach, 3rd edition, p. 125, footnote ; and also Reynolds’ System of Medicine, vol. ii. p. 869, 
and footnote. 

3 The effect of red and white French wines and of beer has been very carefully examined by 
Perrin (Rec. de Mém. de Méd. Mil., 1865, p. 82); avery great diminution in the amount of 
carbonic acid (from 5°6 to 22 per cent. less being excreted) was noticed in all the experiments. 
The effect commenced soon, and reached it maximum in the third hour, and ceased in two 
hours more. The pulse after meals with and without wine had equal power, but after a time 
the pulse fell more when wine was not taken. 

4 See Binz, Jowrnal of Anatomy and Physiology, May 1874. 

5 Ina paper read before the British Association in 1868 (Medical Times and Gazette, Sep- 
tember 1868). This paper shows that the sphygmographic indications (combined with the 
urinary test) may give us a clue to the often difficult question whether alcohol is doing good 
or harm in disease. 


324 REVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS, 


febrile cases it appears, from Anstie’s observations, not to increase the power 
of the heart). Ina healthy man, Dr Parkes found that brandy ! augmented 
the rapidity of the pulse 13 per cent., and the force was also increased ; 
taking the usual estimate of the heart’s work, its daily excess of work, 
with 4-8 fluid ounces of absolute alcohol, was equal to 15:8 tons lifted one 
»foot. With claret the results were almost identical. The period of rest of 
the heart was shortened, and its nutrition must therefore have been inter- 
fered with. In another man, Dr Parkes found from 4 to 8 ounces of 
brandy produced palpitation and breathlessness. Alcohol causes evident 
dilatation of the superficial vessels, as shown by the redness and flushing of 
the skin ; and in these experiments sphygmographic observations also proved 
that the arteries dilated more easily before the fuller current thrown out by 
the stronger acting heart. If it were not for this yielding of the vessels 
(produced perhaps by paralysis of the vasomotor nerves) alcohol would be a 
most dangerous agent, as either the strong wave would break the vessel, or 
the heart would not be properly emptied of the blood during the contrac- 
tion. It seems likely, therefore, that there must be danger in the use of 
alcohol when the arteries become rigid in advancing life, if the heart is then 
susceptible to the action of alcohol. Eventually the vessels of the surface 
pass into a state of permanent slight enlargement and turgescence ; the skin 
alters in appearance ; and owing to this, persons who take much alcohol soon 
get the appearance of age. In some diseases, alcohol is said to lessen the 
frequency of the heart’s action; and Anstie found it increase arterial ten- 
sion.- In such cases there must be peculiar nervous conditions with which 
we are unacquainted. Dr Parkes found it usually, if not always, increase 
the frequency of the heart in disease, and in some patients the rapidity of 
the heart’s action was simply owing to the administration of alcohol. Anstie 
believed its principal action was on the sympathetic nerve, and the vascular 
phenomena seem to strengthen this view, while others think it acts especially 
on the vagus and the heart alone. 
6. On the Blood.—The amount of fat is either increased, or it is more 
yisible. The chemical changes in the blood are partially arrested.” 
7. On the Nervous System.—In most persons it acts at once as an 


anzesthetic, and lessens also the rapidity of impressions, the power of thought, | 


and the perfection of the senses. In other cases it seems to cause increased 
rapidity of thought, and excites imagination, but even here the power of 
control over a train of thought is lessened. In no case does it seem to 
increase accuracy of sight; nor is there any good evidence that it quickens 
hearing, taste, smell, or touch ; indeed, Edward Smith’s experiments show 
that it diminishes all the senses. In almost all cases moderate quantities 
cause a feeling of comfort and exhilaration, which ensues so quickly as to 


make it probable the local action on the nerves of the stomach has at first’ 


something to do with this. Afterwards the increased action of the heart 
may have an effect. Different spirits act differently on the nervous system, 
owing probably to the presence of the ethers and oils; some, as samshii? 


1 See papers by Dr Parkes and Count Wollowicz, in Proceedings of Royal Society, No. 120 | 
and 132; and another paper by Dr Parkes, No. 136, for the effect of alcohol on the heart 


during exercise. 

* Harley, Proceedings of Royal Society, March 1865, No. 62, p. 160. 

3 Dr Dupré analysed for Dr Parkes a specimen of the best samsht from Singapore. It 
contained in 100°c.c. 23°91 per cent. of alcohol by weight, and this was made up of 23°874 


parts of ethyl alcohol, and 0°036 parts of amylic alcohol ; the amount of free acid (almost all 


acetic) was 0105; of residue (sugar almost entirely) 601, and of ash 0°06 per cent. Cheap 
samshti gave nearly the same result. There seems to be nothing deleterious here; and from 
inquiries among soldiers who have served in Hongkong. it seems doubtful whether good 
samshi does produce the effects ascribed to it. It is probably the adulterated (with opium, — 


EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL-—TEMPERATURE OF THE BODY. 325 


and raki, produce great excitement, followed by profound torpor and 
depression. Absinthe is also especially hurtful, apparently from the pre- 
sence of the essential oils of anise, wormwood, and angelica, as well as 
from the large amount of alcohol. It appears that the properties of absinthe 
are somewhat different according to the manner in which water is mixed with 
it, z.e., suddenly or slowly ; in the latter case the particles of the absinthe 
are more divided, are absorbed more easily, and produce greater effects. In 
all these cases there can be little doubt that alcohol enters into temporary 
combination with the nervous structure ; and the evidence from the impair- 
ment of special sense and muscular power implies that it interferes with the 
movements of the nervous currents. 

8. On the Muscular System.—Voluntary muscular power seems to be 
lessened, and this is most marked when a large amount of alcohol is taken 
at once ; the finer combined movements are less perfectly made. Whether 
this is by direct action on the muscular fibres, or by the influence on the 
nerves, is not certain. In very large doses it paralyses either the respiratory 
muscles or the nerves supplying them, and death sometimes occurs from 
the impairment to respiration. 

9. On the Metamorphosis of Tissue.—This is usually stated to be lessened, 
and it has been said that there is a diminution in the elimination of nitrogen 
(as urea) and of carbon (as carbon dioxide). But the experiments already 
referred to by Count Wollowicz and Dr Parkes! prove that the metamor- 
phosis of the nitrogenous tissues is in no way interfered with by dietetic 
doses. Whether the carbon dioxide excretion is really lessened may also 
be questioned. 

10. On the Temperature of the Body.—When alcohol is given to healthy 
animals in full but not excessive doses, the temperature of the body falls. 
This seems to be shown conclusively by the experiments of Ringer and 
Rickards, Richardson, Binz, Cuny-Bouvier, and Ruge. In healthy men who 
have been accustomed to take alcohol in moderate quantities the results are 
rather contradictory. In a man accustomed to alcohol, Ringer found no 
change ; in two men, temperate, but accustomed to take beer and sometimes 
spirits, Dr Parkes could not detect any raising or lowering of the thermometer 
either in the axilla or rectum.? Dr Mainzer found no fall of temperature ? in 
trials on himself, but a slight fall in another healthy person. Some experi- 
ments by Obernier* and by Fokker ° are also quite negative. On the other 
hand, Ringer, Binz, and Bouvier noticed in some healthy persons a decrease 
of temperature ; and though some of the experiments are evidently rather 
inaccurate, and though the fall of temperature was inconsiderable, it is 
difficult to refuse belief that in some cases there may be a slight depression 
of temperature.® 

In febrile cases the evidence is almost equally divided. In aman on whom 
Dr Parkes was experimenting, an attack of catarrh came on with rise of 
temperature, and alcohol did not apparently affect the heat in the least. 


&c.) article which acts so violently. The Cape brandy is of two kinds—the Cape and the 
Boer brandy; the latter is stronger, and is sometimes called peach brandy; this appears to 
be the hurtful kind. 

1 Proceedings of Royal Society, Nos. 120-123 and 136. 2 Thid. 

3 Ucher die Einwirkung des Alkohols, Inau. Diss. Bonn, 1870. 

4 Archiv fiir die ges. Phys., Band ii. p. 494. 

» Quoted by Husemann, Jahresb. fiir die ges. Med., 1871, Bandi. p. 324. 

6 Binz (loc. cit.) finds that small (dietetic?) doses produce no change ; large inebriating 
doses produce a fall from 3°°5 to 5° F., lasting for four or five hours. Habit, however, pro- 
duces tolerance. In the body, after death, the temperature often rises, but if alcohol has 
been administered previously it does not do so,—hence Binz concludes that the effect is 
arrest of chemical changes in the glands, 


326 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


O. Weber, Obernier, and Rabow were equally unsuccessful in noting a fall in 
temperature. Binz and C. Bouvier | have, however, produced septic fever in 
animals, and then lowered the febrile heat by large doses of alcohol, in what 
appears to have been an unmistakable manner, in several cases. 

We may conclude that the effect of moderate doses on temperature in 
“healthy men is extremely slight ; there is no increase, and in many persons 
no decrease. In those in whom there is a slight decrease, the amount is 
trifling. 

ll. On the Action of the Eliminating Organs.—The water of the urine and 
the acidity are slightly increased ; but Dr Parkes found other ingredients 
were unaffected. The condition of the skin is not certain. Dr E. Smith 
thought the perspiration lessened, but Weyrich noticed, after spirits, beer, 
and wine, a large increase in the insensible cutaneous perspiration; and the 
enlargement of the vessels of the skin would probably lead to increased — 
transit of fluid. 

12. Remote Effects of Alcohol.—The degenerative changes which occur so 
frequently in the stomach, liver, and other organs by the constant introduc- 
tion of improper quantities of alcohol into the body,? affect also almost all 
parts of the body. The brain and its membranes, and its vessels, suffer 
early and principally; and Kremiansky* has produced hemorrhagic 
meningitis, and pathological changes in the brain-vessels and membranes in 
dogs by giving them alcohol. There is no question that several brain 
diseases, including some cases of insanity, are produced by excess of alcohol.? — 
So, also, degenerative changes in the stomach, liver, lungs, and probably in © 
the kidneys® result from immoderate use. To use Dickinson’s expressive 
phrase, alcohol is the very “ genius of degeneration.” And these alcoholic 
degenerations are certainly not confined to the notoriously intemperate. 
They have been seen in women accustomed to take wine in quantities not 
excessive, and who would have been shocked at the imputation that they 
were taking too much, although in their case the result proved that for them 
it was excess. The nature of the degenerative changes appear to be in all 
cases the same, viz, fibroid and fatty changes. 

Considering, also, the great increase in the action of the heart, and the 
dilatation of the vessels, it can scarcely be doubted that alcohol in excess is | 
one of the agencies causing disease of the circulatory organs. | 


Is Alcohol desirable as an Article of Diet in Health ? 


This question is so large and difficult that a satisfactory answer can hardly — 
be given with our present knowledge. The data for passing a judgment are — 
partly physiological, but still more largely empirical. 

The obvious useful physiological actions of alcohol are an improvement 
in appetite, produced by small quantities, and an increased activity of the 
circulation, which, within certain limits, may be beneficial. It is dithcult to 
perceive proof at present of any other useful action, since it is uncertain 


= = t 


1 See especially Pharmakologische Studien uber den Alkohol, von C. Bouvier, Berlin, 1872. 

2 A very striking paper on this subject has been published by Dickinson (Zancet, November — 
1872). It paints, in startling colours, the immense degenerative power of alcohol. 

% Virchow’s Archiv, Band xlii. p. 338. . 

4 See also the experiments by Magnan (Sur I’ Alcoolisme). | 

5 Magnan states the two terminations of chronic alcoholism 10 be dementia and general | 
poralysis. \ 

6 Anstie and Dickinson have denied that the kidneys suffer in alcoholism in any great | 
degree. It is an open question ; but the evidence is in favour of kidney degeneration being 
one of the effects of aleohclism. Dr George Johnson states that out of 200 patients with 
Bright’s disease from all causes, he found no less than 58 were drunkards. 


ALCOHOL AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET IN HEALTH. 327 


whether, during its partial destruction in the system, it gives rise to energy. 
In cases of disease, in addition to its effect on digestion and circulation, its 
narcotising influence on the nervous system may be sometimes useful. Beale 
suggests that it may restrain the rapidity of abnormal growth or develop- 
ment of multiplying cells, and that by such arrest it may possibly diminish 
bodily temperature ; but proof of this has not been given. 

The dangerous physiological actions in health, when its quantity is larger, 
are evidently its influence on the nervous system generally, and on the 
regulating nerve-centres of the heart and vaso-motor nerves in particular ;+ 
the impairment of appetite produced by large doses; the lessening of muscular 
strength ; and remotely the production of degenerations. Except when it 
lessens appetite, it does not alter the transformation of the nitrogenous 
tissues and the elimination of nitrogen ; nor can it be held to be absolutely 
proved to lessen the excretion of carbon. If it did so, this effect in health 
would be simply injurious. 

It is a matter of the highest importance to determine when the limit of 
the useful effect of alcohol is reached. The experiments are few in number, 
but are tolerably accurate. From experiments made by Dr Anstie, an 
amount of one fluid ounce and a half (42°6 ¢.c.) caused the appearance of 
alcohol in the urine, which Anstie regards as a sign that as much has been 
taken as can be disposed of by the body. The late Dr Parkes and Count 
Wollowicz obtained almost precisely the same result. When only one fluid 
ounce of absolute alcohol was given none could be detected in the urine. 
They found that in a strong healthy man, accustomed to alcohol in modera- 
tion, the quantity given in twenty-four hours that begins to produce effects 
which can be considered injurious is something between one fluid ounce 
(= 28-4 cc.) and two fluid ounces (56°7 ¢.c.). The effects which can then 
be detected are slight but evident narcosis, lessening of appetite, increased 
rapidity of rise in the action of the heart, greater dilatation of the small 
vessels as estimated by the sphygmograph, and the appearance of alcohol in 
the urine. These effects manifestly mark the entrance of that stage in the 
greater degrees of which the poisonous effects of alcohol become manifest 
to all. 

It may be considered, then, that the limit of the useful effect is produced 
by some quantity between 1 and 14 fluid ounces in twenty-four hours. There 
may be persons whose bodies can dispose of larger quantities; but as the 
experiments were made on two powerful healthy men, accustomed to take 
alcohol, the average amount was more likely to be over than under stated. 
In women, the amount required to produce decided bad effects must, in all 
probability, be less. For children, there is an almost universal consent that 
alcohol is injurious, and the very small quantity which produces symptoms 
of intoxication in them indicates that they absorb it rapidly and tolerate it 
badly. 

Assuming the correctness of these experimental data, which, though not 
extensive, are yet apparently exact, it is evident that moderation must be 
something below the quantities mentioned; and considering the dangers of 
taking excess of alcohol, it seems wisest to assume | to 14 fluid ounces of 
absolute alcohol in twenty-four hours as the maximum amount which a 


1 This influence is probably a paralysing agency, arising from a direct though transitory 
union of the alcohol with the nervous substance. Richardson has made the very important 
discovery that the alcohols, such as the butyl, amyl, and hexyl alcohols, which contain more 
carbon, produce a much greater effect on the nervous system than methyl and ethyl alcohol. 
There are greater muscular tremors and stupor, and these effects increase regularly with the 
increase of carbon and lessening volatility. 


328 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


healthy man should take. It must be admitted that this is provisional, and 
that more experiments are necessary; but it is based on the only safe data 
we possess. One ounce is equivalent to 2 fluid ounces of brandy (containing 
50 per cent. of alcohol) ; or to 5 ounces of the strong wines (sherries, &c., 20 
per cent. of alcohol) ; or to 10 ounces of the weaker wines (clarets and hocks, 
10 per cent. of alcohol) ; or to 20 ounces of beer (5 per cent. of alcohol). If 
these quantities are increased one half, 14 ounces of absolute alcohol wili be 
taken, and the limit of moderation for strong men is reached. This standard 
appears to be fairly correct ; since, from inquiries of many healthy men who 
take alcohol in moderation, Dr Parkes found that they seldom exceeded the - 
above amounts. Women, no doubt, ought to take less; and alcohol in any 
shape only does harm to healthy children. 

Another question now arises, to which it is more difficult to reply. Is 
alcohol, even in this moderate amount, necessary or desirable? are men really 
better and more vigorous, and longer lived with it than they would be with- 
out any alcohol? If distinctly hurtful in large quantities, is it not so in 
these smaller amounts ? 

There is no difficulty in proving, statistically, the vast loss of health and 
life caused by intemperance; and the remarkable facts of the Provident 
Institution show the great advantage total abstainers have over those who, 
though not intemperate, use alcohol more freely. But it is almost impossible, 
at present, to compare the health of teetotallers with those who use alcohol 
in the moderate scale given above. In both classes are found men in the 
highest health, and with the greatest vigour of mind and body ; in both are 
to be found men of the most advanced age. If the question is looked at 
simply as a scientific one, it is hardly possible at present to give an answer. 
Failing in accurate information on this point, the usual arguments for 
and against the use of alcohol cannot be held to settle the point. These 
are— 

(a) That the universality of the habit of using some intoxicating drink 
proves utility. This seems incorrect,! since whole nations (Mohammedan 
and Hindoo) use no alcohol or substitute; and since the same argument 
might prove the necessity of tobacco, which, for this generation at any rate, 
is clearly only a luxury. The wide-spread habit of taking intoxicating 
liquids merely proves that they are pleasant. 

(6) That if not necessary in healthy modes of life, alcohol is so in our 
artificial stage of existence amid the pressure and conflict of modern society. 
This argument is very questionable, for some of our hardest workers and 
thinkers take no alcohol. There are also thousands of persons engaged in 
the most anxious and incessant occupations who are total abstainers, and, 
according to their own account, with decided benefit. 

(c) That though it may not be necessary for perfectly healthy persons, 
alcohol is so for the large class of people who live on the confines of health, 
whose digestion is feeble, circulation languid, and nervous system too 
excitable. It must be allowed there are some persons of this class who are 
benefited by alcohol in small quantities, and chiefly in the form of beer or 
light wine. Unless these persons wilfully deceive themselves, they feel 
better, and are better with a little alcohol. 

(d) That common experience on the largest scale shows that alcohol in 
not excessive quantities cannot be an agent of harm; that it is and has been 
used by millions of persons who appear to suffer no injury, but to be in many 
cases benefited, and therefore that it must be in some way a valuable adjunct 


1 Most nations, however, if not all, use some sedative which may be considered to take 
the place of alcohol (F. de C.). 


USE OF ALCOHOL UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. 329 


to food. A grand fact of this kind must, it is contended, override all objec- 
tions based on physiological data, which are confessedly mcomplete, and 
which may have left undiscovered some special useful action. It must be 
admitted that this is a very strong argument, and that it seems incredible 
that a large part of the human race should have fallen into an error so gigantic 
as that of attributing great dietetic value to an agent which is of little use in 
small quantities and is hurtful in large. At first sight the common sense of 
mankind revolts at such a supposition, but the argument, though strong, 
is not conclusive; and unfortunately we know that in human affairs no 
extension of belief, however wide, is per se evidence of truth. 

(ec) That though a man can do without alcohol under ordinary circum- 
stances, there are certain conditions when it is useful. It will be necessary 
to see, then, what is the evidence on this point. 


Evidence on the Use of Alcohol under certain Conditions.+ 


Great Cold.—There is a singular unanimity of opinion on this point; all 
observers condemn the use of spirits, and even of wine or beer, as a preven- 
tive against cold. In the Arctic regions we have on this head the evidence 
of Sir John Richardson, Mr Goodsir (in Sir J. Franklin’s first voyage), Dr 
King, Captain Kennedy (in the last search for Sir J. Franklin, when the 
whole crew were teetotallers), Dr Rae, Dr Kane, Dr Hayes (surgeon of the 
Kane expedition), and others. Dr Hayes, indeed, says in his last paper 
(1859) that he will not only not use spirits, but will take no man accustomed 
to use them ; and that if “ imperious necessity obliges him to give spirits, he 
will give them in small doses frequently, as the excitant action is followed by 
a very dangerous depression.2. In the Antarctic regions, and in the cold 
whaling grounds, we have the strong evidence of Dr Hooker to the same 
purport, and the customs of the many teetotal whalers. Ulloa long ago 
noticed the same thing in the ascent of Pichincha.? In North America the 
Hudson’s Bay Company entirely excluded spirits, partly, no doubt, to prevent 
their use among the Indians, but partly, in all probability, from experience of 
their inutility. Dr Carpenter quotes from Dr Kniill a statement that the 
Russian army on the march in cold weather not only use no spirits, but no 
man who has lately taken any is allowed tomarch. The guides at Chamouni 
and the Oberland, when out in the winter, have invariably found spirits 
hurtful; they take only a little light wine (Forbes). The bathing men at 
Dieppe, who are much exposed to cold from long standing in the sea, also 
find that spirits are hurtful, and take only a little weak wine (Levy). 

Great Heat.—The evidence here also is almost equally conclusive against 
the use of spirits or beverages containing much alcohol. Dr Carpenter has 
assembled the most conclusive testimony from India, Brazil, Borneo, Africa, 
and Demerara. The best authorities on tropical diseases speak as strongly— 
Robert Jackson, Ranald Martin, Henry Marshall, and many others. It seems 


1 See Carpenter’s Essay on Temperance, and his other writings, and also Spencer Thomson’s 
useful work on the same subject, as well as many other writers. 

2 Some ,Arctic voyagers, however, are strongly impressed with the value of rum under 
certain circumstances (Admiral Richards). The experience of the expedition of 1875-76 seems 
to have shown that it was partially useful given the last thing at night, as enabling the men 
to get off their frozen clothing, but it had no effect in warding off scurvy. Binz says that 
alcohol may be useful in damp and cold, because the tissue change is greater, and we can thus 
moderate it. 

3 He says (Adams’ translation, 1807, vol. i. p. 219): ‘‘ At first we imagined that drinking 
strong liquors would diffuse a heat through the body, and consequently render it less sensible 
of the painful sharpness of the cold; but to our surprise we felt no manner of strength in 
them, nor were they avy greater preventative against the cold than common water.” 


330 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


quite certain, also, that not only is heat less well borne, but that insolation 
is predisposed to. 

The common notion that some form of alcoholic beverage is necessary in 
tropical climates is a mischievous delusion. In the 84th Regiment, in which 
Dr Parkes formerly served, which from the years 1842 to 1850 numbered 

‘many teetotallers (at one time more than 400) in its ranks, the records 
showed that, both on common tropical service and on marches in India, the 
teetotallers were more healthy, more vigorous, and far better soldiers than 
those who did not abstain.1 The experience of almost every hunter in India 
will be in accordance with this. 

On this point the greatest army surgeons have spoken strongly (Jackson 
especially, and Martin) ; and yet officers may still be heard, both in India 
and the West Indies, to assert that the climate requires alcohol. These are 
precisely the climates where alcohol is most hurtful.? 

With regard to service and exercise in the tropics we have the strong 
testimony of Ranald Martin that warm tea is the best beverage ; and this 
will be corroborated by every one who has made long marches, or hunting 
nS in India, and has carefully observed what kind of diet best suited 
nim. 

To cite a well-known individual instance of great exertion in a hot climate, 
Robert Jackson marched 118 miles in Jamaica, carrying a load equal to a 
soldier’s, and decided that “the English soldier may be rendered capable of 
going through the severest military service in the West Indies; and that 
temperance will be one of the best means of enabling him to perform his duty 
with safety and effect. The use of ardent spirits is not necessary to enable a 
European to undergo the fatigue of marching in a climate whose mean tem- 
perature is from 73° to 80°. I have always found the strongest liquors the 
most enervating.” 

Bodily Labour.—A small quantity of alcohol does not seem to produce 
much effect, but more than two fluid ounces manifestly lessens the power of 
sustained and strong muscular work. In the case of a man on whom Dr 
Parkes experimented, 4 fluid ounces of brandy (=1°8 fluid ounces of abso- 
lute alcohol) did not apparently affect labour, though it could not be affirmed 
it did not do so; but 4 ounces more given after four hours, when there must 
have been some elimination, lessened muscular force ; and a third 4 ounces, 
given four hours afterwards, entirely destroyed the power of work. The 
reason was evidently twofold. There was, in the first place, narcosis and 
blunting of the nervous system—the will did not properly send its commands 
to the muscles, or the muscles did not respond to the will; and, secondly, 
the action of the heart was too much increased, and induced palpitation and 
breathlessness, which put a stop to labour. The inferences were, that even 
any amount of alcohol, although it did not produce symptoms of narcosis, 
would act injuriously, by increasing unnecessarily the action of the heart, 
which the labour alone had sufficiently augmented.? These experiments 


1 See Carpenter’s Physiology of Temperance for full details. The officers, who, by their 
example and precept, produced this great effect in a regiment in India, and proved that men 
are healthier and happier in India without any alcoholic beverage, were Lieut.-Colonel 
Willington, Captain (afterwards General Sir David) Russell, and Lieut. and Adjutant 
Seymour, an officer of the greatest promise, who died from dysentery contracted during the 
mutiny. 

2 Binz holds that in hot climates, or in hot weather, it is pernicious, as interfering with 
the tissue change, which is already insufficient. 

3 Tn experimenting on another healthy man the following interesting result was obtained : 
—The exercise and diet being uniform during a period of ten days, the mean daily pulse 
(nine two-hourly observations) was 70°65. Severe exercise being then taken during another 
period of ten days for two hours in the morning, in addition to what had previously been 


EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL—DEFICIENCY OF FOOD. Bol 


are in accord with common experience, which shows that men engaged in 
very hard labour, as iron-puddlers, glass-blowers, navvies on piece-work, and 
prize-fighters during training, do their work more easily without alcohol. 

In the exhaustion following great fatigue, alcohol may be useful or hurtful 
according to circumstances. If exertion must be resumed, then the action 
of the heart can be increased by alcohol and more blood sent to the muscles ; 
of course, this must be done at the expense of the heart’s nutrition, but cir- 
cumstances may demand this. In the case of an army, for example, called 
on to engage the enemy after a fatiguing march, alcohol might be invigorat- 
ing. But the amount must be small, z.e., much short of producing narcosis 
(not more than 4 fluid ounce of absolute alcohol), and, if possible, it should 
be mixed with Liebig’s meat extract, which, perhaps on account of its potash 
salts, has a great power of removing the sense of fatigue. 

About two ounces of red claret wine with two teaspoonfuls of Liebig’s 
extract and half pint of water is a very reviving draught, and if it could be 
issued to troops exhausted by fatigue, would prove a most useful ally. 

But when renewed exertion is not necessary it would appear most proper 
after great fatigue to let the heart and muscles recruit themselves by rest ; 
to give digestible food, but to avoid unnecessary and probably hurtful 
quickening of the heart by alcohol. 

Mental Work.—In spite of much large experience, it is uncertain whether 
alcohol really increases mental power. The brain circulation is no doubt 
augmented in rapidity ; the nervous tissues must receive more nutriment, 
and for a time must work more strongly. Ideas and images may be more 
plentifully produced, but it is a question whether the power of clear, conse- 
cutive, and continuous reasoning is not always lessened. In cases of great 
exhaustion of the nervous system, as when food has been withheld for many 
hours and the mind begins to work feebly, alcohol revives mental power 
greatly, probably from the augmented circulation. But, on the whole, it 
seems questionable whether the brain finds in alcohol a food which by itself 
can aid in mental work. 

Deficiency of Food.—When there is want of food, it is generally considered 
that alcohol has a sustaining force, and possibly it acts partly by keeping up 
the action of the heart, and partly by deadening the susceptibility of the 
nerves. It was formerly supposed that it lessened tissue-change, and thus 
curtailed the waste of the body; but this is not true of the nitrogenous 
tissues, and it is not yet quite certain in respect of the carbonaceous. It 
seems unlikely that alcohol would be applied differently during starvation 
and during usual feeding. 

Cases are recorded in which persons have lived for long periods on almost 
nothing but wine and spirits. In most cases, however, some food has been 
taken, and sometimes more than was supposed, and in all instances there 
has been great quietude of mind and body. It seems very doubtful whether 
in any case nothing but alcohol has been taken ; and, in fact, we may fairly 
demand more exact data before weight can be given to this statement. 


taken, the pulse in those two hours was augmented 16 beats per minute over the correspond- 
ing period ; it fell, however, in the subsequent hours below the mean of the corresponding 
period, so that the mean pulse of the day was 70°42 per minute, the same as in the ten days’ 
period before the additional exercise. The heart, in fact, completely compensated itself, and 
the work done by it was the same on days of moderate and of severe exercise. Now alcohol 
would have disturbed this adjustment, and would have kept the heart beating more rapidly 
than it should do. The compensation would not have been produced. In more recent ex- 
periments, in which the effects of rum, meat extract, and coffee were observed, it was found 
that marching was done least easily with rum, the stimulant effect passing quickly off, and 
leaving the man less able to finish the work before him.—(On the Issue of a Spirit Ration in 
the Ashanti Campaign, Parkes, 1875.) 


332 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


The Exposures and Exrertions of Var.—On this point also there is con- 

siderable unanimity of opinion. The greatest fatigues, both in hot and cold 
climates, have been well borne—have been, indeed, best borne—by men who 
took no alcohol in any shape, and some instances may be quoted. 
_ Inthe American War of Independence in 1783, Lord Cornwallis made a 
march over 2000 miles in Virginia, under the most trying circumstances of 
exposure to cold and wet ; yet the men were remarkably healthy, and among 
the causes for this health, Chisholm states that the necessary abstinence 
from strong liquors was one. 

In 1794-95 occurred the Maroon war in Jamaica, where, almost for the 
first time in West Indian warfare, the troops were remarkably healthy, though 
the campaign was very arduous and in the rainy season, and there were no 
tents. The perfect health of the troops may partly have been owing to the 
climate of the hills (2000 feet above the sea), but it was chiefly attributed 
to the fact that the men could obtain no spirits or alcoholic liquor of any 
kind. 

In 1800, an English army proceeding from India to Egypt to join Sir 
Ralph Abercromby, marched across the desert, from Kossier on the Red Sea, 
and descended the Nile for 400 miles. Sir James M‘Grigor! says that the 
fatigue in this march has, perhaps, never been exceeded by any army, and 
goes on to remark :—— 


““ We received still further confirmation of the very great influence which intemperance 
has asa cause of disease. We had demonstration how very little spirits are required in 
a hot climate to enable a soldier to bear fatigue, and how necessary a regular diet is. 

““ At Ghenné, and on the voyage down the Nile (on account of the difficulties of at 
first conveying it across the desert), the men had no spirits delivered out to them, and I 
am convinced that from this not only did they not sutter, but that it even contributed to 
the uncommon degree of health which they at this time enjoyed. From two boats the 
soldiers one day strayed into a village, where the Arabs gave them as much of the spirit 
which they distil from the juice of the date-tree as induced a kind of furious delirium. 
It was remarked that, for three months after, a considerable number of these men were 
in the hospitals.” 


Dr Mann,? one of the few American surgeons in the war of 1813-14 who 
have left any account of that contest, thus writes :— 


“* My opinion has long been that ardent spirits are an unnecessary part of a ration. 
Examples may be furnished to demonstrate that ardent spirits are a useless part of a 
soldier’s ration, At those periods during the revolutionary war, when the army received 
no pay for their services, and possessed not the means to procure spirits, it was healthy. 
The 4th Massachusetts Regiment, at the eventful period when I was the surgeon, lost 
in three years by sickness not more than five or six men. It was at a time when the 
army was destitute of money. During the winter 1779-80 there was only one occurrence 
of fever in the regiment, and that was a pneumonia of a mild form. It was observable 
in the last war, from December 1814 to April 1815, the soldiers at Plattsburgh were not 
attacked with fevers as they had been the preceding winters. The troops during this 
period were not paid—a fortunate circumstance to the army, arising from want of funds. 
This embarrassment, which was considered a national calamity, proved a blessing to the 
soldier. When he is found poor in money, it is always the case that he abounds in 
health—a fact worth recording.” 


No testimony can be stronger than that given by the late Inspector- 
General Sir John Hall, K.C.B. He says : °— 


**My opinion is, that neither spirit, wine, nor malt liquor is necessary for health. 
The healthiest army I ever served with had nota single drop of any of them ; and, 
although it was exposed to all hardships of Kaffir wartare at the Cape of Good Hope, in 
wet and inclement weather, without tents or shelter of any kind, the sick-list seldom 
exceeded 1 per cent.; and this continued not only throughout the whole of the active 


1 Medical Sketches of the Expedition to Egypt, p. 10. 
2 Hamilton, Military Surgery, p. 61. 
% Medical History of the War in the Crimea, vol. i. p. 504. 


EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL IN WAR. 3090 


operations in the field during the campaign, but after the men were collected in standing 
camps at its termination ; and this favourable state of things continued until the termin- 
ation of the war. But immediately the men were again quartered in towns and fixed 
posts, where they had free access to spirits, an inferior species of brandy sold there, 
technically called ‘Cape Smoke,’ numerous complaints made their appearance among 
them. 

‘In Kaffraria the troops were so placed that they had no means of obtaining liquor of 
any kind; and all attempts of the ‘ Winklers’ to infringe the police regulations were 
so summarily and heavily punished by fines and expulsion, that the illicit trade was 
effectually suppressed by Colonel Mackinnon, the Commandant of British Kaffraria ; 
and the consequence was, that drunkenness, disease, crime, and insubordination were 
unknown ; and yet that army was frequently placed in the very position that the 
advocates for the issue of spirits would have said required a dram. 

**Small as the amount of sickness and mortality was in the Crimea, during the winter 
1855-56, they would have been reduced one-half, I am quite sure, could the rule that 
was observed in Kaffirland have been enforced there.” 


In the same Kaffir war (1852), a march was made by 200 men from 
Graham’s Town to Bloemfontein and back; 1000 miles were covered in 
seventy-one days, or at the rate of nearly 15 miles daily ; the men were 
almost naked, were exposed to great variations of temperature (excessive heat 
during day ; while at night water froze in a bell-tent with twenty-one men 
sleeping in it), and got as rations only biscuit, meat 14 ib, and what game 
they could kill. For drink they had nothing but water. Yet this rapid and 
laborious march was not only performed easily, but the men were ‘more 
healthy than they had ever been before; and after the first few days 
ceased to care about spirits. No man was sick till the end of the march, 
when two men got dysentery, and these were the only two who had the 
chance of getting any liquor.” 

In the last New Zealand war, Dr Neill (Staff Assistant-Surgeon) found 
that the troops marched better, even when exposed to wet and cold, when 
no spirits were issued, than when there was a spirit ration. 

In the expedition to the Red River, under Sir Garnet Wolseley, no alco- 
holic liquid was issued. Two accounts of this remarkable march have been 
published—one by Captain Huyshe,! and the other by an officer who wrote 
an interesting account of the march in Blackwood’s Magazine.” Captain 
Huyshe says :— 


** Although it was an unheard-of thing to send off an expedition into a wilderness for 
five months without any spirits, still as the backwoodsman was able to do hard work 
without spirits, it was rightly thought that the British soldiers could do the same. The 
men were allowed a large daily ration of tea, 1 oz. per man—practically as much as they 
could drink; and, as I am now on this subject of bohea versus grog, I may as well state 
that the experiment was most successful. The men of no previous expedition have ever 
been called upon to perform harder or more continuous labour for over four months... , 
They were always cheery, and worked with a zealous will that could not be surpassed. 
This expedition would have been a bright era in our military annals had it no other 
result than that of proving the fallacy hitherto believed in of the necessity of providing 
our men when in the field with intoxicating liquors.” 


The writer in Blackwood’s Magazine says :— 


**The men were pictures of good health and soldier-like condition whilst stationed at 
Prince Arthur’s Landing and the other larger camps. The men had fresh meat, bread, 
and potatoes every day. No spirits were allowed throughout the journey to Fort Garry, 
but all ranks had daily a large ration of tea. This was one of the very few military ex- 
peditions ever undertaken by English troops where intoxicating liquors formed no part 
of the daily ration. It was an experiment based upon the practice common in Canada, 
where the lumbermen, who spend the whole winter in the backwoods, employed upon the 
hardest labour, and exposed to a freezing temperature, are allowed no spirits, but have 
an unlimited quantity of tea. Our old-fashioned generals accept, without any attempt 
to question its truth, the traditional theory of rum being essential to keep the British 


1 Journal, United Service Institution, 1871, vol. xv. p. 74. 
2 January 1871, p. 64. 


304 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


soldier in health and humour. Let us hope that the experience we have acquired during 
the Red River expedition may have buried for ever this old-fogyish superstition. Never 
have the soldiers of any nation been called upon to perform more unceasingly hard work, 
and it may be confidently asserted without dread of contradiction, that no men have 
ever been more cheerful or better behaved in every respect. No spirit ration means no 
crime ; and even the doctors, who anticipated serious illness from the absence of liquor, | 
will allow that no troops have ever been healthier than they were from the beginning 
to the end of the operation. With the exception of slight cases of diarrhoea, arising 
from change of diet, it may be said that sickness was unknown amongst us.” . 

Sir Garnet Wolseley? (now Lord Wolseley), who commanded in this re- 
markable expedition, speaks very strongly against the rum ration, and says 
that, by substituting tea for rum, the health and efficiency of the men are 
increased, “their discipline will improve as their moral tone is raised, | 
engendering a manly cheerfulness that spirit-drinking armies know nothing 
of.” 

In the Ashanti campaign of 1874 observations were carefully recorded by 
several officers.2. The conclusions arrived at were—l. That abstinence did 
not render those who abstained more sickly as a whole or more liable to 
malarious fever ; nor did it interfere with their powersof marching. 2. The 
issue of a ration of ram seemed to do good when given at the end of the day 
before going to rest. 3. That the quantity (23 oz.) was amply sufficient. 
On the whole, the necessity for the ration was by no means proved, although 
some officers returned rather shaken in their previous belief that alcohol was 
absolutely unnecessary in a military expedition. 

In sieges, which are perhaps more trying to men than campaigning in the 
open field, the advantage of temperance has, on two occasions, been very 
marked. In the great siege of Gibraltar, Sir George Elliot, who was a 
teetotaller, enforced the most rigid temperance, and the long and arduous 
blockade was passed through with remarkably little sickness. At the siege 
of Jellalabad, in Affghanistan, the “illustrious garrison” were quite destitute 
of all alcoholic liquors; and, to the astonishment of the officers, the 
Europeans never had been so healthy, cheerful, martial, and enduring, and 
free from crime. During the Indian mutiny many regiments were debarred 
from spirits for a long time, and were much healthier than when they got 
them. 

In fact, it may be confidently asserted that in war, spirits especially, and 
indeed all alcoholic liquors, are better avoided; and the phrase of an 
American army surgeon in the civil war, who noticed how great was the 
improvement when spirit prohibition was enforced, is fully justified by our 
own experience—“ The curse of an army is intoxicating liquors ; the spirit 
ration is the source of all this mischief.” 

When debarred from spirits and fermented liquids, men are not only 
better behaved, but are far more cheerful, are less irritable, and endure 
better the hardships and perils of war. The courage and endurance of a 
drunkard are always lessened ; but in a degree far short of drunkenness, 
spirits lower, while temperance raises, the boldness and cheerfulness of 
spirit which a true soldier should possess.* 


1 Soldiers’ Pocket Book, 2nd edition, p. 172. 

2 On the Issue of a Spirit Ration during the Ashanti Campaign of 1874 (Parkes). 

% The custom of giving rations of spirits to soldiers and sailors (even now not altogether 
discontinued) was one of those incredible mistakes which are only made worse by the 
explanation that it was done to please the men and cover neglect in other ways. If any 
one wishes to see what our army was in former days, and how dreadful military regulations 
made men drunkards in spite of themselves, they may refer to an old Peninsular surgeon’s 
(William Fergusson’s) Wotes and Recollections of a Professional Life (1846). “ During the 
last war” (he says, p. 74) ‘‘our sailors and soldiers appeared to live for the purpose of 
getting drunk; with them it seemed to be the chief article of their creed—the chief end of 


EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL—MALARIA, 335 


Looking back to this evidence, it may be asked, Are there any circum- 
stances of the soldier’s life in which the issue of spirits is advisable, and, 
if the question at any time lies between the issue of spirits and total 
abstinence, which is the best ? 

There seems but one answer. If spirits neither give strength to the 
body, nor sustain it against disease—are not protective against cold and 
wet, and aggravate rather than mitigate the effects of heat—if their use 
even in moderation increase crime, injure discipline, and impair hope and 
cheerfulness—if the severest trials of war have been not merely borne, but 
most easily borne without them—if there is no evidence that they are pro- 
tective against malaria or other diseases—then the medical officer will not 
be justified in sanctioning their issue under any circumstances. 

The terrible system which in the East and West Indies made men 
drunkards in spite of themselves, and which by the issue of the morning 
dram did more than anything else to shatter the constitutions of the young 
soldiers, is now becoming a thing of the past. But the soldier is still per- 
mitted to get spirits too easily, and is too ignorant of their fatal influence 
on his health. Still the British army bears the unhappy character of the 
most intemperate army in Europe, and it is certain that its moments of 
misconduct and misfortune have been too frequently caused by the unre- 
strainable passion for drink. Remembering all these things, and how 
certainly it has been proved that drunkenness increases the spread of 
syphilis, it is not too much to say that the repression of this vice should 
be one of the chief duties of every officer in the army. Moderation should 
be encouraged by precept and example; wholesome beer and light wine 
should be invariably substituted for spirits, and, if these cannot be procured, 
it may safely be said that the use of tea, coffee, or simple water is prefer- 
able to spirits under all circumstances of the soldier’s life. 

Resistance to Disease.—Malaria.—There are instances for and against 
the view that spirits are useful against malaria. On both sides the evidence 
is defective; but there are so many cases in which persons have been 
attacked with malarious disease who took spirits, that it is impossible to 


HEC. fs ‘Grog, grog,’ was still the cry; I have seen it, as it were, forced down the 


throats of the innocent negro boy and the uncorrupted young recruit. We seemed to believe 
that the term aqua vite was its true designation. Every one was to have it, no matter 
what the age, the colour, the country, or the breeding. Our Portuguese allies in the 
Peninsula were the soberest of mankind. They liked their own weak country wine to dilute 
their food, but that would not do for us. We actually sent for the rum of the West Indies 
and gave it them; and at the battle of Busaco I saw a party of Portuguese artillery, as soon 
as the rum ration was served, as if they had been possessed by a devil (and they actually 
were possessed by a devil in the shape of alcohol), draw their swords and fight with one 
another when actually under the fire of the enemy” (p. 85). 

He cites numerous most lamentable facts, and well concludes that ‘‘ our canteen system 
will in after times be viewed with horror and astonishment, at its folly, corruption, and 
wickedness.” 

These opinions are not recalled without a motive. There is too much reason to fear that 
many officers still believe that soldiers must have spirits. Fergusson says that “‘ the exceed- 
ing vulgarity of the prejudice that ardent spirits impart strength and vigour to the human 
frame is disgraceful to educated men”; and yet this belief is still actually held by persons 
in authority. Although in the army drinking is the great source of all crime and insub- 
ordination ; although even within late years we have had one if not more instances that, 
even during an assault, men will sacrifice anything, even their honour, to obtain spirits ; 
although the best officers know that this is the one point on which they cannot depend on 
their men, far too little has been done to make our army temperate. This does not mean 
that nothing has been done; on the contrary, in this, as in all things, progress has been 
made, but the measures are not sufficient to control an evil so gigantic. It is the sdme 
thing in civil life; there is no question that more disease is, directly and indirectly, produced 
by drunkenness than by any other cause, and that the moral as well as the physical evils 
proceeding from it are beyond all reckoning ; and yet the attempts of the legislature to set 
some bounds to intemperance have been and are opposed with a bitterness which could only 
be justified if the degradation and not the improvement of mankind was desired. 


336 _ BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


consider the preventive powers great, even if they exist at all. On the 
other hand, when teetotallers have escaped malaria (as in the instance 
recorded by Drake),! there have been other circumstances, such as more 
abundant food and better lodging, which will explain theiz exemption. The 


, probability is, that the reception and action of malaria are not influenced — 


by the presence or absence of alcohol in the blood unless the amount of 
alcohol is so great as to lessen the amount of food taken. 


Yellow Fever.—Ilt is a general opinion in New Orleans and Mobile that — 


the victims of yellow fever are chiefly those who drink freely (Drake). The 
old West Indian experience is to the same effect. ; 

Cholera.—Intemperance, per se, has no influence, and teetotalism does 
not guard against cholera. When a regiment is attacked with cholera, and 
the men take to drinking, a number of pseudo-cases come into hospital of 
vomiting and cramps, which are often returned as cholera, but they seldom 
if ever pass into true cholera. 

Dysentery.—It has been supposed, from some statistics for 1847, pub- 
lished in the Fort George Gazette, that teetotallers were more subject to 
dysentery, but the error was committed of not estimating sufficiently the 
influence of a particular station (Secunderabad), where it so happened a 
number of teetotallers were stationed during an outbreak of dysentery. 
The conditions of the station were to blame, not the habits of the men. 

In none of the conditions now enumerated is there any evidence that 
alcohol is desirable, 


Conclusion as to the Use of Alcohol. 


The facts now stated make it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the 
dietetic value of alcohol has been much over-rated. It does not appear 
possible at present to condemn alcohol altogether as an article of diet in 
health, or to prove that it is invariably hurtful, as some have attempted to 
do. It produces effects which are often useful in disease and sometimes 
desirable in health, but in health it is certainly not a necessity, and many 
persons are much better without it. As now used by mankind (at least in 
our own, and in many other countries), it is infinitely more powerful for 
evil than for good ; and though it can hardly be imagined that its dietetic 
use will cease in our time, yet a clearer view of its effects must surely lead 


to a lessening of the excessive use which now prevails. As a matter of — 


public health, it is most important that the medical profession should throw 


its great influence into the scale of moderation; should explain the limit of — 


the useful power, and show how easily the line is passed which carries us 
from the region of safety into danger, when alcohol is taken as a common 
article of food.? 


Dietetic Use of Alcoholic Beverages. 


In the previous remarks, the effect of alcohol only has been discussed, 
but beer and wine contain other substances besides alcohol. 


1 On the Interior Valley of North America. 

2 A great evil is growing up in India, which now could be checked, but which we shall be 
powerless to meet in a few years. The Hindoos, formerly the most temperate of races, are 
rapidly becoming addicted to drink. This is said to be partly owing to the regulations of 
the Government permitting, and even encouraging the sale of spirits, although the alcoholic 
liquors form no part of the ordinary food of the people, and therefore their prohibition is 
not difficult; and partly from the bad example of the Europeans in India, who, as the 
dominant race, are impressing more and more the nations whom they control. It seems a 
matter which our statesmen may well look into, for it involves the happiness of many 
nations. 


DIETETIC USE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. 337 


In wine there are some albuminous substances, much sugar (in some 
wines), and other carbo-hydrates, and abundant salts. Whether it is that 
the amount of alcohol is small, or whether the alcohol be itself, in some 
way, different from that prepared by distillation,! or whether the co- 
existence of carbo-hydrates and of salts modifies its action, certain it is that 
the moderate use of wine, which is not too rich in alcohol, does not seem to 
lead to those profound alterations of the molecular constitution of organs 
which follow the use of spirits, even when not taken largely. Considering 
the large amounts of vegetable salts which most wines contain, it may 
reasonably be supposed that they play no unimportant part in giving 
dietetic value to wine. Indeed, it is quite certain that, in one point of 
view, they are most valuable; they are highly anti-scorbutic, and the 
arguments of Lind and Gillespie, for the introduction of red wine into the 
royal navy instead of spirits, have been completely justified in our own 
time by both French and English experience. It is now certain that with 
the same diet, but giving in one case red wine, in another rum, the persons 
on the latter system will become scorbutic long before those who take the 
wine. This is a most important fact, and in a campaign the issue of red 
wines should never be omitted. The ethers may also be important if, as 
indicated by Bernard, and recently pointed out by Sir B. W. Forster,? they 
excite the flow of the pancreatic secretion, and thereby promote the absorp- 
tion of fat. 

In beer there appear to be four ingredients of importance, viz., the 
extractive matters and sugar, the bitter matters, the free acids, and the 
alcohol. The first, no doubt, are carbo-hydrates, and play the same part 
in the system as starch and sugar, appropriating the oxygen, and saving 
fat and albuminoids from destruction. Hence, one cause of the tendency 
of persons who drink much beer to get fat. The bitter matters are 
supposed to be stomachic and tonic; though it may be questioned whether 
we have not gone too far in this direction, as many of the highest priced 
beers contain now little else than alcohol and bitter extract. The action 
of the free acids is not known; but their amount is not inconsiderable ; 
and they are mostly of the kind which form carbonates in the system, and 
which seem to play so useful a part. The salts, especially potassium and 
magnesium phosphates, are in large amount. 

It is evident that in beer we have a beverage which can answer several 
purposes, viz., can give a supply of carbo-hydrates, of acid, of important 
salts, and of a bitter tonic (if such be needed) independent of its alcohol, 
but whether it is not a very expensive way of giving these substances is a 
question. 

In moderation, it is no doubt well adapted to aid digestion, and to lessen 
to some extent the elimination of fat. It may be inferred that beer will 
cause an increase of weight of the body, by increasing the amount of food 
taken in, and by slightly lessening metamorphosis ; and general experience 
confirms those inferences. When taken in excess, it seems to give rise to 
gouty affections more readily even than wine. 

In spirits, alcohol is the main ingredient, chiefly in the form of ethyl- 
alcohol, though there are small amounts of propyl-, butyl-, and in some 
cases amyl-alcohols. In addition, there are sometimes small quantities of 
ether; and, in some cases, essential oils (as apparently in absinthe, and in 
one kind of Cape brandy), which have a powerful action on the nerves. 


1Thudichum and Dupré could not, however, trace any difference between the alcohol in 
wines and that derived from other sources. 2 Brit. Med. Journal, Nov. 1868. 
VW 


a 


338 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


But spirits are, for the most part, merely flavoured alcohol, and do not — 


contain the ingredients which giye dietetic value to wine and beer. They 


are also more dangerous, because it is so easy to take them undiluted, and 


thus to increase the chance of damaging the structure and nutrition of the — 
albuminous structures with which they come first in contact. There is | 


every reason, therefore, to discourage the use of spirits, and to let beer a 
wines, with moderate alcoholic power, take their place. 


SECTION II. 
NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. 


SUB-SECTION [.—CoFFEE. 


Unroasted coffee contains much cellulose (34 per cent.), fat (10 to 13 per 
cent.), sugar and dextrin, and vegetable acid (15-5), and legumin (10 per 
cent.). There is also a solid acid, aromatic oil in small quantities, caffein, 
and ash, the chief ingredients of which are potash and phosphoric acid. 
The total amount of caffein (free and combined), according to Payen, is 
about 1:736 per cent.; but this is more than other observers have found. 
In roasted coffee berries the average of Boutron and Robiquet’s analyses 
gives 0°238 per cent. of caffein. Aubert! has given the amount as from 
0-709 to 0-849 per cent., and Witte makes it 0°666 per cent.; Graham, Sten- 
house, and Campbell state it as 0°87 per cent. It may be assumed to be 0°75 
per cent. on an average. Aubert found that roasting coffee to any extent 
caused very little loss of caffem. The caffein is extracted easily by benzol 
or by chloroform.? 

When coffee is roasted it swells, but becomes lighter (15 to even 25 per 
cent., if the coffee is dark roasted). The sugar is changed into caramel, the 
peculiar aroma is developed, the union between the caffein and the caffeo- 
tannic acid is broken up; several gases are formed, viz., carbon dioxide (in 
greatest amount), carbon monoxide, and nitrogen. It is owing to these 
gases that the roasted coffee swells so much.’ In the infusion almost all 
the caffein is found, according to Aubert, while others say about one-half is 
lost. Aubert has found that in a cup of coffee made with 16-66 grammes, 


or 0°587 ounce avoirdupois (1 Prussian loth), there are from 0-1 to 0:12 


gramme (=1°5 to 1°9 grains of caffein). In a cup of tea made from 5 to 


6 grammes (=77 to 92 grains) of tea, about the same amount of caffein is 


contained. 


As an article of diet, coffee stimulates the nervous system, and in large | 


doses produces tremors. Caffein given to animals augments reflex action, 
and may produce tetanus, or peculiar stiffness of muscles. It increases the 


frequency of the pulse in men, and removes the sensation of commencing — 
fatigue during exercise. It has been said (J. Lehmann and others) to lessen — 


1 Archiv fiir die ges. Phys., Band v. p. 589. 
2 Caffein and thein are the same substance. Theobromin belongs to the same series, and 


has apparently identical effects. In the leaves of the Paraguay tea (Jlex paraguayensis, | 


the tea is called Maté in Paraguay), which are used to make tea in the Argentine Confedera- 


tion and throughout the southern part of Brazil, there is also an alkaloid identical with — 


thein. In dietetic properties, Paraguay tea is thought to stand between coffee and Chinese 
tea, but to be more like coffee. The alkaloid in guarana is also thein, according to Sten- 
house. 

% Coulier, Recueil de Mémoires de Méd. Mil., Juin 1864, p. 508. 


| 
, 


NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES—COFFEE. 309 


the amount of urea and phosphoric acid, but this is doubtful.t It appears, 
however, to increase the urinary water. The pulmonary carbon dioxide is 
said to be increased (E. Smith). It increases the action of the skin. 

In animals (frogs, dogs, and rabbits) caffein produces the following effects, 
as determined by Aubert and others :—Increased reflex action ; a peculiar 
stiffness of the muscles, sometimes tetanus ; no lessening of nervous excita- 
bility ; an invariable increase in pulse-frequency and a lessening of the blood- 
pressure (in dogs). This effect on the circulation is peculiar and complex. 
Aubert is convinced that the work of the heart is less, in spite of the in- 
creased beats; there is not time for perfect contraction, and this lessened 


22a 
~ - J. 
a 


i a 


—— ~— re 


Sow 
° 


Sy 


<5 
AS 


> 


SGye 3 Iss 
Losed 


AAS} 


c cabo ° 


Fig. 79.—Testa of Raw Coffee x 170; the right-hand figure shows the double spiral fibres in 
the raphe of the berry x 500. 


power shows itself, he thinks, in the lessened blood-pressure. Aubert 
considers that the lessened heart-pressure is dependent on a more or less 
marked paralysis of the nerves passing to the heart from the ganglia; the 
increased frequency must be dependent either on paralysis of the regulating 
or excitation of the contractive heart nerves, and of these alternatives he adopts 
the latter. He thinks it uncertain if coffee owes its dietetic value to the 
caffein or not. 


1 While Hoppe found a decrease in dogs, Voit found no alteration of urea ; and some very 
careful experiments made by Dr Squarey, of University College. do not confirm Lehmann’s 
observations on men, so far as the urea isconcerned. DrSquarey’s experiments are far more 
complete than those of Lehmann; the urea was not affected even by very large quantities of 
‘coffee. It would be interesting to examine the urine again after the use of the Hrythroxylon 
coca. The late work of M. Moreno, of Maiz (Paris, 1868), confirms the previous statements of 
the removal of the sensation of hunger by this substance. The cold infusion increases, he 
affirms, the arterial tension. Dr Edmonstone Charles has lately called attention to its power 
of preventing thirst. 


ww 


340 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS, 


Coffee is a most important article of diet for soldiers,! as not only is it 
invigorating, without producing subsequent collapse, but the hot infusion is 
almost equally serviceable against both cold and heat ; in the one case, the 
warmth of the infusion, in the other, the action on the skin, being useful, 
while in both cases the nervous stimulation is very desirable. Dr Hooker 
tells us that in the Antarctic expedition the men all preferred coffee to spirits, 
and this was the case in the Schleswig-Holstein war of 1849. 

The experience of Algeria and India (where coffee is coming more and 
more into use) proves its use in hot climates. 

It has been asserted to be protective against malaria. The evidence is not 
strong, but still is sufficient to authorise its use in malarious districts. 


ing can never be performed by 
soldiers. Exposed to the air the 
roasted and ground coffee loses 
its aroma in from two to four 
months; but if packed in tins it" 
will keep it for several months. 
The tins should not be too large, 
so that no more than necessary 
may be exposed to the air. It 
has been said that the tin is 
acted upon, but this does not 
appear to be the case for some 
time. The amount should be at 
least ;6ths of an ounce for each 
person per meal. 
The coffee must not be boiled, 
ea ers or the aroma is in part dissi- 
Fig. 80.—Raw Coffee-berry ; transverse section. pated ; but, if made with water 
gk of 180° or 200°, the coffee only 
gives up 19 to 25 per cent., whereas it ought to yield 30 to 35 percent. In 
order to get the full benefit of the coffee, therefore, after the infusion has 
been poured off, the grounds should be well boiled in some more water, and 
the hot decoction poured over fresh coffee, so that it may take up aroma ; the 
coffee thus partially exhausted can be used on the next occasion for boiling. 
The infusion of coffee has a specific gravity of about 1008 to 1010; the 
oil, caffein, sugar, dextrin, and mineral matters are taken up by water. 
Choice of Coffee.—This is determined entirely by the aroma and taste of 
the roasted coffee and of the infusion. If the coffee has been damaged (as 
by sea-water, when the berries are washed in fresh water and redried) there 
is always a disagreeable taste even after roasting (Chevallier). The berries 
give up less than usual to water (12 per cent.).? 
Adulterations.—The microscope detects adulterations with the greatest 
facility. 


if 


1 The ration, one ounce, is generally too small, and might advantageously be doubled at 
least. See experiments recorded in Whe Issue of a Spirit Ration (Parkes), Appendix I. p. 3 
et seq. 

- With regard to the choice of the coffee berry some caution must be used. The best 
coffee, that of Yemen, originally the Abyssinian berry, is a moderately large full berry (accord-| 
ing to Palgrave), the inferior sorts being small and shrivelled. In India the same rule does 
not seem to hold good, and officers of experience have stated that in that country the best 
coffee is often a shrivelled and uninviting-looking article, whilst the fuller and apparently 
finer samples are really inferior for use as a beverage. 


‘> 


COFFEE—ADULTERATIONS. 341 


The structure of the coffee-berry is shown in the drawings. The long 
cells of the testa (figs. 79 and 81) are very marked. The interior of 


Fig. 81.—Roasted Coffee ; the dark cells, containing air, show the spiral fibre. 


the berry also presents characters which are quite evident; an irregular 


areolar tissue contains 
light or dark yellow angu- 
lar masses and oil globules, 
which are very different 
from any adulterations. 
The little corkscrew-like 
unrolled spiral fibres are 
chiefly found in the bottom 
of the raphe. The usual 
adulterations of coffee are 
roasted chicory,! cereal 
grains or beans, potatoes, 
or sugar. 

1. Chicory is discovered 
by its smell; by yielding 
a darker and denser infu- 
sion of a specific gravity 
of 1018 to 1020; and by 
its microscopic characters. 
It also sinks at once in 
water when roasted, where- 
as coffee floats for a long 


Le 
7000 


Fig. 82.—Roasted Coffee-berry ; transverse section. 


time, in consequence of the development of gas during roasting, or from 
the non-absorbent character of the perisperm and hard yellow granules of 


1 Chicory is itself adulterated with roasted barley and wheat grain, acorns, mangold- 


wurzel, sawdust, and beans and peas. 


342 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


the cellulose. The microscopic test is the most important, and both the 
cells and dotted ducts of chicory are quite characteristic ; at least nothing 
like them exists in coffee! The percentage of ash has been suggested as a 
means of detection. Coffee yields about 4 per cent., of which four-fifths are 
,soluble in water; chicory yields about 5 per cent., cf which only one-third 
is soluble. 
Chicory contains a notable amount of sugar (12 to 14 per cent.), whereas 
coffee has never more than 1 per cent. Wanklyn has proposed to make this 
a basis of detection, using the standard copper solution. 


Fig. 83.—Chicory Root; cells and dotted ducts. 


2. Roasted corn or beans are at once known by the starch grains, which 
frequently preserve the precise character of wheat or barley or beans. Iodine 
turns them at once blue: The infusion also gives a blue with iodine. 

3. Potato starch is also at once detected; there is nothing like it in coffee. 
Sago starch, which is sometimes used, is easily detected. 

4. Sugar is detected by solution, and by the copper solution which it re- 
duces, as the kind of sugar is almost always glucose. If caramel or burnt 
sugar be present, make an infusion, evaporate, dry, and taste: if the extract 
be brittle, dark coloured, and bitter to the taste, caramel has been added 
(Hassall). 

5. Pereira? has given a long list of adulterations of chicory, and Hassall 
has also detected mixture with mangold-wurzel, parsnip, carrot, acorn, and 
sawdust. The cells of mangold-wurzel are like chicory, but much larger ; 
those of carrot and parsnip are something like chicory, but contain starch 
cells ; the starch grains of the acorn are round or oval, with a deep culvert 
depression, or hilum. The infusion of chicory is not turned blue by iodine ; 
when incinerated the ash of chicory should not be less than 5 per cent. 

The use of coffee is steadily decreasing in this country, due largely to the 
amount of adulteration which existing legislation seems rather to foster 
than repress. 


Y Various vegetable substances are now permitted to be sold as substitutes for coffee, pro- 
vided they are properly labelled and made up in 3 fb packets. 
2 Materia Medica, vol. ii. p. 1578 (1863). 


NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES—TEA. 343 


Sup-Section IJ.—Tesa. 


The chief kinds of black tea are Souchong, Congou, Oolong, and Pekoe. 
Bohea is not now found in the market. The chief green teas are Hyson, 
Hyson-stem, Twankay, Caper, and Gunpowder. 

Dry tea contains about 1°8 per cent. of thein, 2°6 of albumen, 9°7 of 
dextrin, 22 of cellulose, 15 of tannin, 20 of extractives, 5°4 of ash, as 
well as other matters, such as oil, wax, and resin. 

In some good teas the amount of thein is much greater. Péligot found 
as much as 6°21 per cent. in dry tea. The thein is combined with tannic 
acid. 

Black tea contains from 6 to 10 per cent. of water—more often the latter 
quantity ; green tea about 8 per cent. 

The ash? consists principally of potash, soda, magnesia, phosphoric acid, 
chlorine, carbonic acid, iron, silica, and traces of manganese. 

There is rather more tannic acid, and more thein and etherial oil, in green 
than black tea, and less cellulose: otherwise the composition is much the 
same (Mulder). 


Black tea yields to boiling water, . : 29-45 per cent. 


Asamean, . 38 i. 
Green? Pe bs : : 40-48 2 
Asamean, . 43 


About £ths of the soluble matters are taken up by the first infusion with 
hot water.? 

If water contain much lime or iron it will not make good tea; in each 
case the water should be well boiled with a little carbonate of soda for 15 
or 20 minutes, and then poured on the leaves. 

In the infusion are found dextrin, glucose, tannin, and thein. About 47 
per cent. of the nitrogenous substances pass into the infusion, and 53 per 
cent. remain undissolved. If soda is added, a still greater amount is given 
to water. 

The green tea (now little sold) is either natural, or coloured (faced) with 
indigo, Prussian blue, clay, carbonate and acetate of copper, curcuma, 
gypsum, and chalk. 

Scraping the tea-leaves and microscopic examination at once detect the 
shining blue particles of indigo and Prussian blue; and the addition of an 
acid indicates which is indigo. Copper is at once detected by solution in an 
acid and addition of ammonia, Letheby stated that black lead is used to 
give a bloom to black teas.4 

As an Article of Diet.—Tea seems to have a decidedly stimulative and 
restorative action on the nervous system, which is perhaps aided by the 
warmth of the infusion, No depression follows this. The pulse is a little 
quickened. The amount of pulmonary carbon dioxide is, according to H. 
Smith, increased.? The action of the skin is increased, that of the bowels 


1 The Society of Public Analysts have adopted 8 per cent. of ash as the maximum of per- 
fectly dry tea. The amount in ordinary tea is about 5 to 6 per cent., of which about 3 per 
cent. is soluble. The ash of spent tea is only about 3 per cent., of which 0°5 is soluble. 

2 There appears now to be very little green tea in the market, since it has been decided 
that “facing” is an adulteration. ‘ 

4 The Society of Public Analysts have adopted 30 per cent. as the minimusn extract in 
genuine tea; Wanklyn takes 32, and certainly good genuine tea yields this at least. 

4 The brick tea of the Tartars consists of old tea leaves, mixed with the leaves and stems 
of Rhamnus theézans, Rhododendron, Chrysanthemum, Rosa caninu, and other plants, mixed 
with ox’s or sheep’s blood. It is much used to purify water. 

5 Phil. Transactions, 1859. 


344 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


lessened. The kidney excretion is little affected, perhaps the urea is a little 
lessened, but this is uncertain. 

As an article of diet for soldiers, tea is most useful. The hot infusion, 
like that of coffee, is potent both against heat and cold; is most useful in 
great fatigue, especially in hot climates (Ranald Martin) ; and also has a 
great purifying effect on water. ‘Tea is so light, is so easily carried, and the 
infusion is so readily made, that it should form the drink par excellence of 
the soldier on service. There is also a belief that it lessens the suscepti- 
bility to malaria, but the evidence on this point is imperfect. 

Choice of Tea.—The tea should not be too much broken up, or mixed up 
with dirt. Spread out, the leaves should not be all large, thick, dark, and 
old, but some should be small and young. There will always be in the best 
tea a good deal of stalk and some remains of the flower. In old tea much 
of the ztherial oil evaporates, and the aroma is less marked. 

The infusion should be fragrant to smell, not harsh and bitter to taste, 
and not too dark. The buyers of tea seem especially to depend on the smell 
and taste of the infusion. 

Structure of the Tea Leaf.—The border is serrated nearly but not quite 
to the stalk; the primary veins run out from the midrib nearly to the 
border, and then turn in, so that a distinct space is left between them and 
the border. The leaf may vary in point of size and shape, being sometimes 
broader, and sometimes long and narrow. The appearance under the 
microscope of the upper and under surfaces is seen in the drawing. The 
border and the primary venation distinguish it from all leaves.? The leaves 
which it is said have been mixed with or substituted for tea in this country 
are the willow, sloe, oak, Valonia oak, plane, beech, elm, poplar, hawthorn, 
and chestnut ; and in China Chloranthus inconspicuus and Camellia Sasanqua 
are said to be used. Of these the willow and the sloe are the only leaves 
which at all resemble tea-leaves. The willow is more irregularly, and the 
sloe is much less perfectly and uniformly serrated. 

To examine the leaves, make an infusion, and then spread out a number 
of leaves ; if a leaf be placed on a glass slide, and covered with a thin glass, 
and then held up to the light, the border and venation can usually be well 
seen. 

The leaves of the Valonia, if used, are at once detected by acicular crystals 
being found under the microscope. 

Sometimes exhausted tea-leaves are mixed with catechu or with a coarse 
powder of a reddish-brown colour, consisting chiefly of powdered catechu, 
and called “La Veno Beno.” Gum and starch are added, the leaves being 
steeped in a strong solution of gum, which, in drying, contracts them. The 
want of aroma, and the collection at the bottom of the infusion of powdered 
catechu, or the detection of particles of catechu, will at once indicate this 
falsification, which is, however, very uncommon. Sand and magnetic oxide 


1 The evidence with respect to the urine is very contradictory ; but, on the whole, the 
action seems to be inconsiderable. Dr Edward Smith considers that “‘tea promotes all vital 
actions, and increases the action of the skin.” Itis, perhaps, impossible at present to express 
its action in so succinct a form. 

* The structure of the serrature is rather peculiar, showing an apparently abortive leaf- 
bud just within the point. This organ can be seen distinctly with an ordinary pocket lens, 
and consists of a cylindrical basal portion and a more or less cone-shaped apical part. From 
the reticulated body of the venation a distinct little funiculus may be traced into each of the 
minute bud-like bodies which are situated just within the tip of the serrature. This latter 
particular is of importance, for, as might be expected, somewhat similar appendages may 
be found in other serrated leaves, but in all cases hitherto examined, they occur at instead 
of within the point of the serratures. No notice appears to have been taken of this fact by 
structural botanists; but Dr Macdonald, who first called attention to it, refers the bodies 
themselves to the category of marginal buds. 


eraityin Commercial Tea the leaves are muchlarg 


re lcs? 

oe a SR ena ee ee Og 4 “are S eal 
are cus wransverly intG CWO OP CAPES DAPLS DOME Stai 
Flowers aretoundin all Tea eventhe best. 


Hawthorn. 


Willow. 


Jellies WY INML 


Alaa 


Cn 


cay 
EIS 


ommercial Tea the Jeaves are much larger & thicker, & often 
sverly Into two or three navts Dome stalks &r 
Flowe refoundin all Tea eventhe best. 


Vaart a 


r\ 
Posey 


A “Ai 

PATS 

raya fh PH? 
pe cates x) 


Ly 
Ne 


ES 


Ss 
Sy, 
asa: 


See 
TS 


{I 


Soler 
5 a_i 
iM 


S55 
a 


ce 


aN 
f) 


ae 
Ge 
aX 
ay 


s 


ery 


a 
a 
iy 
zi 


TIS 
cee 
i) 


=: 
by cocsee 
SG 


wallow. losin Wallow. Camelha Sasanqua. Chloranthus Inconspicuus . 
LEAVES USED IN THE ADULTERATION OF TEA 

The Sloe, Willow, Oak,Beech, Elder, and Hawthorn have been nature sprinted & 

then-lithograp hed. The Drawings of the Chloranthus Inconspicuus and the Camellia 

Sasanqua ;which are said tobe used. by the Chinese are copied from Hassall, The leaves 

of the Elm.Poplar Plane ave said tobe sometimes usedin England. Falsification 


with anylind of leafis however now decidedly uncommon in this Country. 
M&A Hanhart imp 


TEA-—EXTRACTION OF THEIN—TANNIN. 345 


of iron are added by the Chinese. At first the latter was mistaken for iron 
filings, and when it was proved to be really magnetic oxide it was suggested 
that it came accidentally from the soil where the tea was cultivated. Hassall, 
however, gives good reasons for its being a wilful addition.? 


Extraction of Thein. 


Occasionally it may be desired to determine the quantity of thein. Take 
10 grammes of tea, exhaust with boiling water, and add solution of subacetate 


Upper Surface. Under Surface. 
x 282. x 285. 


Fig. 84.—Dried Black Tea Leaf. 


of lead; filter; pass hydrosulphuric acid through to get rid of excess of lead ; 
filter ; evaporate to small bulk, and add a little ammonia; add more water, 
decolorise with animal charcoal, and evaporate slowly to small bulk. White 
feathery crystals of thein form, which should be collected on filtering paper, 
dried at a very low heat, and weighed. 


Determination of Tannin. 


Make an infusion and add solution of gelatine ; collect precipitate, dry and 
weigh—100 = 40 of tannin (Marcet). 


1 Minute quantities have been found in two instances in tea supplied to Netley Hospital ; 
in one the ash was 6°055 per cent., in the other 6°220. Hassall states that he has never 
found it except in tea that has been undoubtedly adulterated and yielded a very much greater 
amount of ash. 


346 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


Examination of Tea. 


Judge of the aroma of the dry tea and infusion ; taste infusion ; spread out 
leaves and see their characters ; collect anything like mineral powder, and 
_ examine under microscope. The microscope will also show if the tea has 
deteriorated by keeping ; sometimes acarz, fungi, and bacteria may be found. 
To make the infusion, take 10 grammes of tea, and infuse in 500 c.c. of 
boiling distilled or rain water. Let it stand five or six minutes before smell- — 
ing and tasting it. Exhaust the leaves by boiling with successive portions of 
water, until no colour is given up to the water. Measure the total amount of 
the infusion; take 100 c.c. and dry it in a water-bath,? and weigh. Calculate 
out the percentage. 
Example.—The total quantity of the infusion from 10 grammes of tea 
was 1890 c.c.; 100 cc. taken and dried yielded 0-21 of extract; then 


—— x 0:21 = 3:969 of extract in 10 grammes; this multiplied by 


10 = 39°69 per cent. 

The exhausted leaves may also be dried and weighed, the loss representing 
the amount of extract, which ought to correspond with the amount obtained 
directly. 

The ash should also be determined; 5 or 10 grammes are to be incinerated ; 
the ash is generally grey, sometimes slightly greenish. Any excess above 6 
per cent. is suspicious; if above 8 per cent. on the perfectly dry tea, adul- 
teration is certain. About one-half of the ash is soluble in water; the 
solution is often (but not always) pink, from the presence of manganese. 
The amount and character of the ash form good means of detecting the use 
of exhausted leaves. 

The acidity of the infusion, and the amount of tannin and thein may also 
be determined ; as also the chlorine, alkalinity, and iron of the ash. The 
best tests of the quality of the tea are the aroma and the physical characters. 


Sus-Section [I1.—Cocoa. 


Composition.—Although the theobromin of cocoa closely resembles thein 
and caffein, the composition of cocoa removes it widely from tea and coffee. 
The quantity of fat is large; it varies even in the same sort of cocoa, but 
is usually from 45 to 49 per cent. The theobromin is 1-2 to 1°5 per cent.; 
the proteid substances 13 to 18 per cent. The ash contains a large quantity 
of phosphate of potassium. 

As an Article of Diet.—The large quantity of fat and albuminoid substance 
makes it a very nourishing article of diet ; and it is therefore useful in weak 
states of the system, and for healthy men under circumstances of great exer- | 
tion. It has been even compared to milk. In South America cocoa and 
maize cakes are used by travellers; and the large amount of agreeable 
nourishment in small bulk enables several days’ supplies to be easily carried | 
(Humboldt). 


1 The dealers usually take as much tea as is equal in weight to a new sixpence for the infu- 
sion. This is equal to about 3 grammes; it is dissolved in a cupful of water, about 5 ounces — 
or 140 ¢.c. 

2 Mr Wanklyn suggests a simple form of water-bath,—an ordinary tin oil-can about three- 
parts full of water ; this is boiled over a lamp, and the dish with infusion to be dried held 
over the narrow mouth in the ring of a retort stand. The drying is soon completed in the 
steam. 

3 The Society of Public Analysts have adopted 20 per cent. of cocoa butter as the minimum 
admissible. 


COCOA—-CONDIMENTS-——VINEGAR. SA 


By roasting, the starch is changed into dextrin ; the amount of margaric 
acid increases, and an empyreumatic substance is formed. 

The changes depend on the amount of roasting ; the lighter-coloured nuts 
contain more unchanged fat, and less aroma; the strongly roasted and dark 
cocoas have more aroma and bitterness. 

Choice and Adulterations.—In commerce, cereal grains, starches, arrow- 
root, sago, or potato starch and sugar, are very commonly mixed with cocoa ; 
and some of the so-called homeopathic cocoas are rightly named, for the 
amount of cocoa is very small. Brick-dust and peroxide of iron are some- 
times used (Normandy).! The structure of the cocoa is very marked. 


—+— > 


| 2» > GP aay 


Paar 
0} I 


a 


Fig. 85.—Cocoa, outer coat. x 190. 


The starch grains of cocoa are small, and embedded usually in the cells. 
The presence of starch grains of cereals, arrowroot, sago, or other kinds of 
starch, is at once detected by the microscope. Sugar can be detected by 
the taste, and by solution. Mineral substances are best detected by incinera- 
tion, digesting it in an acid and testing for iron, lead, «ec. 


SECTION III. 
CONDIMENTS. 
SUB-SECTION I.—VINEGAR. 


As an Article of Diet.—Robert Jackson was of opinion that the use of 
Vinegar was too restricted in the army. This opinion he appears to have 


1 Hassall examined 54 samples; 8 were genuine, 43 contained sugar, and 46 starch ; 39 out 
of 68 samples contained earthy colouring matter, as reddle, Venetian red, and umber.—On 
Adulteration, p. 166. ; 


348 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


formed from considering the great use of vinegar made by the Romans. | 
Whatever may have been the source of the opinion, there is no doubt of its’ 
correctness. Acetic acid plays that double part in the body which seems} 
so important, of first an acid of a neutral salt, and then, in the form of car- 
bonic acid, as the acid of an alkaline salt. But this valuable dietetic quality 
is partly counterbalanced in English vinegar by the unfortunate circum- 
stance that sulphuric acid (;,,,5th in weight) is allowed to be added to! 
vinegar, and thus a strong acid is taken into the body, which is not only 
not useful in nutrition, but is hurtful from the tendency to form insoluble 
salts of lime. As the addition of sulphuric salts is not necessary,! and, | 


Wee 


¢@) 


Zi 


Re 
£5 


Zieh 


Zi 


t 
Ee) se 


» . Wn aN — \ 
S R NC SS Vi a0 
. yy \ W\NiZ i AP 
> TE <== ) —<—— 
= i) 


SIGS 


Fig. 86.—Cocoa, under parts, middle coat. x 190. 

il 

indeed, is not permitted on the Continent, it is to be hoped the Legislature will 
soon alter a system which has only the effect of injuring an important article 
of diet. The amount of vinegar which may be used may be from one to 
several ounces. On marches, the Romans mixed it with water as a beverage. | 
Examination of Vinegar.—Several kinds of vinegar are in the market,| 
known by the Nog. 16, 18, 20, 22, 24. Nos. 22 and 24 are the best, and| 
contain about 5 per cent. of pure glacial acetic acid. The weakest kinds 
contain less than 3 per cent. The Society of Public Analysts have adopted 
3 per cent. as the minimum admissible. ; 
Quality.—1. Take specific gravity ; white wine vinegar varies from 1015 to’ 
1022, malt vinegar from 1016 to 1019. If below this water has been added.) 
2. Determining acidity of 10 c.c. with the alkaline solution.” It is gene~ 


1 The absence of Anguillula Aceti has been by some attributed to the use of sulphuric acid. 
See Microyraphic Dictionary, article “ Anguillula.” In a sample examined at Netley, which) 
swarmed with anguillul, there was only a trace of sulphuric acid. i 

2 See Appendix A. | 


CONDIMENTS— VINEGAR. 349 


rally best to dilute the vinegar ten times with distilled water, and to take 
10 c.c. of the diluted vinegar. Multiply the c.c. of alkaline solution used 
by 0-6; the result is acetic acid per cent. 

Example.—1\0 ¢.c. of diluted vinegar took 8 ¢.c. of alkaline solution; 
8x 06 =4°8 per cent. of acetic acid. 

The acidity of English vinegar is chiefly caused by acetic and sulphuric 
acids, but it is usually calculated at once as glacial acetic acid. If it falls 
below 3 per cent.! water has probably been added. (The lowest noted by 
Hassall in 33 samples was 2°29.) If the specific gravity be low, and the 
acidity high, excess of sulphuric acid may have been added. 

Sodium carbonate or ammonia gives a purplish precipitate in wine 
vinegar, but not in malt vinegar. 

If excess of sulphuric acid be suspected, it must be determined by 
baryta; this requires care, as sulphates may be introduced in the water. 
Hydrochloric acid and barium chloride are added; the sulphate of barium 
collected, dried, weighed, and multiplied by 0°34305. 

Adulterations.—Water; sulphuric acid in excess;? hydrochloric acid 
(uncommon); or common salt (detected by nitrate of silver and dilute nitric 
acid); pyroligneous acid (distil and re-distil the distillate, the residue will 
have the smell of pyroligneous acid); lead; copper from vessels (evaporate 
to dryness, incinerate, dissolve in weak nitric acid, divide into two parts, 
pass SH, through one, and test for copper in the other by ammonia, or by 
a piece of iron wire); corrosive sublimate (pass SH, through, collect pre- 
cipitate); capsicum, pellitory, or other pungent substances (evaporate 
nearly to dryness, and dissolve in boiling alcohol, evaporate to syrup, taste; 
burnt sugar gives a bitter taste and a dark colour to the syrup). 

The presence of copper in the vinegar used for pickles may be easily 
detected by simply inserting the bright blade of a steel knife. 


Fig. 87.—White Mustard Seed.—Cuticle consisting of a perforated cellular epiderm and 
mucilage cells, some by expansion escaping through the cuticular openings after being placed 
in water. 


1 Hassall says 3°5 per cent. 

2 The presence of sulphuric acid may be detected, qualitatively, by adding a few drops of 
the vinegar to a piece of cane sugar, and evaporating on the water bath. The solution 
becomes black in proportion to the mineral acid present. —Hassall. 


_ 


350 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


Sus-Secrion I].—Mustarp. 


Good mustard is known by the sharp acrid smell and taste. It is 
adulterated with turmeric (detected by microscope and liquor potassee), 
wheat or barley starch (detected by microscope and iodine), and linseed — 
% 


ono) 


Tt | 
Fig. 88.—White Mustard Seed.——_1, Outer coat, cuticle mucilage cells; 2, Fibrous reticular ; 


3, Small angular cells; 4, Large cells and very delicate membrane ; 5, Interior of seed with 
a few minute oil globules. 


(detected by microscope). Many samples of mustard are still mixed with 
turmeric and starch of some kind, but this has very much lessened since the 


Bre eee 5 Ege 
fe £ vi ys 49 Za oe 
Boe ec 


> ZY ; C »Y os 
Wx ae NY, , oO" es i( S © 
— ) Os ee we at i cll wy" 


we 
Be 

AB Ay 

ae 

BES \\\S cM 
aN zi 

e 


| 
| 
| 
| 


Fig. 89.—White Mustard Seed, central part. x 205. 
passing of the Adulteration Act. Clay and plaster of Paris are sometimes 
added, and cayenne is added to bring up the sharpness, if much flour is 


used. 
The microscopic characters of mustard are well marked. The outer coat 


CONDIMENTS—MUSTARD—PEPPER. ood 


of the white mustard consists of a stratum of hexagonal cells, perforated in 
the centre, and other cells which occupy the centre portion of the hexagonal 
cells, and escape through the opening when swollen from imbibition of 
water; these cells are believed to contain the mucilage which is obtained 
when mustard is placed in water. There are two internal coats made up 
of small angular cells; the structure of the seed consists of numerous ceils 
containing oil, but no starch. The black mustard has the same characters, 
without the infundibuliform cells. 


Sus-Secrion [[].—PrEpreEr. 


Pepper is adulterated with linseed, mustard husks, wheat and pea flour, 
rape cake, and ground rice. The microscope at once detects these adultera- 
tions. 


y “TF 
\\ oll - y 
i \\\' qi 

NY, 


I 


Fig. 90.—Section of Black Pepper Berry, central portion. 


The microscopic characters of pepper are rather complicated; there is a 
husk composed of four or five layers of cells and a central part. The cortex 
has externally elongated cells, placed vertically, and provided with a central 
cavity, from which lines radiate towards the circumference ; then come some 
strata of angular cells, which, towards the interior, are larger, and filled with 
oil. The third layer is composed of woody fibre and spiral cells. The fourth 
layer is made up of large cells, which towards the interior become smaller 
and of a deep-red colour ; they contain most of the essential oil of the pepper. 
The central part of the berry is composed of large angular cells, about 
twice as long as broad. Steeped in water, some of those cells become yellow, 
others remain colourless. It has been supposed that the yellow cells contain 
piperine, as they give the same reactions as piperine does: the tint, namely, 
is deepened by alcohol and nitric acid, and sulphuric acid applied to a dry 
Section causes a reddish hue (Hassall). 


one BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


White pepper is the central part of the seed, but some small particles of 
cortex are usually mixed with it. It is composed of cells containing very 
small starch grains. Hassall says that the central white cells are so hard 
they may be mistaken for particles of sand. A little care would avoid this. 
The starch grains are easily detected, however small, by iodine. 

Pepper is largely adulterated with husks and palm-nut powder (Poivrette). 
No pure pepper should give less than 50 per cent. of reducing sugar on the 
ash-free substance ; palm-nut powder gives 23 per cent. (Leng). Neuss + re- 
commends covering the powder with concentrated HCl: true pepper becomes 
intensely yellow, and from among it other substances can be picked out. 


. 


Fig. 91.—Transverse Section of Black Pepper Berry. 


Pepper dust is merely the sweepings of the warehouses. Rape or linseed 
cake, cayenne and mustard husks, are mixed with pepper dust, and it is then 
sold as pepper. 

Sus-Section [V.—Sa tr. 

The goodness of salt is known by its whiteness, fine crystalline character, 
dryness, complete and clear solution in water. The coarser kinds, containing 
often chloride of magnesium, and perhaps lime salts, are darker coloured, 
more or less deliquescent, and either not thoroughly crystallised or in too 
large crystals. 


1 Pharm. Zeitung, 1885. 


EXAMINATION OF LEMON JUICE. ROS 


SECTION IV. 
LEMON AND LIME JUICE. 


These juices contain free acids in large quantities, chiefly citric, and a 
little malic acid, sugar, vegetable albumen, and mucus. 

The expressed juice of the ripe fruit of the Citrus Limonum, as ordered by 
the British Pharmacopeeia, is said to have a specific gravity of 1:039, and to 
contain on an average 32:5 grains of citric acid in one fluid ounce.! The 
fresh juice of the lime (Cvtrus Limetta, or Citrus acida) has a rather less 
specific gravity (1-037), and contains less acid (32°22 grains per ounce).? 

The very important Merchant Shipping Act,®? which regulates the issue 
of lemon juice on board merchant vessels, does not define the strength ; but 
it has been stated by Mr Stoddart 4 that the Board of Trade standard is a 
specific gravity of 1030 without spirit, and 30 grains of citric acid per 
ounce. It occasionally is as high as 1050. 

As found in commerce, for merchant shipping, or used in the Royal Navy, 
the lime or lemon juice is chiefly prepared in Sicily or the West Indies ; it 
is mixed with spirit (usually brandy or whisky, which gives it a slightly 
greenish-yellow hue), and olive oil is poured on the top. 

Sugar is added to it when issued, to make it more agreeable to taste, in 
the proportion of half its weight. Lemon juice is usually issued in bottles 
containing three to four pints, not quite filled, and is covered with a layer 
of olive oil. About 1 ounce of brandy is added to each 10 ounces of juice. 
Sometimes the juice is boiled, and no brandy is added; the former kind 
keeps best (Armstrong). Both are equal in anti-scorbutic power (Armstrong). 
Good lemon juice will keep for some years, at least three years (Armstrong); 
bad juice soon becomes turbid, and then stringy and mucilaginous, and the 
citric and malic acids decompose, glucose and carbon dioxide being formed. 
Some turbidity and precipitate do not, however, destroy its powers. 

As found in the market, it is frequently mixed with water, and sometimes 
with other acids. In 20 samples examined in 1868 by Mr Stoddart, 7 were 
genuine, 5 were watered, and 8 were artificial ; tartaric acid being present in 
one, and sulphuric acid in another sample.° 

In the examination the points which seem of consequence, in addition 
to the determination of the free acidity, are the fragrancy of the extract and 
the alkalinity of the ash, proving the existence of some alkaline citrate. The 
latter could, however, be imitated, but the fragrancy cannot be so. 


Examination of Lemon Juice. 


1. Pour into a glass, and mark physical characters ; turbidity, precipitate, 
Stringiness, &c. The taste should be pleasant, acid, but not bitter. Add 
lime water, and boil; if free citric acid is present, a large precipitate of 


1 Mr Stoddart (Pharm. Jowr., Oct. 1868) points out that the specific gravity is too high for 
the quantity of acid stated; there may, however, be other ingredients. He gives himself the 
specific gravity as 1°040 to 1:045, and the citric acid as 39 to 46 grains per ounce (citric acid, 
C;H,0;). Mr Stoddart mentioned that when lemons are kept the citric acid decomposes, and 
glucose and carbon dioxide arise. But yet citric acid is made from damaged fruit. 

2 Stoddart, op. cit., p. 205. 

% The Merchant Shipping Act, 1867. 4 Pharm. Jour., Oct. 1868, p. 204. 

® The lime-juice used in the Arctic Expedition, 1875-76, gave on analysis 27 grains of citric 
acid per ounce as issued, that is, after being fortified with about 15 per cent. of proof spirit. 
Before fortifying it contained 32 grains. (See analyses by Professor Attfield and Mr Bell, 
Report of Committee on Scurvy, pages xliii. and li.) Samples analysed at Netley showed a 
Specific gravity of 1023 as issued, and 1035-7 after driving off the alcohol; the extract was 
about 83 per cent. The unfortified juice froze at 25° F., the fortified remained liquid down 
to15° F. Prolonged freezing at a temperature of nearly 0° F. produced no change in the 
character or amount of the constituents. 

Z 


‘354 BEVERAGES AND CONDIMENTS. 


calcium citrate is formed, which redissolves as the solution cools. Evaporate 
very carefully to extract, to test the fragrancy, de. 

2. Take the specific gravity, remembering that spirit is present ; then, if 
necessary, evaporate to one-half to drive off alcohol, dilute to former amount, 
sand take specific gravity at 60° Fahr. 

3. Determine acidity by alkaline solution.! Express the acidityas citric acid 
(C,H,O,); 1 cc. of the alkaline solution = 6°4 milligrammes of citric acid. 
As the acidity is considerable, the best way is to take 10 c.c. of the juice, add 
90 c.c. of water, and take 10 c.c. of the dilute fluid, which will give the 
acidity of 1 c.c. of the undiluted juice. If the number of c.c. used for the 
diluted juice is multiplied by 2°8, it gives the acidity in grains per ounce. 

4. Test for adulteration, viz.:—(a) Tartarie Acid.—Dilute and filter, if 
the lime juice be turbid; add a little solution of acetate of potash; stir 
well, without touching the sides of the glass, and leave for twenty-four 
hours ; if tartaric acid be present the potassium tartrate will fall. 

(6) Sulphuric Acid.—Add barium chloride after filtration, if necessary ; 
if any precipitate falls, add a little water and a few drops of dilute hydro- | 
chloric acid to dissolve the barium citrate, which sometimes causes a turbidity. | 

(c) Hydrochloric Acid.—Test with silver nitrate and a few drops of dilute | 
nitric acid. 

(d) Nitric Acid.—This is an uncommon adulteration ; the iron or brucine | 
test can be used as in the case of water. 


Factitious Lemon Juice. 


It is not easy to distinguish well-made factitious lemon juice ; about 552 
grains of crystallised citric acid are dissolved in a wine pint of water, which | 
is flavoured with essence of lemon dissolved in spirits. This corresponds to 
about 19 or 20 grains of dry citric acid per ounce. The flavour is not, how- 
ever, like that of the real juice, and the taste is sharper. Evaporation | 
detects the falsification. 

Use of Lemon Juice. 


In military transports, the daily issue of one ounce of lemon juice per head | 
is commenced when the troops have been ten days at sea, and by the Mer- | 
chant Shipping Act (1867) the same rule is ordered, except when the ship 
is in harbour, and fresh vegetables can be procured. It is mixed with sugar. | 

If dried vegetables can be procured, half the amount of juice will perhaps do, | 

In campaigns, when vegetables are deficient, the same rules should be | 
enforced. On many foreign stations, where dysentery takes a scorbutie type — 
(as formerly in Jamaica, and even of late years in China), lemon juice should | 
be regularly issued. 

Substitutes for Lemon Juice. 

Citric acid is the best, or citrate of potassium ; then perhaps vinegar, | 
though this is inferior, and lowest of all is nitrate of potassium.? The tar- 
trates, lactates, and acetates of the alkalies may all be used, but there are no | 
good experiments on their relative anti-scorbutic powers on record. If milk | 
is procurable, it may be allowed to become acid, and the acid then neutralised | 
with an alkali. The fresh juices of many plants, especially species of cacti, | 
can be used, the plant being crushed and steeped in water; and in case neither } 
vegetables, lemon juice, nor any of the substitutes can be procured, we ought | 
not to omit the trial of such plants of this kind as may be obtainable. 


1 See Appendix A. { 
2 On this point see Bryson’s paper in the Medical Times and Gazette, 1850. Reference may — 
also be made to a review on scurvy, which Dr Parkes contributed to the British and Foreign | 
Medical Chirurgical Review, in October 1848, for evidence on the point. 


CUE AG EE Hike ele 
HXERCISEH. 


A PERFECT state of health implies that every organ has its due share of 
exercise. If this is deficient, nutrition suffers, the organ lessens in size, and 
eventually, more or less degenerates. If it be excessive, nutrition, at first 
apparently vigorous, becomes at last abnormal, and, in many cases, a dege- 
neration occurs which is as complete as that which follows the disuse of an 
organ. Every organ has its special stimulus which excites its action, and 
if this stimulus is perfectly normal as to quality and quantity, perfect health 
is necessarily the result. 

But the term exercise is usually employed in a narrower sense, and ex- 
presses merely the action of the voluntary muscles. This action, though not 
absolutely essential to the exercise of other organs, is yet highly important, 
and, indeed, in the long run, is really necessary ; the heart especially is 
evidently affected by the action of the voluntary muscles, and this may be 
said of all organs, with the exception, perhaps, of the brain. Not only the 
circulation of the blood, but its formation and its destruction, are profoundly 
influenced by the movement of the voluntary muscles. Without this mus- 
cular movement health must inevitably be lost, and it becomes therefore 
important to determine the effects of exercise, and the amount which should 
be taken. 


SECTION I. 
THE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE, 


(a) On the Lungs—Elimination of Carbon.—The most important effect 
of muscular exercise is produced on the lungs. The pulmonary circulation is 
greatly hurried, and the quantity of air inspired, and of carbon dioxide ex- 
pired, is marvellously increased. Dr Edward Smith investigated the first 
point carefully, and the following table shows his main results. Taking the 
lying position as unity, the quantity of air inspired was found to be as 
follows :— 


Lying position, 1:00 Walking and carrying 63 tb, 3°84 

Sitting, 1:18 - by 118 tb, 4°75 

Standing, 1°33 : 4 miles per hour, 5:00 

Singing, 3 : 1:26 Bs ) 4 7°00 

Walking 1 mile per hour, 1:90 Riding and trotting, . 4:05 
i 2 E 2°76 Swimming, . : : 4°33 
) 3 FH 3°23 Treadmill, 5:50 
a and carrying 34 tb, 3:50 


The great increase of air inspired is more clearly seen when it is put in 
this way : under ordinary circumstances, 2 man draws in 480 cubic inches 
per minute; if he walks four miles an hour he draws in (480 x 5=) 2400 
cubic inches; if six miles an hour (480 x 7 =) 3260 cubic inches. Simul- 


56 EXERCISE. 


M9 


taneously, the amount of carbon dioxide in the expired air is increased | 
(Scharling and many others). 

The most reliable observations in this direction are those made by E. Smith, 
Hirn,! Speck,? and Pettenkofer and Voit.? As there is no doubt that the 
peculiar means of investigation render the experiments of the last-named — 
authors as accurate as possible in the present state of science, they are given | 


briefly in the following table :+— 


Absorption and Elimination in Rest and Exercise. 


| Elimination in Grammes of— 


Weight of man experimented upon, Absorption 
60 kilos=132 tb avds, OF A Rem lee Je 
SPLINES, aes Water. Urea. 
Rest-day, . : : - - 708°9 iLL) 8280 372 
Work-day, . 7 ; A F 954°5 1284°2 2042°1 37°0 
Sra work-day (with exception } 245-6 372-7 12141 02 
per : , ; j 


In other words, during the work-day 3721 grains, or 8°66 ounces of 
oxygen, were absorbed in excess of the rest-day, and 5751 grains, or 13°15 
ounces of carbon dioxide in excess, were evolved. Expressing this as carbon, 
an excess of 1568 grains, or 3°58 ounces, were eliminated on the work-day. 
There was an excess of oxidation of carbon equal to 41 per cent., and it 
must be remembered that the so-called ‘“‘ work-day ” included a period of 
rest ; the work was done only during the working hours, and was not. 
excessive. 

It will be observed from these experiments that a large amount of water 
was eliminated during exercise, while the urea was very slightly lessened. 

It seems certain that the great formation of carbon dioxide takes place in 
the muscles ;° it is rapidly carried off from them, and if it is not so, it would 
seem highly probable that their strong action becomes impossible. At any 
rate, if the pulmonary circulation and the elimination of carbon dioxide are | 
in any way impeded, the power of continuing the exertion rapidly lessens. | 
The watery vapour exhaled from the lungs is also largely increased during 
exertion. 

Muscular exercise is then clearly necessary for a sufficient elimination of 

carbon from the body, and it is plain that, in a state of prolonged rest, either 
the carboniferous food must be lessened or carbon will accumulate. 

Excessive and badly arranged exertion may lead to congestion of the | 
lungs, and even hemoptysis. “Deficient exer cise, on the other hand, is one 
of the causes which favour those nutritional alterations in the lung which 
we class as tuberculous. 


1 adios s Phys., 2nd edit., Bandi. p. 748. 

2 Archiv des Vereins fitr wiss. Heilk., Band vi. pp. 285 and 289. 

3 Zeitsch. fur Biologie, Bands ii. and iii. , and Ranke’s Phys. des Menschen, p. 5951. 

4 The numbers given by Hirn and Speck are very accordant ; they will be found quoted in 
the 2nd edition of this work, if it is wished to refer to them. 

5 See the observations of Valentin and others, and especially the experiments of Sczelkow ~ 
(Henle’s Zeitschrift, 1863, Band xvii. p. 106). The amount of CO, passing off from contracting © 
muscles was indeed so great, and so much in excess of the O passing to them, that it was 
conjectured that carbonic acid must have been formed during contraction from substances | 
rich in oxygen (such as formic acid), or that oxygen must have been obtained otherwise than | 
from inspiration. 


EFFECTS OF EXERCISE—LUNGS—HEART AND GREAT VESSELS. 357 


Certain rules flow from these facts. During exercise the action of the 
lungs must be perfectly free ; not the least impediment must be offered to 
the freest play of the chest and the action of the respiratory muscles. The 
dress and accoutrements of the soldier should be planned in reference to this 
fact, as there is no man who is called on to make, at certain times, greater 
exertion. And yet, till a very recent date, the modern armies of Europe 
were dressed and accoutred in a fashion which took from the soldier, in a 
great degree, that power of exertion for which, and for which alone, he is 
selected and trained. 

The action of the lungs should be watched when men are being trained for 
exertion ; as soon as the respirations become laborious, and especially if there 
be sighing, the lungs are becoming too congested, and rest is necessary. 

A second point is that the great increase of carbon excreted demands an 
increase of carbon to be given inthe food. There seems a general accordance 
among physiologists that this is best given in the form of fat, and not of 
starch, and this is confirmed by the instinctive appetite of a man taking 
exertion, and not restrained in the choice of food. 

A third rule is that, as spirits lessen the excretion of pulmonary carbon 
dioxide, they are hurtful during exercise ; and it is perhaps for this reason, 
as well as from their deadening action on the nerves of volition, that those 
who take spirits are incapable of great exertion. This is now well under- 
stood by trainers, who allow no spirits, and but little wine or beer. It is a 
curious fact, stated by Artmann, that if men undergoing exertion take spirits, 
they take less fat. Possibly in reality they lessen the amount of exertion, 
and therefore require less fat. Water alone is the best liquid to train on. 

A fourth rule is that, as the excretion of carbon dioxide (and perhaps of 
pulmonary organic matter) is so much increased, a much larger amount of 
pure air is necessary ; and in every covered building (as gymnasia, riding- 
schools, &c.), where exercise is taken, the ventilation must be carried to the 
greatest possible extent, so soon does the air become vitiated. 

(6) On the Heart and Vessels.—The action of the heart rapidly increases 
in force and frequency, and the flow of blood through all parts of the body, 
including the heart itself, is angmented. The amount of increase is usually 
from ten to thirty beats, but occasionally much more. After exercise, the 
heart’s action falls below its normal amount; and if the exercise has been 
exceedingly prolonged and severe, may fall as low as fifty or forty per minute, 
and become intermittent. During exertion, when the heart is not oppressed, 
its beats, though rapid and forcible, are regular and equable ; but when it 
becomes embarrassed, the pulse becomes very quick, small, and then unequal, 
and even at last irregular. When men have gone through a good deal of 
exertion, and then are called upon to make a sudden effort, the pulse may 
become very small and quick (160-170), but still retain its equability. There 
seems no harm in this, but such exertion cannot be long continued. 

The ascension of heights greatly tries a fatigued heart. The accommo- 
dation of the heart to great exertion is probably connected with the easy 
flow of blood through its own structure. 

Excessive exercise leads to affection of the heart,—rupture (in some few 
cases), palpitation, hypertrophy in a good many cases, and more rarely 
valvular disease. These may be avoided by careful training, and a due 
proportion of rest. Injuries to vessels may also result from too sudden or 
prolonged exertion. The sphygmographic observations of Dr Fraser! on the 
pulses of men after rowing show how much the pressure is increased. 


1 Journal of Physiology, Nov. 1868. 


358 EXERCISE. 


Deficient exercise leads to weakening of the heart’s action, and probably 
to dilatation and fatty degeneration. 

In commencing an unaccustomed exercise, the heart must be closely 
watched ; excessive rapidity (120-140), inequality, and then irregularity, 
will point out that rest, and then more gradual exercise, are necessary, in 
order that the heart may be accustomed to the work. 

(c) On the Skin,—The skin becomes red from turgescence of the vessels, | 
and perspiration is increased ; water, chloride of sodium, and acids (probably 
in part fatty) pass off in great abundance. Some nitrogen passes off in a 
soluble form (urea?), but the amount is extremely small! No gaseous 
nitrogen is given off in healthy men from the skin. 

The amount of fluid passing off is not certain, but is very great. Speck’s 
experiments show that it is at. least doubled under ordinary conditions. — 
Pettenkofer and Voit’s experiments show even a larger increase. The usual 
ratio of the urine to the lung and skin excreta is reversed. Instead of bemg 
1 to 0°5 or 0°8, it becomes 1 to 1°7 or 2, or even 2°5. This evaporation re- 
duces and regulates the heat of the body, which would otherwise soon become 
excessive ; so that, as long ago pointed out by Dr John Davy, the body tem-_ 
perature rises little above the ordinary temperature. No amount of external 
cold seems to be able to check the passage of fluid, though it may partly 
check the rapidity of evaporation. If anything check evaporation, the body- 
heat increases, and soon languor comes on and exertion becomes difficult. 

During exertion there is little danger of chill under almost any circum- 
stances ; but when exertion is over, there is then great danger, because the 
heat of the body rapidly declines, and falls below the natural amount, and 
yet evaporation from the skin, which still more reduces the heat, continues. 

The rules to be drawn from these facts are—that the skin should be kept 
extremely clean ; during the period of exertion it may be thinly clothed, but 
immediately afterwards, or in the intervals of exertion, it should be covered — 
sufficiently well to prevent the least feeling of coolness of the surface. — 
Flannel is best for this purpose. 

(2) On the Voluntary Muscles.—The muscles grow, become harder, aud — 
respond more readily to volition. Their growth, however, has a limit; and 
a single muscle, or group of muscles, if exercised to too great an extent, will, 
after growing toa great size, commence to waste. But this seems not to be 
the case when all the muscles of the body are exercised, probably because no | 
single muscle or group of muscles can then be over-exercised. It seems to | 
be a fact, however, that prolonged exertion, without sufficient rest, damages — 
to a certain extent the nutrition of the muscles, and they become soft. 

The rules to be drawn from these facts are, that all muscles, and not single ~ 
groups, should be brought into play, and that periods of exercise must be 
alternated, especially in early training, with long intervals of rest. 

(¢) On the Nervous System.—The effect of exercise on the mind is not clear. 
It has been supposed that the intellect is less active in men who take excessive — 
exercise, owing to the greater expenditure of nervous energy in that direction. | 
But there is no doubt that great bodily is quite consistent with extreme 
mental activity; and, indeed, considering that perfect nutrition is not possible 
except with bodily activity, we should infer that sufficient exercise would be | 
necessary for the perfect performance of mental work. Doubtless, exercise _ 
may be pushed to such an extreme as to leave no time for mental cultivation ; 
and this is perhaps the explanation of the proverbial stupidity of the athletz. — 


1 See “On the Excretion of Nitrogen by the Skin,” by J. Byrne Power, L.C.P.I., Proceed- 
ings of the Royal Society, 1882, vol. xxxiii, p. 354. 


EFFECTS OF EXERCISE—ELIMINATION OF NITROGEN. 359 


Deficient exercise causes a heightened sensitiveness of the nervous system, 
a sort of morbid excitability, and a greater susceptibility to the action of 
external agencies. 

(f) On the Digestive System.—The appetite largely increases with exercise, 
especially for meat and fat, but in a less degree, it would appear, for the 
carbo-hydrates. Digestion is more perfect, and absorption is more rapid. 
The circulation through the liver increases, and the abdominal circulation is 
carried on with more vigour. Food must be increased, especially nitrogenous 
substances, fats, and salts, and of these especially the phosphates and the 
ehlorides.!_ The effects of exercise on digestion are greatly increased if it be 
taken in the free air, and it is then a most valuable remedy for some forms 
of dyspepsia.2 Conversely, deficient exercise lessens both appetite and 
digestive power. 

(g) On the Generative Organs.—It has been supposed that puberty is 
delayed by physical exertion, but perhaps the other circumstances have not 
been allowed full weight. Yet, it would appear that very strong exercise 
lessens sexual desire, possibly because nervous energy is turned in a special 
direction. 

(h) On the Kidneys.—The water of the urine and the chloride of sodium 
often lessen in consequence of the increased passage from the skin. The 
urea is not much changed. The uric acid increases after great exertion ; 
so also apparently the pigment; the phosphoric acid is not augmented * 
unless the exertion is excessive (North); the sulphuric acid is moderately 
increased (but invariably so according to North); the free carbonic acid of 
the urine is increased; the chlorides are lessened on account of the outflow 
by the skin; the exact amount of the bases has not been determined, but a 
ereater excess of soda and potash is eliminated than of lime or magnesia ; 
nothing certain is known as to hippuric acid, sugar, or other substances.* 

(7) On the Bowels.—The effect of exercise is to lessen the amount, partly 
probably from lessened passage of water into the intestines. The nitrogen 
does not appear to be much altered.° 

(k) On the Elimination of Nitrogen.—A great number of experiments 
have been made in the amount of nitrogen passing off by the kidneys 
during exercise.6 The amount of urea has been usually determined, and 
the nitrogen has been calculated from this; Meissner has determined the 
amount of the creatin, and the creatinin;’ while Fick and Wislicenus 
have compared the total nitrogen (by soda lime in the manner of Voit) 


1 It is yet uncertain what kind of diet should be allowed during long marches in the tropics. 
Sir John Kirk states that in South Africa (10° and 17’ S. lat.), during Livingstone’s second 
expedition, a large quantity (2 Tb) of animal food was found to be essential ; this was preferred, 
though any quantity of millets and leguminose could have been procured. Fat was taken in 
large quantities. It was found also that boiled was better than roast meat, because the men 
could eat more of it. No bad effect whatever was traceable to the use of this great amount 
of meat, even in the intensest heat. 

2 James Blake, Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, 1860. 

® Dr Parkes’ experiments. 

4Jn the careful observations made by Dr Pavy on Weston the pedestrian (Lancet, Dec. 
1876), it was found that all the constituents were increased, except the chlorine and the 
soda, which were notably diminished, especially the chlorine; the magnesia was also 
diminished, but in a much less degree. In these experiments, however, the diet was not 
uniforin, and the exercise was excessive. 

5 Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 94, 1867, p. 52. 

6 For a statement of these experiments up to 1860, see Dr Parkes’ work On the Composition 
of the Urine, 1860, p. 85. Since this time the chief experiments have been by Voit, Petten- 
kofer, J. Ranke, E. Smith, Haughton, Fick and Wislicenus, Byasson, Noyes, Meissner, Pavy, 
Parkes, North, and others. At present the subject is being investigated by a Committee 
of the British Association. 

7 Henle’s Zeitschrift at. Med., Band xxxii. p. 283. 


w 


360 EXERCISE. 


as well as the ureal nitrogen, and Dr Parkes repeated their experiments.! 

The experiments have been usually carried on by determining the nitro- 

genous excretion in twenty-four hours with and without exercise; but in 

some the period during which work was actually performed was compared / 
with previous and subsequent equal rest periods. Some experiments were 

performed on men who took no nitrogen as food; others were on men on 4 

constant diet, so that the variation produced by the altering ingress of 

nitrogen was avoided as far as possible. 

In this place it is impossible to give an account of these long researches, 
and therefore only a short summary can be given. (1) When a period of 
exercise is compared after an interval with one of rest (the diet being with- 
out nitrogen or with uniform nitrogen), the elimination of nitrogen by the 
kidneys is decidedly not increased in the exercise period. The experiments 
on this point are now so numerous that it may be stated without doubt. 
It is possible that the elimination may even be less during the exercise 
than during the rest period. This would appear in part from some of 
Ranke’s and Fick and Wislicenus’ experiments; from Noyes’, as far as 
regards the urea; and from Meissner’s, as far as the creatin (or creatinin) is 
concerned ; while Dr Parkes found a decrease, which was not inconsider- 
able, both in the total nitrogen and in the urea. Additional observations 
are, however, much wanted on this point. 

(2) When a day of rest is compared with a day of work (7.2., a day with 
some hours of work and some hours of rest), the amount of nitrogen is 
almost or quite the same on the two days; if anything there is a slight 
increase in the nitrogen on the rest-day. In a day of part exercise and 
part rest, it is quite possible that there may be compensatory action, one 
part balancing the other, so as to leave the total excretion little changed. 

(3) When a period of great exercise is immediately followed by an equal 
period of rest, the nitrogenous elimination is increased in the latter. 
Meissner’s observations show that this is in part owing to increased dis- 
charge of creatin and creatinin ; Parkes’ observations also show an increase of 
non-ureal nitrogen. But the urea is also slightly increased in this period. 

(4) When two days of complete rest are immediately followed by days of 
common exercise, the nitrogenous elimination diminishes during the first 
day of exercise (Parkes). 

Mr W. North carried out a number of very careful experiments for 
several years, the details of which are given in Proceedings of the Royal 
Society.2, In the main he confirms the observations of Parkes, but finds the 
effects of heavy labour to be more immediate and severe than was shown 
by those observations. North found that deprivation or output of nitrogen 
was followed by retentiorkand absorption. There is also a tendency to the 
storage of nitrogen in the system under ordinary conditions, which shows a 
tendency to economy in the body. From this we might deduce the value 
of a good diet as providing a reserve against a period of deprivation or exces- 
sive work. A similar tendency to the storage of nitrogen was shown in the 
case of Weston, whose ingesta or egesta were examined by Winter Blyth.? 

On the whole, if the facts have been stated correctly, the effect of exer- 
cise is certainly to influence the elimination of nitrogen by the kidneys, but 
within narrow limits, and the time of increase is in the period of rest suc- 
ceeding the exercise; whereas during the exercise period the evidence, though 
not certain, points rather to a lessening of the elimination of nitrogen. 


2 Vols. xxxvi. p. 11, and xxxix. p. 443. 


1 Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 89 (1867), and No. 94 (1867). 
3 Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xxxvii. p. 46. 


EFFECTS OF EXERCISE—TEMPERATURE—MUSCLE CHANGES. 361 


It would appear from these facts that well-fed persons taking exercise 
would require a little more nitrogen in the food, and it is certain, as a 
matter of experience, that persons undergoing laborious work do take more 
nitrogenous food. ‘This is the case also with animals. The possible reason 
of this will appear presently. 

(1) On the Temperature of the Body.—As already stated, the temperature 
of the body, as long as the skin acts, rises little. Dr Clifford-Allbutt,! from 
observations made on himself when climbing the Alps,” found his tempera- 
ture fairly uniform; the most usual effect was a slight rise, compensated 
by an earlier setting in of the evening fall. On two occasions he noticed 
two curious depressions, amounting to no less than 4°°5 Fahr. ; he believes 
these were due to want of food, and not to exercise per se. In experiments 
on soldiers when marching, Dr Parkes found no difference in temperature ; 
or if there was a very slight rise, it was subsequently compensated for by 
an equal fall, so that the mean daily temperature remained the same.? A 
decided rise in temperature during marching would therefore show lessening 
of skin evaporation, and may possibly be an important indication of impend- 
ing sunstroke. 

Changes in the Muscles.—The discussion on this head involves so many 
obscure physiological points, that it would be out of place to pursue it here 
to any length. The chief changes during action appear to be these :—There 
is a considerable increase in temperature (Helmholtz), which, up to a certain 
point, is proportioned to the amount of work. It is also proportioned to the 
kind, being less when the muscle is allowed to shorten than if prevented 
from shortening (Heidenhain) ; the neutral or alkaline reaction of the tran- 
quil muscle becomes acid from para-lactic acid and acid potassium phosphate ; 
the venous blood passing from the muscles becomes much darker in colour, 
is much less rich in oxygen, and contains much more carbonic acid (Sczelkow) ; 
the extractive matters soluble in water lessen, those soluble in alcohol increase 
(Helmholtz, in frogs) ; the amount of water increases (in tetanus, J. Ranke), 
and the blood is consequently poorer in water; the amount of albumen in 
tetanus is less according to Ranke, but Kiihne has pointed out that the 
numbers do not justify this inference.* Baron J. von Liebig stated that the 
creatin is increased (but this was an inference from old observations on the 
extractum carnis of hunted animals, and required confirmation). Sarokin 
has stated the same fact in respect of the frog. The electro-motor currents 
show a decided diminution during contraction. 

That great molecular changes go on in the contracting muscles is certain, 
but their exact nature is not clear; according to Ludimar Hermann,° there 
is a jelly-like separation and coagulation of the myosin, and then a resump- 
tion of its prior form, so that there is a continual splitting of the muscular 
structure into a myosin coagulum, carbon dioxide, and a free acid, and this 
constitutes the main molecular movement. But no direct evidence has 
been given of this. 


1 Alpine Journal, May 1871. 

2 In the experiments made by Dr Calberla! and his two guides, during their ascents of 
Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn, in August 1874, no depressions were found as have been 
recorded by other observers. In none of the three persons did the temperature ever fall 
below 36°°4 C. (=97~'5 F.) or rise above 37°°8 C. (=100° F.). Dr Thomas, of Leipsic, in ascents 
in Savoy and Dauphiné (3500 and 3750 metres), could also find no lowering of temperature. 

® Proceedings of the Royal Societu, No. 127 and No. 136. 

* Lehrb. der Phys. Chem., 1868, p. 323. 

5 Unters. uber den Stofiwechsel der Muskeln, von Dr L. Hermann; Weitere Untersuch. zur 
phys. der Muskeln, von Dr L. Hermann, 1867. 


1 Archiv der Heilkunde, 1874, p. 276. 


362 EXERCISE. 


The increased heat, the great amount of carbon dioxide, and the dis- 
appearance of oxygen, combined with the respiratory phenomena already 
noted, all seem to show that an active oxidation goes on, and it is very pro- 
bable that this is the source of the muscular action. The oxidation may be 
‘conceived to take place in two ways: either during rest oxygen is absorbed 
and stored up in the muscles and gradually acts there, producing a sub- 
stance which, when the muscle contracts, splits up into lactic acid, carbon 
dioxide, &c.; or, on the other hand, during the contraction an increased 
absorption of oxygen goes on in the blood and acts upon the muscles, or on 
the substances in the blood circulating through the muscles.1 The first 
view is strengthened by some of Pettenkofer and Voit’s experiments, which 
show that during rest a certain amount of storage of oxygen goes on, which 
no doubt in part occurs in the muscles themselves. Indeed, it has been 
inferred that it is this stored-up oxygen, and not that breathed in at the 
time, which is used in muscularaction. The increased oxidation gives us a 
reason why the nitrogenous food must be increased during periods of great 
exertion. An increase in the supply of oxygen is a necessity for increased 
muscular action ; but Pettenkofer and Voit’s observations have shown that 
the absorption of oxygen is dependent on the amount and action of the 
nitrogenous structures of the body, so that, as a matter of course, if more 
oxygen is required for increased muscular work, more nitrogenous food is 
necessary. But apart from this, although experiments on the amount of 
nitrogenous elimination show no very great change on the whole, there is 
no doubt that, with constant regular exercise, a muscle enlarges, becomes 
thicker, heavier, contains more solid matter, and in fact has gained in 
nitrogen. This process may be slow, but it is certain; and the nitrogen 
must either be supplied by increased food, or be taken from other parts.” 

(A grain of nitrogen should be added in the food for every additional foot- 
ton of visible work.) 

Although we do not know the exact changes going on in the muscles, 
it seems certain that regular exercise does produce in them an addition of 
nitrogenous tissue. 

Whether this addition occurs, as usually believed, in the period of rest 
succeeding action when in some unexplained way the destruction, which it 
is presumed has taken place, is not only repaired, but is exceeded (a process 
difficult to understand), or whether the addition of nitrogen is actually 
made during the action of the muscle,*? must be left undecided for the 
present. 

The substances which are thus oxidised in the muscle, or in the blood 
circulating through it, and from which the energy manifested, as heat or 
muscular movement, is believed to be derived, may probably be of different 
kinds. Under ordinary circumstances, the experiments and calculations of 
Fick and Wislicenus, and others, and the arguments of Traube, seem suf- 
ficient to show that the non-nitrogenous substances, and perhaps especially 
the fats, furnish the chief substances acted upon. But it is probable that 


1 Heaton (Quarterly Journal of Science, 1868) has given strong reasons for believing that 
the oxidation goes on in the blood, A 

2 The way in which a vigorously acting part will rob the body of nitrogen, and thus in 
some cases cause death, is seen in many cases of disease. A rapidly growing cancer of the 
liver, for example, takes so much nitrogen as well as fat that it actually starves the rest of 
the body, and both voluntary muscles and heart waste. This is the case, though it is less 
marked, with growing tumours of other parts, and with great discharges. Powerful muscular 
action, if the food is not increased, evidently acts in something the same way ; the health 
is greatly affected, and the heart especially fails. 

% Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 94, 1867. 


EXHAUSTION OF MUSCLES. 363 


the nitrogenous substances also furnish a contingent of energy.! The 
exact mode in which the energy thus liberated by oxidation is made to 
assume the form of mechanical motion is quite obscure. 


The Exhaustion of Muscles. 


There seems little doubt that the exhaustion of muscles is chiefly owing 
to two causes—first, and principally, to the accumulation in them of the 
products of their own action (especially para-lactic acid); and, secondly, 
from the exhaustion of the supply of oxygen. Hence rest is necessary, in 
order that the blood may neutralise and carry away the products of action, 
so that the muscle may recover its neutrality and its normal electrical 
currents, and may again acquire oxygen in sufficient quantity for the next 
contraction. In the case of all muscles these intervals of action and of 
exhaustion take place, in part even in the period which is called exercise, 
but the rest is not sufficient entirely to restore it. In the case of the heart 
the rest between the contractions (about two-thirds of the time), is sufficient 
to allow the muscle to recover itself perfectly. 

The body after exertion absorbs and retains water eagerly ; the water, 
though taken in large quantities, does not pass off as rapidly as usual by 
the kidneys or the skin, and instead of causing an augmented metamor- 
phosis, as it does in a state of rest, it produces no effect whatever. So 
completely is it retained, that although the skin has ceased to perspire, the 
urine does not increase in quantity for several hours. The quantity of 
water taken is sometimes so great as not only to cover the loss of weight 
caused by the exercise, but even to increase the weight of the body. 

We can be certain, then, of the absolute necessity of water during and 
after exercise, and the old rule of the trainer, who lessened the quantity of 
water to the lowest point which could be borne, must be wrong. In fact, 
it is now being abandoned by the best trainers, who allow a liberal allow- 
ance of liquid. The error probably arose in this way: if, during great 
exertion, water is denied, at the end of the time an enormous quantity is 
often drunk, more in fact than is necessary, in order to still the over- 
powering thirst. The sweating which the trainer had so -sedulously 
encouraged is thus at once compensated, and, in his view, all has to be 
done over again. All this seems to be a misapprehension of the facts. The 
body must have water, and the proper plan is to let it pass in in small 
quantities and frequently; not to deny it for hours, and then to allow it 
to pass in in a deluge. The plan of giving it in small quantities frequently 
does away with two dangers, viz., the rapid passage of a large quantity of 
cold water into the stomach and blood, and the taking more than is 
necessary.” 

In the French army, on the march, the men are directed not to drink ; 


1 Pavy shows, in his observations on Weston and Perkins, that the excess of nitrogen 
eliminated during the walking period, over the period of rest, was equivalent to about 542 
foot-tons per man perdiem. ‘The total average daily work done he states at 1264 foot-tons, 
but this is an under-estimate, as the velocity was apparently greater than that of average 
walking, the coefficient of which (,4,) he assumes as the proportion of resistance. WV.B.— 
One grain of nitrogen eliminated represents an amount of albuminoid expended capable 
of yielding about 2°4 foot-tons of potential energy. Although some of the excess of 
nitrogen eliminated during exercise, as noted above, may have been due to disintegration 
of muscle, part of it was due (undoubtedly) to changes in other tissues, but a considerable 
amount is due to direct oxidation of albuminous food. 

2 It is but right to say that many travellers of great experience have expressed great fear 
of water under exertion. Some of them have most strongly urged that ‘‘ water be avoided 
like poison,” and have stated that a large quantity of butter is the best preventive of thirst. 
At any rate, the butter may be excellent, but a little water is a necessity. 


ia) 


364 EXERCISE, 


but, if very thirsty, to hold water in the mouth or to carry a bullet in the 
mouth. It is singular, in that nation of practical soldiers, to find such an 
order. Soldiers ought to be abundantly supplied with water, and taught 
to take small quantities when they begin to feel thirsty or fatigued. If 
*they are hot, the cold water may be held in the mouth a minute or two 
before swallowing as a precaution ; though there seems to be no evidence 
of any ill effects from drinking a moderate quantity of cold water, even 
during the greatest heat of the body. 

General Effect of Exercise on the Body, as judged of by the preceding 
facts.—The main effect of exercise is to increase oxidation of carbon, and 
perhaps also of hydrogen ; it also eliminates water from the body, and this 
action continues, as seen from Pettenkofer and Voit’s experiments, for some 
time ; after exercise the body is therefore poorer in water, especially the 
blood ; it increases the rapidity of circulation everywhere, as well as the 
pressure on the vessels, and therefore it causes in all organs a more rapid 
outflow of plasma and absorption,—in other words, a quicker renewal. In 
this way also it removes the products of their action, which accumulate in 
organs, and restores the power of action to the various parts of the body. 
It increases the outflow of warmth from the body by increasing perspira- 
tion. It therefore strengthens all parts. It must be combined with in- 
creased supply both of nitrogen and carbon (the latter possibly in the form 
of fat), otherwise the absorption of oxygen, the molecular changes in the 
nitrogenous tissues, and the elimination of carbon, will be checked. There 
must be also an increased supply of salts, certainly of chloride of sodium ; 
probably of potassium phosphate and chloride. There must be proper 
intervals of rest, or the store of oxygen, and of the material in the muscles 
which is to be metamorphosed during contraction, cannot take place. The 
integrity and perfect freedom of action both of the lungs and heart are 
essential, otherwise neither absorption of oxygen nor elimination of carbon 
can go on, nor can the necessary increased supply of blood be given to the 
acting muscles without injury. 

In all these points, the inferences deducible from the physiological in- 
quiries seem to be quite in harmony with the teachings of experience. 


SECTION II. 
AMOUNT OF EXERCISE WHICH SHOULD BE TAKEN. 


It would be extremely important to determine, if possible, the exact 
amount of exercise which a healthy adult, man or woman, should take. 
Every one knows that great errors are committed, chiefly on the side of 
defective exercise. It is not, however, easy to fix the amount even for an 
average man, much less to give any rule which shall apply to all the divers 
conditions of health and strength. But it is certain that muscular work is 
not only a necessity for health of body, but for mind also; at least it has 
seemed that diminution in the size of the body from deficient muscular 
work seems to lead in two or three generations to degenerate mental 
formation. 

The external work which can be done by a man daily has been estimated 
at 1th of the work of the horse; but if the work of a horse is considered to 


1 Horses also used to be, and by some are now, deprived or stinted of water during exercise. 
But in India the native horsemen give their horses drink as often as they can; and Dr 
Nicholson says this is the case with the Cape horses; even when the horses are sweating 
profusely the men will ride them into a river, bathe their sides, and allow them to drink. 


AMOUNT OF EXERCISE WHICH SHOULD BE TAKEN, 365 


be equal to the 1-horse power of a steam engine (viz. 33,000 fb raised 1 foot 
high per minute, or 8839 tons raised 1 foot high in ten hours), this must be 
an over-estimate, as 4th of this would be 1263 tons raised 1 foot in a day’s 
work of ten hours.t The hardest day’s work of twelve hours noted by Dr 
Parkes was in the case of a workman in a copper rolling-mill. He stated 
that he occasionally raised a weight of 90 ib to a height of 18 inches, 12,000 
times a day. Supposing this to be correct, he would raise 723 tons 1 foot 
high. But this much overpasses the usual amount. The same man’s 
ordinary day’s work, which he considered extremely hard, was raising a 
weight of 124 ib 16 inches 5000 or 6000 times in a day. Adopting the 
larger number, this would make his work equivalent to 443 tons lifted a 
foot; and this was a hard day’s work for a powerful man. Some of the 
puddlers in the iron country, and the glass-blowers, probably work harder 
than this; but there are no calculations recorded. From the statement of 
a pedlar, his ordinary day’s work was to carry 28 ib 20 miles daily. The 
weight is balanced over the shoulder,—14 ib behind and 14 fb in front. 
Assuming the man to weigh 160 tb, the work is equal to 443 tons lifted 
1 foot. It would, therefore, seem certain that an amount of work equal to 
500 tons lifted a foot is an extremely hard day’s work, which perhaps few 
men could continue to do. 400 tons lifted a foot is a hard day’s work, and 
300 tons lifted a foot is an average day’s work for a healthy, strong adult. 
The work usually calculated for a horse in the army is 3000 foot-tons,? and 
4th of this is just 430, nearly the work of the pedlar above mentioned. 

The external work is thus 300 to 500 tons on an average; the internal 
work of the heart, muscles of respiration, digestion, &c., has been variously 


1 In some works on physiology a man’s work of eight hours has been put as high as 
316,800 kilogramme-metres, or 1020 tons lifted a foot; but this is far too much. 

In this country the amount of work done is generally estimated as so many fb or tons 
lifted 1 foot. In France it is expressed as so many kilogrammes lifted 1 metre. Kilo- 
gramme-metres are converted into foot-pounds by multiplying by 7-233. To bring at once 
into tons lifted a foot, multiply kilogramme-metres by 0°005229. The following table may be 
useful, as expressing the amount of work done. It is taken from Dr Haughton’s work (A 
New Theory of Muscular Action). The numbers are a little different from those given by 
Coulomb, as they were recalculated by Dr Haughton in 1863. 


LABOURING Forcre oF MAN. 


Kind of Work. Amount of Work. Authority. 
Pile driving, : - : . | 312 tons lifted 1 foot. | Coulomb. 
Pile driving, A : ; + | oD2 . e. Lamande. 


Turning a winch, . : : é 374 33 5 Coulomb. 
Porters carrying goods and et 395 


unladen, . : : ” » aa 
Pedlars always loaded, . : . | 303 . a 
Porters carrying wood up a stair and) 381 

returning unloaded, : : . 22 22 He 


Paviours at work, . - 3 - | 352 a, FP Haughton. 
Military prisoners at shot drill (3 hours), ; 310 ; 

and oakum picking, and drill, . . 
Shot drill alone (3 hours), c ; UAV 5 H 9 


” ” ” 


It may be interesting to give some examples of work done in India by natives, which have 
been noted by Dr de Chaumont :— 

A Leptcha hill-coolie will go from Punkabarree to Darjeeling (30 miles, and an ascent of 
5500 feet) in three days, carrying 80 tb weight; the weight is carried on a frame supported 
on the loins and sacrum and aided by a band passed round the forehead. 

Work per diem, about 500 tons lifted 1 foot. 

Hight palanquin bearers carried an officer weighing 180 tbh, and palanquin weighing 250 fh, 
Ee tiles in Lower Bengal. Assuming each man weighed 150 Ib, the work was 600 tons lifted 
a foot. 

2 F. Smith, Veterinary Hygiene, 1887. 


366 EXERCISE. 


estimated ; the estimates for the heart alone vary from 122 to 277 tons 
lifted a foot. The former is that given by Haughton, who estimates the 
respiratory movements as about 11 tons lifted a foot in twenty-four hours. 
Adopting a mean number of 260 tons for all the internal mechanical work, 
sand the external work of a mechanic being 300 to 500 tons, this will 
amount to from {th to +th of all the force obtainable from the food. 

The exertion which the infantry soldier is called upon to undergo is 
chiefly drill, and carrying weights on a level or over an uneven surface. 

The Reverend Professor Haughton, M.D., who is so well known for his 
important contributions to physiology and medicine, has shown that 
walking on a level surface at the rate of about 3 miles an hour is about 
equivalent to raising j5th part of the weight of the body through the dis- 
tance walked; an easy calculation changes this into the weight raised 
1 foot. When ascending a height, a man of course raises his whole weight 
through the height ascended. 

Using this formula,' and assuming a man to weigh 160 ib with his 
clothes, we get the following table— 


Work done in Tons 


Kind of Exercise. lifted one foot. 


Walking 1 mile, . : ; : : ; 18-86 
Die kee wet : ; ; ; . 37°72 
e Ii Digest Rea : : : : . 188-60 
¥, 20p sey: : ; : :  aniGZ0 
- 1 ,, and carrying 60 ib, . : 25°93 
o Ci Noe 3 af : : 51°86 
" OR. as A 5) Sra) 
as 207 5; 53 ; . 518-60 


It is thus seen that a march of 10 miles, with a weight of 60 Ib (which is 
nearly the weight a soldier carries when in marching order, but without 
blanket and rations), is a moderate day’s work. A 20 miles’ march, with 
60 tb weight, is a very hard day’s work. As a continued labouring effort, 
Dr Haughton believes that walking 20 miles a-day, without a load (Sunday 
being rest), is good work (353 tons lifted a foot); so that the load of 60 tb 
additional would make the work too hard for a coutinuance.? 

It must, however, be remembered that it is understood that the walking 
is on level ground, and is done in the easiest manner to the person, and 
that the weights which are carried are properly disposed. The labour is 
greatly increased if the walk is irksome, and the weights are not well 
adjusted. And this is the case with the soldier. In marching, his attitude 
is stiff; he observes a certain time and distance in each step; he has nene 
of those shorter ‘and longer steps, and slower and more rapid motion, which 
assist the ordinary pedestrian. It may be questioned, indeed, whether the 
formula does not under-estimate the amount of work actually done by the 
soldier. The work becomes heavier, too, 7.e., more exhausting, if it is done 


W+W’)xD, 

20x 2240 ” 
carried; D the distance walked in feet ; 20 the coefficient of traction ; and 2240 the number 
of pounds ina ton, The result is the number of tons raised 1 foot. To get the distance in 
feet, multiply 5280 by the number of miles walked. . : 

2 Dr de Chaumont calculated the work done by the sledge-parties in the Arctic Expedi- 
tion of 1875-76, and found that the Northern party (Markham’s) did a mean of 574 foot-tons 
per man per diem, with a maximum of 859; the Western party (Aldrich’s) did a mean of 
443, and a maximum of over 600. Even this large amount was considered an under-estimate 
by the Commanders.—See Report of Committee on Outbreak of Scurvy (Blue Book), App. 24, 
p. 365, 


1 The formula is ( where W is the weight of the person, W’ the weight 


WORK DONE ACCORDING TO VELOCITY. 067 


in a shorter time ; or, in other words, velocity is gained at the expense of 
carrying power.! The velocity, in fact, z.e., the rate at which work is done, 
is an important element in the question, in consequence of the strain thrown 
on the heart and lungs. The Oxford boat races—rowing at racing speed 
(=1 mile in 7 minutes) in an Oxford eight-oar, or 18°56 foot-tons in 
7 minutes,? is not apparently very hard work, but it is very severe for the 
time, as its effect is great on the circulatory system. Mr W. North’s 
experiments® are remarkable, as having been done under circumstances of 
ereat precision. His weight was 132 tb, and he carried 28 tb—total weight, 
160 ib. In his first experiment he walked 30 miles at 4°28 per hour; 
work done, 712 foot-tons. Second experiment—32 miles at 4°57 per 
hour; work done, 728 foot-tons. Third experiment—33 miles at 4°71 
per hour; work done, 843 foot-tons. Fourth experiment—-47 miles at 
4-7 per hour ; work done, 1200 foot-tons. 

Looking at all these results, and considering that the most healthy life is 
that of a man engaged in manual labour in the free air, and that the daily 
work will probably average from 250 to 350 tons lifted 1 foot, we can, per- 
haps, say, as an approximation, that every healthy man ought, if possible, 
to take a daily amount of exercise in some way, which shall not be less than 
150 tons lifted 1 foot. This amount is equivalent to a walk of about 
9 miles; but then, as there is much exertion taken in ordinary business of 
life, this amount may be in many cases reduced. It is not possible to lay 


1 Dr Haughton (Principles of Animal Mechanics, 2nd ed. pp. 56 and 57) has determined, 
from the calculations of the MM. Weber, the coefficient of resistance for three velocities, as 
follows :— 


Miles per hour. Coefficient of 


Resistance. 
1°818 : 3 a ‘ ‘ ‘ 5 2EET 
4°353 s f 3 rf é : aa 

10577 ‘ ‘ 7st 


Interpolating between these numbers we can obtain the coefficients at other velocities. 
The following table shows the coefficients, the distance in miles that would equal 300 foot- 
tons for a man of 160 tb, and the time in hours and minutes that would be required without 
rest :— 


= area ; 2 Distance for Men of Time required in 
V eloeity in Miles Ropmicient of 160 Ib, to equal Hours Gl Minutes. 
per hour, RESIS LACES 300 foot-tons. H. M. 
1 3505 = 30°2 30 12 
9 wou Dla 10 36 
3 25D 16°3 5 24 
4 Te 7d 13°3 3 18 
5 rata 112 2 36 
6 rats 96 1 36 
7 tor 8:5 1 12 
8 aso 76 Oman 
9 sss 6-9 O38 


or this may be stated thus: the residual resistance equivalent to the erect posture is equal to 


or 0°01117 ; thus for 3 miles 


89°51’ 


as above. The coefficient ‘5 corre- 


= or 0°01506 ; for every mile of velocity per hour add 


an hour we have 0:01506+0°01117 x 3=0-04857, or 


il 
20°59’ 
sponds very nearly to 3°1 miles an hour, and this appears to be the rate at which the greatest 
amount of work can be done at the least expenditure of energy. (See table xviii., p. 186, 
Lectures on State Medicine, by &. de Chaumont.) As regards velocity, Dr Haughton states 
the “ Law of Fatigue” as follows:—‘‘ When the same muscle (or group of muscles) is kept 
in constant action till fatigue sets in, the total work done, multiplied by the rate of work, 
is constant.” The ‘‘ Law of Refreshment” depends on the rate at which arterial blood is 
supplied to the muscles, and the “‘ Coefficient of Refreshment” is the work restored to the 
muscles in foot-pounds per ounce of muscle per second; for voluntary muscle it is on an 
average 01309, and for the heart 0°2376, or exactly equal to the work of the heart, which 
never tires. 

2 Training, by A. Maclaren, p. 168. 

3 Proc. Roy. Soc., xxxvi. p. 16. 


368 EXERCISE, 


down rules to meet all cases ; but probably every man with the above facts 
before him could fix the amount necessary for himself with tolerable accuracy. 
In the case of the soldier, if he were allowed to march easily, and if the 
weights were not oppressively arranged, he ought to do easily 12 miles daily 
»for a long time, provided he was allowed a periodical rest. But he could not 
for many days, without great fatigue, march 20 miles a day with a 60 tb load, 
unless he were in good condition and well fed. If a greater amount still is 
demanded from him, he must have long subsequent rest. But all the long 
marches by our own or other armies have been made without weights, 
except arms and a portion of ammunition. Then great distances have been 
traversed by men in good training and condition. 


SECTION III. 
TRAINING. 


The aim of the ‘“‘ Trainer” is to increase breathing power; to make the | 
muscular action more vigorous and enduring, and to lessen the amount of | 
fat. He arrives at his result by a very careful diet, containing little or no | 
alcohol; by regular and systematic exercise ; and by increasing the action 
of the eliminating organs, especially of the skin. 

What the “ Trainer” thus accomplishes is in essence the following: a con- 
cordant action is established between the heart and blood-vessels, so that — 
the strong action of the heart during exercise is met by a more perfect dila- 
tation of the vessels, and there is no blockage of the flow of blood; in the 
lungs, the blood not only passes more freely, but the amount of oxygen is | 
increased, and the gradual improvement in breathing power is well seen 
when horses are watched during trainmg. This reciprocal action of heart | 
and blood-vessels is the most important point in training ; the nutrition of © 
nerves and muscular fibres improves from the constant action and the 
abundant supply of food; the tissue changes are more active, and elimina- | 
tion, especially of carbon, increases. A higher condition of health ensues, 
and, if not carried to excess, “training” is simply another word for healthy 
and vigorous living. 


1 Of course, over-training may be hurtful, but anything can be carried too far. Reference | 
may be made to Dr Morgan’s highly interesting and well-worked-out treatise on University | 
Oars, to show that boating is beneficial. Dr Lee has published a useful little book, Hxercise _ 
and Training, by R. Lee, M.D., with some good advice on training. | 


CHAPTER XII. 
CLOTHING. 


Tue objects of clothing are to protect against cold and against warmth; all 
other uses will be found to resolve themselves into one or other of these. 

The subject naturally divides itself into two parts—Ist, the materials of 

_ clothing ; and, 2nd, the make of the garments, which will be considered in 


Book ies and only as far as the soldier is concerned. 


MATERIALS OF CLOTHING. 


__ The following only will be described :—Cotton, linen, jute, wool, silk, 
' leather, and india-rubber. 

Chemical Reaction.—These materials are all easily distinguishable by micro- 
scopical characters, but certain chemical reactions may be useful. Wool and 
silk dissolve in boiling liquor potassz or liquor sodz of sp. gr. 1040 to 1050 ; 
cotton and linen are not attacked. Wool is little altered by lying in sul- 

_phuric acid, but cotton and linen change in half an hour into a gelatinous 
mass, which is coloured blue by iodine. Silk is slowly dissolved. Wool and 
silk take a yellow colour in strong nitric acid ; cotton and linen do not. So 
also wool and silk are tinged yellow by picric acid; cotton or linen are not, 
or the colour is slight, and can be washed off. Silk, again, is dissolved by 
hot concentrated chloride of zinc, which will not touch wool. In a mixed 
fabric of silk, wool, and cotton, first boil in strong chloride of zine, and wash ; 
this gets rid of the silk; then boil in liquor sode, which dissolves the 
wool, and the cotton is left behind. Another reagent is recommended by 

Schlesinger, viz., a solution of copper in ammonia; this rapidly dissolves 
silk and cotton, and, after a longer time, linen; wool is only somewhat swollen 
by it. By drying thoroughly first, and after each of the above steps, the 
weight of the respective materials can be obtained.! 

Cotton.— Microscopie Characters.—A diaphanous substance forming fibres 

about z,/,,th of an inch in diameter, flattened in shape, and riband-like, 
with an interior canal which is often obliterated, or may contain some ex- 
tractive matters, borders a little thickened, the fibres twisted at intervals 
(about 600 times in aninch). It has been stated that the fresh cotton fibre 
is a cylindrical hair with thin walls, which collapse and twist as it becomes 


1 Tf other fabrics than those mentioned in the text have to be examined, the best book to 
consult is Dr Schlesinger’s Mikroscopische Untersuch. der Gespinnst-Fasern (Zurich, 1873), 
where plates will be found of many of the fibres of commerce. ‘The following are the chief 
reagents used by Schlesinger :—1lst, Strong and weak sulphuric acid, to dissolve or swell out 
the fibres, and also, with iodine, to test for cellulose. 2nd, Nitric acid, especially to show the 
markings. 3rd, Chromic acid, as the best solvent for the intercellular substance, and for the 
swelling out in solution of the cellulose ; it is often used with sulphuric acid. 4th, Dilute 
tincture of iodine, which is added to cellulose, and then sulphuric acid is used. 5th, Solu- 
tion of copper, made by dissolving metallic copper in ammonia ; this dissolves cell-membrane. 
6th, Sulphate of aniline, which colours lignite yellow. 7th, Liquor potassz (dilute), to render 
the fabrics transparent. He advises the fabric to be put on a slip of glass, and then a drop 
of water to be placed on it; then a needle should be drawn two or three times in the direc- 
tion of the fibres, which will be easily detached. ‘Then the fibre is laid on a glass and the 


reagent is applied. D) 
A 


a 


370 CLOTHING. ' 


dry. Iodine stains them brown; iodine and sulphuric acid (in very small 
quantities) give a blue or violet-blue; nitric acid does not destroy them, 
but unrolls the twist. 

As an Article of Dress.—The fibre of cotton is exceedingly hard, it wears 
well, does not shrink in washing, is very non-absorbent of water (either into 
its substance or between the fibres), and conducts heat rather less rapidly 
than linen, but much more rapidly than wool.t 

The advantages of cotton are cheapness and durability ; its hard non- 
absorbing fibre places it far below wool as a warm water-absorbing clothing, 
In the choice of cotton fabrics there is not much to be said ; smoothness, 
evenness of texture, and equality of spinning, are the chief points. 


cr 


Fig. 92.—Cotton. x 285, Fig. 93.—Linen. x 285. 


In cotton shirting and calico, cotton is alone used ; in merino and other 
fabrics it is used with wool, in the proportion of 20 to 50 per cent. of wool, 
the threads being twisted together to form the yarn. 

Linen.— Microscopie Characters.—the fibres are finer than those of cotton, 
diaphanous, cylindrical, and presenting little swellings at tolerably regular 
intervals. The elementary fibres (of which thé main fibre is composed) can | 
be often seen in these swellings, and also at the end of broken threads which - 
have been much used. The hemp fibre is something like this, but much 
coarser, and at the knots it separates often into a number of smaller fibres. 
Silk is a little like linen, but finer, and with much fewer knots. 

Asan Article of Clothing.—Linen conducts heat and absorbs water slightly 
better than cotton. It is a little smoother than cotton. As an article of 


1 Experiments on the conducting power of materials by Coulier (Professor of Chemistry at 
the Val de Grace) and by Dr Hammond (late Surgeon-General, United States Army). 


MATERIALS OF CLOTHING—LINEN—JUTE. OTL 


clothing it may be classed with it. In choosing linen regard is had to the 
evenness of the threads and to the fineness and closeness of the texture. 
The colour should be white, and the surface glossy. Starch is often used 
to give glossiness. This is detected by iodine, and removed by the first 
washing. 


Fig. 94.—Silk. x 285. 


Jute.—Jute is now very largely used, and appears to enter into the adul- 
teration of most fabrics. Jute is obtained from the Corchorus capsularis, 


1900 


x 247 , 


Fig. 95.—Jute—United and single elongated cellular tissues. Resinous (?) matter adhering 
more or less to all the fibres. 


and comes to England from Russia and India. The fibres are of consider- 
able length, are hollow, thickened, and with narrowings and constrictions 
in the tubular portions ; sometimes an air-bubble may be in the fibre, as 


ole CLOTHING. 


shown in the drawing. The drawing, by Dr Maddox, shows the differences 
between the jute and cotton or linen. 
Wool.—Microscopic Characters.—Round fibres, transparent or a littl 
“hazy, colourless, except when artificially dyed. The fibre is made up of 
number of little cornets, which have become united. There are very evident 
slightly oblique cross markings, which indicate the bases of the cornets; and 
at these points the fibre is very slightly larger. There are also fine longi- 
tudinal markings. There is a canal, but it is often obliterated. When old 
and worn, the fibre breaks up into fibrillz ; and, at the same time, the slight 
prominence at the cross markings disappear, and even the markings become 
indistinct. By these characters old wool can be recognised. Size of fibres 
varies, but an average is given by the figure. The finest wools have the 
smallest fibres. 
As an Article of Clothing.—Wool is a bad conductor of heat and a great 
: absorber of water. The water penetrates 
ih into the fibres themselves and distends 
Ny them (hygroscopic water), and also lies be- 
tween them (water of interposition). In 
these respects it is greatly superior to 
either cotton or linen, its power of hygro- 
scopic absorption being at least double in 
proportion to its weight, and quadruple in 
proportion to its surface. 
> his property of hygroscopically absorb- 
ing water is a most important one. During 
perspiration the evaporation from the sur- 
face of the body is necessary to reduce the 
heat which is generated by the exercise. 
When the exercise is finished, the evapora- 
tion still goes on, and, as already noticed, 
to such an extent as to chill the frame. 
When dry woollen clothing is put on after 
exertion, the vapour from the surface of the 
body is condensed in the wool, and gives 
out again the large amount of heat which 
had become latent when the water was 
vaporised. Therefore a woollen covering, 
from this cause alone, at once feels warm 
when used during sweating. In the case 
Fig. 96.—Wool. x 285. of cotton and linen the perspiration passes 
Beale Rrbstninch: through them, and evaporates from the 
external surface without condensation; the loss of heat then continues. These 
facts make it plain why dry woollen clothes are so useful after exertion.+ 


} 


\ ees 


1 Pettenkofer gives (Z. fiir Biol., Bandi. p. 185) some experiments showing the hygroscopic 
power of woolas compared with linen. He shows that linen not only absorbs much less water, 
but parts with it much more quickly; thus, to cite one experiment, equal surfaces of linen and 
flannel being exposed to the air after being placed in equal conditions of absorption, the linen 
lost in 75 minutes 5993 grammes, and the flannel only 4°858 grammes of water. Subse- 
quently the evaporation from the linen lessened, as was to be expected, as it was becoming 
drier ; that from the flannel continued to pass off moderately. The much greater cooling 
effect of linen is seen. 

The porosity of clothing, 7.¢., the rapidity with which air is driven through, is a point to 
be noted. By an equal pressure equivalent to a column of water 4°5 centimetres high, an 
area of 1 centimetre diameter forced air through as follows :—Through linen, 6°03 litres ; 
flannel, 10°41; lambskin, 5:07; glove-leather, 0°15; wash-leather, 5°37; silk fabric, 414, } 

It thus appears that the warmest clothing (flannel) may be the most porous ; mere porosity 
in fact, is only one element in the consideration. 


MATERIALS OF CLOTHING—WOOL—LEATHER. 373 


In addition to this, the texture of wool is warmer, from its bad conduct- 
ing power, and it is less easily penetrated by cold winds. The disadvantage 
of wool is the way in which its soft fibre shrinks in washing, and after a 
time becomes smaller, harder, and probably less absorbent.! 

In the choice of woollen underclothing the touch isa great guide. There 
should be smoothness and great softness of texture ; to the eye the texture 
should be close; the hairs standing out from the surface of equal length, not 
long and straggling. The heavier the substance is, in a given bulk, the 
better. In the case of blankets, the softness, thickness, and closeness of the 
pile, the closeness of the texture, and the weight of the blanket, are the best 
guides. 
~ In woollen cloth the rules are the same. When held against the light, the 
cloth should be of uniform texture, without holes; when folded and sud- 
denly stretched, it should give a clear ringing note ; it should be very re- 
sistent when stretched with violence ; the “‘ tearing power” is the best way 
of judging if “shoddy” (old used and worked-up wool and cloth) has been 
mixed with fresh wool. A certain weight must be borne by every piece of 
cloth. At the Government Clothing Establishment at Pimlico, a machine 
is used which marks the exact weight necessary to tear across a piece of 
cloth. Schlesinger recommends the following plan for the examination of 
a mixed fabric containing shoddy :—Examine it with the microscope, and 
recognise if it contains cotton, or silk, or linen, besides wool. If so, 
dissolve them by ammoniacal solution of copper. In this way a qualita- 
tive examination is first made. Then fix attention on the wool. In shoddy 
both coloured and colourless wool fibres are often seen, as the fibres have 
been derived from different cloths which have been partially bleached ; the 
colouring matter, if it remains, is different—indigo, purpurin, or madder. 
The diameter of the wool is never so regular as in fresh wool, and it changes 
suddenly or gradually in diameter, and suddenly widens again with a little 
swelling, and then thins off again; the cross markings or scales are also 
almost obliterated. When liquor potasse is applied the shoddy wool is 
attacked much more quickly than fresh wool. 

The dye also must be good, and of the kind named in the contract, and 
tests must be applied. 

Leather.—Choice of leather: it should be well tanned, and without any 
marks of corrosion, or attacks of insects. The thinner kind should be per- 
fectly supple. 

Leather is not only used for shoes, leggings, and accoutrements ; it is 
employed occasionally for coats and trousers. It is an extremely warm 
clothing, as no wind blows through it, and is therefore well adapted for cold, 
windy climates. Leather or sheepskin coats are very common in Russia, 
Turkey, Tartary, Persia, the Danubian Provinces, and everywhere where 
the cold north winds are felt. In Canada coats of sheepskin or buftalo- 
hide have been found very useful, and are commonly used by sentries. 

Waterproof Clothing.—Like leather articles, india-rubber is an exceedingly 
hot dress, owing to the same causes, viz., impermeability to wind, and 
condensation and retention of perspiration. It is objected to by many on 
these grounds, and especially the latter; and Lévy informs us that the 
Council of Health of the French Army have persistently refused (and, in 
his opinion, very properly) the introduction of waterproof garments into 


1 In washing woollen articles, they should never be rubbed or wrung. They should be 
placed in a hot solution of soap, moved about, and then plunged into cold water; when the 
soap is got rid of they should be hung up to dry without wringing. 


374 CLOTHING. 


the army. If, however, woollen underthings are worn, the perspiration is 
sufficiently absorbed by those during the comparatively short time water- 
proof clothing is worn, and the objection is properly not valid unless the 
waterproof is continually worn. 

The great use of waterproof is, of course, its protection against rain, and in 
this respect it is invaluable to the soldier, and should be largely used. By 
the side of this great use, all its defects appear to be minor evils. 

India-rubber cloth loses in part its distensibility in very cold countries, 
and becomes too distensible in the tropics. It is also apt to rot by absorp- 
tion of oxygen. Paraftined cloth is equally good, and the paraffin does not 
rot the fibre like common oil. 


General Conclusions. 


Protection against Cold.—For equal thicknesses, wool is much superior to 
either cotton or linen, and should be worn forall underclothing. In case of 
extreme cold, besides wool, leather or waterproof clothing is useful. Cotton 
and linen are nearly equal. 

Protection against Heat.—Texture has nothing to do with protection from 
the direct solar rays; this depends entirely on colour. White is the best 
colour; then grey, yellow, pink, blue, black. In hot countries, therefore, 
white or light grey clothing should be chosen. 

In the shade, the effect of colour is not marked. The thickness, and the 
conducting power of the material, are the conditions (especially the former) 
which influence heat. 

Protection against Cold Winds.—F¥or equal thicknesses, leather and india- 
rubber take the first rank; wool the second; cotton and linen about equal. 

Absorption of Perspiration.—Wool has more than double the power of 
cotton and linen. 

Absorption of Odours.—This partly depends on colour; and Stark’s 
observations show that the power of absorption is in this order—black, blue, 
red, green, yellow, white. As far as texture is concerned, the absorption is 
in proportion to the hygroscopic absorption, and wool therefore absorbs more 
than cotton or linen. 

Protection against Malaria.—It has been supposed that wearing flannel 
next the skin lessens the risk of malaria. As it is generally supposed that 
the poison of malaria enters either by the lungs or stomach, it is difficult to 
see how protection to the skin can prevent its action, except indirectly, by 
preventing chill in persons who have already suffered from ague. But the 
very great authority of Andrew Combe, drawn from experience at Rome, is 
in favour of its having some influence; and it has been used on the west 
coast of Africa for this purpose with apparently good results. 


CHAPTER XIII. 
INDIVIDUAL HYGIENIC MANAGEMENT. 


THIS subject is an extremely large one, and the object of this book does not 
permit of its discussion. It would require a volume to itself. Only a few 
very general remarks can be made here. ‘The application of general hygienic 
rules to a particular case constitutes individual management. 

It is impossible to make general rules sufficiently elastic, and yet precise 
enough, to meet every possible case. It is sufficient if they contain principles 
and precepts which can be applied. While individual hygiene should be a 
matter of study to all of us, it is by no means desirable to pay a constant or 
minute attention to one’s own health. Such care will defeat its object. We 
should only exercise that reasonable care, thought, and prudence which, in 
a matter of such moment, every one is bound to take. 

Every man, for example, who considers the subject bond fide, is the best 
judge of the exact diet which suits him. If he understands the general prin- 
ciples of diet, and remembers the Hippocratic rule, that the amount of food 
and exercise must be balanced, and that evil results from excess of either, he 
is hardly likely to go wrong. 

“Temperance and exercise” was the old rule laid down, even before 
Hippocrates,! as containing the essence of health; and if we translate 
temperance by “sufficient food for wants, but not for luxuries,” we shall 
express the present doctrine. 

The nutrition of the body is so affected by individual peculiarities, that 
there is a considerable variety in the kind of food taken by different persons. 
The old rule seems a good one, viz., while conforming to the general 
principles of diet, not to encourage too great an attention either to quantity 
or to quality, but avoiding what experience has shown to be manifestly 
bad, either generally or for the particular individual, to allow a considerable 
variety and change in amount from day to day, according to appetite.? 
Proper and slow mastication of the food is necessary; and it is extraordinary 
how many affections of the stomach called dyspepsia arise simply from 
faulty mastication, from deficient teeth, or from ‘swallowing the food too 


1 Tt is quite plain from the context that Hippocrates, by temperance, meant such an 
amount of food as would balance, and neither exceed nor fall short of the exercise. He had 
a clear conception of the development of mechanical force from, and: its relation to, food. 
He lays down rules to show when the diet is in excess of exercise, or the exercise in excess 
of diet. In either case he traces disease. 

2 Celsus carried the plan of variety so far as to recommend that men should sometimes 
eat and drink more than is proper, and should sometimes not exceed; and Bacon has a 
remark which leads one to believe he held a similar opinion; but there can be no doubt of 
the incorrectness of this opinion. It has been truly said that the first general rule of Hippo- 
crates, which prescribes continual moderation, is much truer, and the best writers on hygiene, 
ancient and modern, have decided against Celsus. Besides being erroneous, the rule of Velsus 
opens a door to intemperance, and, like a harmless sentence in Hippocrates, has been twisted 
to serve the argument of gourmands. Its influence is felt even at the present day. ‘This 
much is certain, that probably 30 per cent. of the persons who consult physicians owe their 
(diseases in some way to food, and in many cases they are perfectly aware themselves of their 
error or bad habit, but, with the singular inconsistency of human nature, either conceal it 
from the man to whom ‘they are professing perfect openness, or manage to blind themselves 
to its existence. 


376 INDIVIDUAL HYGIENIC MANAGEMENT. 


rapidly. Many persons who are too thin are so from their own habits; they 
eat chiefly meat, and eat it very fast ; they should eat slowly, and take more 
bread and starchy substances. Fat persons, on the other hand, by lessening 
the amount of starch, and taking more exercise, can lessen with the greatest 
ease the amount of fat to any amount. It must be remembered, however, 
that there is a certain individual conformation in this respect; some 
persons are normally fatter or thinner than others. 

The exact amount of exercise must also be a matter of individual decision, 
it being remembered that exercise in the free air is a paramount condition 
‘of health, and that the healthiest persons are those who have most of it. 
As a rule, people take far too little exercise, especially educated women, 
who are not obliged to work, and the muscles are too often flaccid and 
ill-nourished.! 

Attention to the skin is another matter of personal hygiene. The skin 
must be kept perfectly clean, and well clothed. Some writers, indeed, have 
advised that, if food be plentiful, few clothes be worn; but the best authors 
do not agree in this, but recommend the surface to be well protected. For 
cleanliness, cold bathing and friction hold the first rank. The effect of cold 
is to improve apparently the nutrition of the skin, so that it afterwards acts 
more readily, and when combined with friction, it is curious to see how the 
very colour and texture of the skin manifestly improve. 

The effect of heat on the skin, and especially the action of the Roman or 
Turkish baths, and their action on health, have certainly not yet been 
properly worked out, in spite of the numerous papers which have been 
written. It has not been proved that the strong action of the Turkish bath 
is more healthy in the long run than the application of cold water. Asa 
curative agent, it is no doubt extremely useful; but as a daily custom, it is © 
yet sub judice. Certainly it should not be used without the concluding 
application of cold to the surface. 

Attention has been often very properly directed to the effect of lead and 
mercurial hair-dyes. It may be worth while to notice that there is a case 
on record? in which not only was paralysis produced by a lead hair-wash, 
but lead was recovered from the base of the left hemisphere of the brain. 
Snuff containing lead has also caused poisoning. 

The care of the bowels is another matter of personal hygiene, and is a 
matter of much greater difficulty than at first sight appears. Constipation, 
as allowing food to remain even to decomposition, as leading to distention 
and sacculation of the colon, and to hemorrhoids, is to be avoided. But, 
on the other hand, the constant use of purgative medicine is destructive of 
digestion and proper absorption; and the use of clysters, though less hurtful 
to the stomach, and less objectionable altogether, is by no means desirable. 
On the whole, it would seem that proper relief of the bowels can be usually 
insured by exercise, and especially by bringing the abdominal muscles into 
play, and by the use of certain articles of diet—viz., pure water in good 
quantity with meals, the use of bran bread, honey, fruit, and such gently laxa- 
tive food; and that if these do not answer well, it is better to allow a certain 
amount of constipation than to fall into the frequent use of purgative 
medicines. 

The regulation of the passions must also be left to the individual. The 


1 Compare the imperfect development of the muscles of the arms in ladies, as shown by the 
low evening dresses, with the women of the working classes. No one can doubt which is the 
healthier or which is the more beautiful, until excess of work develops in the muscles of the 
labouring women the too hard outlines of middle life. 

2 Virchow’s Archiv, Band viii. p. 177. 


INDIVIDUAL HYGIENIC MANAGEMENT. ona 


control of morals has baffled the exertions of the priest and the statesman ; 
but perhaps the influence of sexual irregularities on health has never been 
made the subject of judicious education. The period of puberty corresponds 
with the most important period of growth, when the bones are consolidating 
and uniting, and both muscles and nerves are largely absorbing nourish- 
ment, and are developing to their fullest power. The too early use of 
sexual congress, and even more the drain on the system produced by solitary 
vice, arrests this development to a considerable extent, and prevents the 
attainment of the strength and endurance which would ensure a healthy, 
vigorous, and happy life. The venereal diseases, which so waste many of 
the younger men, form only an item in the catalogue of evils—evils which 
affect-at a subsequent period wives and children, and, by undermining the 
health and happiness of the family, influence the state itself. We know 
that a widespread profligacy has eaten away the vigour of nations, and 
caused the downfall of states ; but we hardly recognise that, in a less degree, 
the same causes are active among us, and never realise what a state might 
be if its citizens were temperate in all things. It may be difficult to teach 
these points to the young, and to urge upon them, for their own and other’s 
sakes, that regulation of the passions which physiology teaches to be neces- 
sary for personal happiness, for the welfare of the offspring, and for healthy 
family life; but few can doubt that, in some way, the knowledge should 
be given. 

The amount of mental work, and the practice of general good temper and 
cheerfulness and hope, are other points which each man must himself con- 
trol. Great mental work can be borne well if hygienic principles of diet, 
exercise, &c., be attended to. The old authors paid great attention to the 
regimen of men engrossed in literary work, and laid down particular rules, 
insisting especially on a very careful and moderate diet, and on exercise.! 

Hope and cheerfulness are great aids to health, no doubt, from their effect 
on digestion. Usually, too, they are combined with a quick and active 
temperament, and with rapid bodily movements and love of exercise. 

The individual application of general hygienic rules will differ according 
to the sex and age,? and the circumstances of the person. In the case of 
children, we have to apply the general rules with as much caution and care 
as possible, as we must depend on external evidence to prove their utility. 
In the case of adults, individual experience soon shows whether a pre- 
scribed rule is or is not beneficial, and what modification must be made 
init. It is not, however, every grown person who has the power to modify 
or change his condition. He may be under the influence of others who, in 
fact, arrange for him the circumstances of his life. But still, in no case is 
all self-control taken away; the individual can always influence the condi- 
tions of his own health. 

Were the laws of health and of physiology better understood, how great 
would be the effect! Let us hope that matters of such great moment may 
not always be considered of less importance than the languages of extinct 
nations, or the unimportant facts of a dead history. 


1 Plutarch, whose rules on health are excellent and chiefly taken from Hippocrates, com- 
pares the over-studious man to the camel in the fable, who, refusing to ease the ox in due 
time of his load, was forced at last to carry not only the ox’s own load, but the ox himself, 
when he died under his burden. 

2 Galen was the first who pointed out explicitly that hygiene rules must be different for 
infancy, youth, manhood, and old age—a fourfold division which is still the best. Pythagoras, 
Iccus, Herodicus, Hippocrates, Polybius, Diocles, Celsus, and others who preceded Galen, 
appear to have framed rules chiefly for male adults. Galen subdivided the subject much 
more systematically. (For a good short account of the early systems, see Mackenzie on The 
History of Health, and the Art of Preserving it, 1758.) 


CHAPTER XIV. 
DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 


In densely populated countries the disposal of the dead is always a ques- 
tion of difficulty. If the dead are buried, so great at last is the accumula- 
tion of bodies that the whole country round a great city becomes gradually 
a vast cemetery.1_ In some soils the decomposition of bodies is very slow, 
and it is many years before the risk of impurities passing into air and water 
is removed. 

After death the buried body returns to its elements, and gradually, and 
often by the means of other forms of life which prey on it, a large amount 
of it forms carbon dioxide, ammonia, carburetted hydrogen and hydrogen 
sulphide, nitrous and nitric acids, and various more complex gaseous pro- 
ducts, many of which are very foetid, but which, however, are eventually 
all oxidised into the simpler combinations. The non-volatile substances, 
the salts, become constituents of the soil, pass into plants, or are carried 
away into the water, percolating through the ground. The hardest parts, 
the bones, remain in some soils for many centuries, and even for long 
periods retain a portion of their animal constituents. 

If, instead of being buried, the body is burned, the same process occurs 
more rapidly and with different combinations ; carbon dioxide, carbon mon- 
oxide (?), nitrogen, or perhaps combinations of nitrogen, water, &c., are 
given off, and the mineral constituents, and perhaps a little carbon, if the 
combustion be incomplete, remain behind. 

A community must always dispose of its dead either by burial in land or 
water, or by burning, or chemical destruction equivalent to burning, or by 
embalming and preserving. Accustomed as we are to land burial, there is 
something almost revolting, at first sight, at the idea of making the sea the 
sepulchre, or of burning the dead. Yet the eventual dispersion of our 
frames is the same in all cases; and it is probably a matter merely of 
custom which makes us think that there is a want of affection, or of care, if 
the bodies of the dead are not suffered to repose in the earth that bore them. 

In reality, neither affection nor religion can be outraged by any manner 
of disposal of the dead which is done with proper solemnity and respect. 
The question should be placed entirely on sanitary grounds, and we shall 
then judge it rightly. 

What, then, is the best plan of disposing of the dead, so that the living 
may not suffer ? 

It seems hardly likely that the practice of embalming or mummifying 


1 Nothing, perhaps, testifies more strongly to the antiquity and the extent of the ancient 
cities in Anatolia than the vast sepulchral remains. On the site of Old Dardanus, the 
mother of Troy, and stretching from the Hellespont for two or three miles into the hills, the 
whole country is honeycombed with tombs. It is the same in the neighbourhood of Troy. 
The burial of the dead, though practised by the most ancient nations, was afterwards super- 
seded by burning, and was only subsequently returned to. As, therefore, these graves 
represent only a portion of the duration of the city, the immense assemblage of tombs is the 
more remarkable, and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that these great cities must 
have flourished for periods far longer than those which have elapsed since London or Paris, 
for example, became large centres of population. 


DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 379 


will ever again become common. What is the use of preserving for a few 
more years the remains which will be an object of indifference to future 
generations? The next logical step would be to enshrine these remains in 
some way so as to insure their preservation, and we should return to the 
vast burial mounds of Egypt. The question will lie between burial in the 
land or at sea, and burning. 

At present the question is not an urgent one; but if the population of 
Europe continues to increase, it will become so in another century or two. 
Already in this country we have seen, in our own time, a great change ; 
the objectionable practice of interment under and round churches in towns 
has been given up, and the population is buried at a distance from their 
habitations. For the present that measure will probably suffice, but in a 
few years the question will again inevitably present itself. 

Burying in the ground appears certainly the most insanitary plan of the 
three methods. The air over cemeteries is constantly contaminated, and 
water (which may be used for drinking) is often highly impure. Hence, in 
the vicinity of graveyards two dangers to the population arise, and in 
addition, from time to time, the disturbance of an old graveyard has given 
rise to disease. It is a matter of notoriety that the vicinity of graveyards 
is unhealthy. How are these dangers to be avoided? The dead may be 
buried in more or less air-tight vaults; here decay is slow; the products 
form and escape slowly, though they must eventually escape; the air and 
water are less contaminated. But the immense expense of such a plan 
renders it impossible to adopt it for the community generally. Deep 
burying has the advantage of greater filtration, both for air and water, than 
shallow burying, and hence it is a good rule to make the grave as deep as 
possible, and to allow no more than one body in a grave. The admixture 
of quicklime has been advised ; it absorbs some carbon dioxide, and forms 
ealcium sulphide with the sulphur and hydrogen sulphide, but this itself 
soon decomposes, so that the expense of quicklime seems hardly com- 
mensurate with the result. Charcoal would absorb and oxidise the foetid 
organic matter, and, if sufficiently cheap, would be a valuable substance to 
be heaped in graves; but its cost would be probably too great, nor does 
it entirely hinder putrefaction and the evolution of foul-smelling substances 
(H. Barker). If a body has to be kept unburied for some time, sawdust 
and sulphate of zinc, in the proportion of two parts to one, has been found 
by Herbert Barker ! to be the best application; a thin layer is put over the 
dead body; or sawdust is sprinkled on the body, and then two or three 
inches of carbolic acid thrown over it. 

The only means which present themselves, as applicable in all cases, 
are deep burial and the use of plants, closely placed in the cemetery. 
There is no plan which is more efficacious for the absorption of the organic 
substances, and perhaps of the carbon dioxide, than plants, but it would 
seem a mistake to use only the dark, slow-growing evergreens. The object 
should be to get the most rapidly growing trees and shrubs, and, in fact, 
there is no reason, except a feeling of sentiment, why we should introduce 
into our cemeteries the gloomy and melancholy cypress and yew. Mr 
Seymour Haden has called attention to the supposed advantages of perish- 
able coffins, so that the putrefactive changes may be carried out as quickly 
as possible. And certainly, if burying is to continue, it seems reasonable 
that no undue obstacle should be placed in the way of changes which are 
sooner or later inevitable. 


1 “*Deodorisation and Disinfection,” British Medical Journal, January 1866. 


380 DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 


When, in the course of years, it becomes imperative to reconsider this 
question, and land burial will have to be modified, some arguments may 
present themselves to maritime nations in favour of burying in the sea 
rather than of burning. In the burial at sea, some of the body at least 
would go at once to support other forms of life, more rapidly than in the 

case of land burial, and without the danger of evolution of hurtful products, 

Burning, or cremation, has attracted much attention of late years. In 
this country the subject has been discussed by Sir Henry Thompson and 
_Mr Eassie, and abroad much has been written, especially in Germany and 
“Ttaly, i in both which countries the method has been practically tried. It 
would certainly appear that the body can be disposed of in a very short 
time and in an inoffensive manner, while the expense would unquestionably 
be much reduced if the practice became general. One hour appears suffi- 
cient to reduce a body to ashes, and it has been successfully carried out in 
this country at the Woking Crematory under the direction of the Cremation 
Society. 

The only really valid argument against cremation is the possible conceal- 
ment of crime, such as poisoning. This, however, might be guarded against 
by suitable precautions. 

In time of war, and especially in the case of beleaguered fortresses, the 
disposal of the dead becomes often a matter of difficulty. In that case, 
burning may have to be resorted to. If the bodies are buried, they should 
always be at as great a distance as possible, and as deep as they can be. If 
procurable, charcoal should be thrown over them ; if it cannot be obtained, 
sawdust and sulphate of zinc, or carbolic acid may be employed. Quick- 
lime is also commonly employed, but it is less useful. 

At Metz, in 1870, the following plan was adopted :—A pit of about 17 
feet in depth was filled with dead, disposed as follows :—A row of bodies 
was laid side by side; above this a second row was placed, with the heads 
laid against the feet of the first row; the third row were placed across, and 
the fourth row in the same way, but with the heads to the feet of the former ; 
the fifth row were placed as No. 1, and soon. Between each layer of bodies 
about an inch of lime, in powder, was placed. From 90 to 100 bodies were 
thus arranged on a length of 64 feet, and reached to about 6 feet from the 
surface ; the pit was then filled up with earth, and though 8400 bodies were 
put in that pit, there were no perceptible emanations at any time. 

Around Metz the graves of men and horses and cattle were disinfected 
with lime, charcoal, and sulphate of iron. Immense exertions were made to 
clean and disinfect the camps and battle-fields, and in the month of May 
1871 from 1200 to 1600 labourers were employed by the Germans. Wher- 
ever practicable, the ground was sown with oats or barley or grass. The 
hillocks formed by the graves were planted with trees. 

In many cases, at Metz, bodies were dug up by the Germans when there 
was any fear of water-courses being contaminated, or if houses were near. 
On account of the danger to the workmen, graves containing more than six 
bodies were left untouched, and the work was always done under the imme- 
diate superintendence of a physician. The earth was removed carefully, 
but not far enough to uncover the corpse ; then one end of the corpse was 
uncovered, and, as soon as uniform or parts of the body were seen, chloride 
of lime and sawdust, or charcoal and carbolic acid, put in; the whole earth 
round the body was thus treated, and the body at length laid bare, lifted, 
and carried away. The second body was then treated in the same way. 

Near Sedan, where there were many bodies very superficially buried, burn- 
ing was had recourse to. Straw mixed with pitch was put into the graves, 


DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 381 


and was lighted; 1 ton of pitch sufficed for from 15 to 20 bodies. Opinions 
as to this practice were divided, and it is not certain how many graves were 
thus dealt with. It seems probable that only the surface of the body was 
burnt, and when many bodies were together in one grave some were not 
touched at all, On the whole, the experiment appears to have been 
unsuccessful. 

The Belgian experience at Sedan was in favour of employing chloride of 
lime, nitric acid, sulphate of iron, and chlorine gas. Carbolic acid did not 
answer so well. The sulphate of zinc and charcoal, which Barker found so 
useful, was not tried. 

Mr Kassie has called attention to the desirability of an ambulatory crema- 
tion furnace for the disposal of bodies in war. If such an arrangement 
proved practicable, it would unquestionably be of immense advantage from 
a hygienic point of view. 


CHAPTER Y¥. 
CLIMATE. 


Ir is not easy to give a proper definition of climate. The effect of climate 
on the human body is the sum of the influences which are connected either 
with the solar agencies, the soil, the air, or the water of a place, and as these 
influences are in the highest degree complex, it is not at present possible to 
trace out their effects with any ‘certainty. 

With regard generally to the effect of climate on human life, it would 

‘seem certain that the facility of obtaining food (which is itself influenced 
by climate), rather than any of the immediate effects of climate, regulates 
the location of men and the amount of population. The human frame 
seems to acquire in time a wonderful power of adaptation. The Eskimos, 
when they can obtain plenty of food, are large, strong men (though nothing 
is known of their average length of life), and the dwellers in the hottest 
parts of the world (provided there is no malaria, and that their food is 
nutritious) show a stature as lofty and a strength as great as any dwellers 
in temperate climates. Peculiarities of race, indeed, arising no one knows 
how, but probably from the combined influences of climate, food, and cus- 
toms, acting through many ages, appear to have more effect on stature, 
health, and duration of life than climate alone. Still, it would seem probable 
that, in climatic conditions so diverse, there arise some special differences 
of structure which are most marked in the skin, but may possibly involve 
other organs. 

How soon the body, when it has become accustomed by length of residence 
for successive generations to one climate, can accommodate itself to, or bear 
the conditions of, the climate of another widely different place, is a question 
which can be only answered when the influences of climate are better known. 
The hypothesis of “ acclimatisation ” implies that there is at first an injurious 
effect produced, and then an accommodation of the body to the new condi- 
tions within a very limited time; that, for example, the dweller in northern 
zones passing into the tropics, although he at first suffers, acquires in a few 
years some special constitution which relieves him from the injurious conse- 
quences which, it is supposed, the change at first brought with it. There 
are, therefore, two assumptions, viz., of an injurious effect, and of a relief 
from it. Is either correct ? 

It may seem a bold thing to question the commonly received opinion 
that a tropical climate is injurious to a northern constitution, but there are 
some striking facts which it is difficult to reconcile with such an opinion. 
The army experience shows that, both in the West Indies and in India, the 
mortality of the soldier has been gradually decreasing, until, in some stations 
in the West Indies (as, for example, Trinidad and Barbadoes), the sickness 
and mortality among the European soldiers are actually less than on home 
service in years which have no yellow fever. In India, a century ago, 
people spoke with horror of the terrible climate of Bombay and Calcutta, 
and yet Europeans now live in health and comfort in both cities. In 


EFFECTS OF CLIMATE. 383 


Algeria the French experience is to the same effect. As the climate and 
the stations are the same, and the soldiers are of the same race and habits, 
what has removed the dangers which formerly made the sickness threefold 
and the mortality tenfold the ratio of the sickness and deaths at home? 

The explanation is very simple: the deaths in the West Indies were 
partly owing to the virulence of yellow fever (which was fostered, though 
probably not engendered, by bad sanitary conditions) and the general excess 
of other febrile and dysenteric causes. The simple hygienic precautions 
which are efficacious in England have been as useful in the West Indies. 
Proper food, good water, pure air have been supplied, and, in proportion as 
they have been so, the deadly effects attributed to climate have disappeared, 
The effect of a tropical climate is, so to speak, relative. The temperature 
and the humidity of the air are highly favourable to decompositions of all 
kinds ; the effluvia from an impure soil, and the putrescent changes going 
on in it, are greatly aggravated by heat. The effects of the sanitary evils 
which, in a cold climate like Canada, are partly neutralised by the cold, are 
developed in the West Indies, or in tropical India, to the greatest degree. 
In this way a tropical climate is evidently most powerful, and it renders 
all sanitary precautions tenfold more necessary than in the temperate 
zone. But all this is not the effect of climate, but of something added to 
climate. 

Take away these sanitary defects, and avoid malarious soils or drain them, 
and let the mode of living be a proper one, and the European soldier does 
not die faster in the tropics than at home. 

It must be said, however, that an element of uncertainty may be pointed 
out here, In our tropical possessions the European soldier serves now only 
for short periods (in the West Indies for three or four years, in India under 
the new regulations of short service, seven or eight years at most), and 
during this time he may be for some years on the hills, or at any rate in 
elevated spots. The old statistical reports of the army pointed out that the 
mortality in the West Indies augmented regularly with prolongation of ser- 
vice, and it may be said that, after all, the lessened sickness and mortality 
in the tropics is owing, in some degree, to avoidance by short service of the 
influence of climate. But as the whole long service was constantly passed 
under the unfavourable sanitary conditions now removed, it does not follow 
that the inference to be drawn from the statistical evidence as to length of 
service is really correct. 

Facts prove, then, that under favourable sanitary conditions (general and 
personal) Europeans, during short service, may be as healthy as at home, 
as far as shown by tables of sickness and mortality, and it is not certain 
that long service brings with it different results. 

It may, however, be urged that, admitting that a non-malarious tropical 
climate, per se, may not increase sickness or mortality during the most 
vigorous years of life (and it is then only that Europeans are usually sub- 
jected to it), it may yet really diminish health, lessen the vigour of the 
body, and diminish the expectation of life. 

We have no evidence on the latter point. With respect to the former, it 
will be well to see what is known of the effects of climatic agencies on the 
frame. 

The influences of locality and climate, as far as they are connected with 
soil and water, have been sufficiently discussed. The climatic conditions 
most closely (though by no means solely) connected with air will now be 
briefly reviewed. These are—temperature, humidity, movement, weight, 
composition, and electrical condition, and the amount of light. 


384 CLIMATE. 


SECTION I. 
TEMPERATURE. 


The amount of the sun’s rays; the mean temperature of the air; the 
variations in temperature, both periodic and non-periodic ; and the length 
of time a high or low temperature lasts, are the most important points. 
_ Temperature alone has been made a ground of classification. 

(a) Hquable, limited, or insular climates; 7.¢., with slight yearly and 
diurnal variations. 

(b) Extreme, excessive, or continental ; 2.¢., with great variations. 

The terms limited and extreme might be applied to the amplitude of the 
yearly fluctuation (2.e., difference between hottest and coldest month), while 
equable and excessive might be applied especially to the non-periodie varia- 
tions, which are slight in some places and extreme in others. 

A limited climate is generally an equable one, and an extreme climate 
(with great yearly fluctuation) is generally an excessive one (with great 
undulations). 

The effects of heat cannot be dissociated from the other conditions ; it is 
necessary, however, briefly to notice them. 

The effect of a certain degree of temperature on the vital processes of a 
race dwelling generation after generation on the same spot, is a question 
which has as yet received no sort of answer. Does the amount of heat per 
se, independent of food and all other conditions, affect the development of 
mechanical force and temperature, and the coincident various processes of 
formation and destruction of the tissues? Is there a difference in these 
respects, and in the resulting action of the eliminating organs, in the inhabi- 
tants of the equator and of 50° or 60° N., lat.? This is entirely a problem 
for the future, but there is no class of men who have more opportunities of 
studying it than army surgeons. 

The problem of the influence of temperature is generally presented to us 
under the form of a dweller in a temperate zone proceeding to countries 
either colder or hotter than his own. It is in this restricted sense we shall 
now consider it. 

With regard to the effect on the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic races of going to 
live in a climate with a lower mean temperature and greater variations than 
their own, we have the experience of Canada, Nova Scotia, and some parts 
of the Northern American States. In all these, if food is good and plentiful, 
health is not only sustained, but is perhaps improved. The agricultural and 
out-door life of Canada or Nova Scotia is perhaps the cause of this; but 
certain it is that in those countries the European not only enjoys health, 
but produces a progeny as vigorous, if not more so, than that of the parent 
race. 

The effects of heat exceeding the temperate standard must be distinguished 
according to origin; radiant heat, or the direct rays of the sun, and non- 
radiant heat, or that of the atmosphere. In the latter case, in addition to 
heat, there is more or less rarefaction of the air, and also coincident condi- 
tions of humidity and movement of the air, which must be taken into 
account. The influence, again, of sudden transitions from heat to cold, or 
the reverse, has to be considered. Europeans from temperate climates 
flourish, apparently, in countries not much hotter than their own, as in some 
parts of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, though it is yet too 
soon to speculate whether the vigour of the race will improve or otherwise. 


INFLUENCE OF THE DIRECT RAYS OF THE SUN. 385 


But there is a general impression that they do not flourish in countries much 
hotter, z.¢., with a yearly mean of 20° Fahr. higher, as in many parts of 
India ; that the race dwindles, and finally dies out; and therefore that no 
acclimatisation of race occurs. And certainly it would appear that in India 
there is some evidence to show that the pure race, if not intermixed with 
the native, does not reach beyond the third generation. Yet it seems only 
right to say that so many circumstances besides heat and the other elements 
of climate have been acting on the English race in India, that any conclu- 
sion opposed to acclimatisation must be considered as based on scanty evi- 
dence. We have not gauged on a large scale the effects of climate pure and 
simple, uncomplicated with malaria, bad diet, and other influences adverse 
to health and longevity.! 

(a) Influence of the Direct Rays of the Sun.—lt is not yet known to what 
temperature the direct rays of the tropical sun can raise any object on 
which they fall. In India, on the ground, the uncovered thermometer will 
mark 160°, and perhaps 212° (Buist) ; and in this country, if the movement 
of air is stopped in a small space, the heat in the direct sun’s rays can be 
raised to the same point. In a box, with a glass top, Sir H. James found 
the thermometer mark 237° Fahr., when exposed to the rays of the sun, on 
the 14th July 1864.2 In experiments on frogs, when temperature much 
over the natural amount is applied to nerves, the electrical currents through 
them are lessened, and at last stop.? E. H. Weber’s observations show 
that for men the same rule holds good ; the most favourable temperature is 
30° R. (=99°:5 Fahr.).4 It appears also from Kthne’s experiments that the 
heat of the blood of the vertebrata must not exceed 113° Fahr., for at that 
temperature the myosin begins to coagulate.° Perhaps this fact may be 
connected with the pathological indication that avery high temperature in 
any disease (over 110° Fahr.) indicates extreme danger. 

To what temperature is the skin of the head and neck raised in the tropics 
in the sun’s rays? No sufficient experiments have been made, either on 
this point or on the heat in the interior of caps and hats with and without 
ventilation. Doubtless, without ventilation, the heat above the head in the 
interior of the cap is very great. It is quite possible, as usually assumed, 
that with bad head-dresses the heat of the skin, bones, and possibly even of 
the deep nerves and centres (the brain and cord), may be greater than is 
accordant with perfect preservation of the currents of the nerves, or of the 
necessary temperature of the blood, or with the proper fluidity of some of 
the albuminous bodies in the muscles or nerves. 

The difficulty of estimating the exact effect of the solar rays is not only 
caused by the absence of a sufficient number of experiments, but by the 
common presence of other conditions, such as a hot, rarefied, and perhaps 
impure air, and heat of the body produced by exercise which is not 
attended by perspiration. Two points are remarkable in the history of sun- 
stroke, viz., the extreme rarity of sunstroke in mid ocean® and at great 


1 Tn India the mortality of Eurasians (that is, the mixed race of British, Portuguese, 
Hindu, Malay blood, mixed in all degrees) appears to be below that of the most healthy 
European service, viz., the Civil Service. Mr Tait’s facts, “ On the Mortality of Hurasians ” 
Bical Journal, September 1864), would show that this mixed race will maintain itself in 

ndia. 

2 Mr Symons has also obtained temperature above 212° F. by the same means. 

® Eckhard, Henle’s Zeitsch., Band x. p. 165, 1851. 

4 Weber, Ludwig’s Phys., 2nd ed., vol. i. p. 126. 

5 Ludwie’s Lehrb. der Phys., Bandii. p. 732. For a collection of data, see Dr H. C. Wood, 
jun., Thermic Fever, 1872, p. 50. 

6 The cases of insolation in a narrow sea like the Red Sea do not invalidate this rule. 

2B 


386 CLIMATE. 


elevations.1 In both cases the effect of the sun’s rays, per se, is not less, is 
even greater, than on land and at sea-level; yet in both sunstroke is 
uncommon ; the temperature of the air, however, is never excessive in 
either case. 

The effect of the direct rays on the skin is another matter requiring 
investigation. Does it aid or check perspiration? That the skin gets dry 
there is no doubt, but this may be merely from rapid evaporation. But if 
the nervous currents are interfered with, the vessels and the amount of 
secretion are sure to be affected, and on the whole it seems probable that a 
physiological effect adverse to perspiration is produced by the direct rays of 
the sun. If so, and if this is carried to a certain point, the heat of the 
body must rise, and, supposing the same conditions to continue (intense 
radiant heat and want of perspiration), may pass beyond the limit of the 
temperature of possible life (113° Fahr.).? 

The effect of intense radiant heat on the respiration and heart is another 
point of great moment which needs investigation. 

The pathological effect produced by the too intense direct rays of the sun 
is seen in one or two forms of insolation, and consists in paralysis of the 
heart or the respiration. 

A form of fever (the Causus of some writers, or thermic fever) has been 
supposed to be caused by the direct rays of the sun combined with excessive 
exertion. Dr Parkes mentions a case of this kind which corresponded 
closely to the description in books. The fever lasted for several days, and 
its type was not in accordance with the hypothesis that it was a malarious 
fever, or febricula, or enteric. No thermometric observations were made 
on the patient. 

(6) Heat in Shade,—The effect of high air temperature on the native of 
a temperate climate passing into the tropics has not been very well deter- 
mined, and some of the conclusions are drawn from experiments on animals 
exposed to an artificial temperature. 

1. The temperature of the body does not rise greatly—not more than 0°5 or 
1° Fahr. (John Davy); from 1° to 24° and 3° (Kydaux and Brown-Séquard). 
In some experiments not published the late Dr Becher determined his own 
temperature in a very careful way during a voyage round the Cape to India. 
He found the body-heat increased, and in the proportion of 0°:05 Fahr. for 
every increase of 1° Fahr. inthe air. Rattray also found a decided increase, 
varying from 0°:2 Fahr. to 1°-2 Fahr.; the greatest increase was in the 
afternoon. We may conclude that the tropical heat raises the temperature 
of the body of a new-comer, probably because the evaporation from the skin 
is not capable of counterbalancing the great additional external heat, but it 
is now known that in old residents the same fact does not hold good. 
Brigade-Surgeon J. C. Johnston has recorded a very careful series of 
experiments, made on soldiers of at least three years’ service in India,’ in 
the station of Bellary. The average of one series was 97°-63, and of another 
97°-94, thus showing if anything a slight lowering from the normal tem- 
perature, 98°°4. Surgeon-Major Boileau, from a long series of observations 


1 This may be due to the absence of radiation from the ground; ground radiation affects 
unprotected thermometers vary markedly. 

2 In the Turkish bath it may sometimes be observed, that on entering the hottest chamber 
the skin, which had previously been acting freely, becomes dry. A feeling of oppression 
accompanies this, but relief is experienced so soon as perspiration is re-established. This 
would seem to point more to an actual arrest of function than to a mere drying up of the 
secretion. The same thing in a modified degree may occur in a tropical climate, in which case the 
intensity of fever will depend upon the time that elapses before accommodation is reached, 

’ Army Medical Reports, vol. xviii. p. 255. 


/ 


EFFECTS OF HEAT IN SHADE—RESPIRATION, 387 


in the West Indies, came to the conclusion that there was no material rise. 
The temperature of the body is the result of the opposing action of two 
factors—lst, of development of heat from the chemical changes of the food, 
and by the conversion of mechanical energy into heat, or by direct absorp- 
tion from without; and, 2nd, and opposed to this, of evaporation from the 
surface of the body, which regulates internal heat. So beautifully is this 
balance preserved, that the stability of the animal temperature in all coun- 
tries has always been a subject of marvel. If anything, however, prevents 
this evaporation, radiation and the cooling effect of moving wind cannot 
cool the body sufficiently in the tropics. Then, no doubt, the temperature 
of the body rises, especially if in addition there is muscular exertion and 
production of heat from that cause. The extreme discomfort always attend- 
ing abnormal heat of body then commences. In experiments in ovens, 
Blagden and Fordyce bore a temperature of 260° with a small rise of tem- 
perature (24° Fahr.), but the air was dry, and the heat of their bodies was 
reduced by perspiration ; when the air in ovens is very moist and evapora- 
tion is hindered, the temperature of the body rises rapidly. 

2. The respirations are lessened in number (Vierordt, Ludwig) in animals 
subjected to heat. According to Vierordt, less carbonic acid and _ pre- 
sumably less water are eliminated. Rattray? proved by a great number 

of observations that the number of respirations is lessened in persons 
passing from a cold to a hot climate. The amount of diminution varies ; 
in some experiments the fall was from 16°5 respirations per minute in 
‘England, in winter, to 12°74 and 13-74 in the tropics. In another series 
of experiments the fall was from 17°3 respirations per minute to 16-1; the 
breathing is also gentler, z.¢., less deep. Rattray has also shown that the 
Spirometric measurements of the expired air (“vital capacity” of Hutchin- 
son) increases in the tropics and falls in temperate climates, the average 
variation being about 8-7 per cent. of the total spirometric measurements.? 
This will hold good at all ages, but is less at either extreme of life, and is 
‘most marked in persons of largest frame and most full blooded. The 
explanation of this spirometric increase in the respiratory action of the lungs, 
as compared with the lessened number of inspirations, is to be found, accord- 
ing to Rattray, in a lessened proportion of blood and a larger proportion 
of air in the lungs in the tropics, and this is borne out by a fact presently 
to be noted, of the lessened weight of the lungs in Europeans in the tropics. 

The effect of the lessened number of respirations is (in spite of the spiro- 
metric increase) to reduce the total respiratory action considerably. Rattray 
has shown that the average amount is in the temperate zone (temp. = 54° 
Fahr.), 259°91 cubic inches per minute, while in the tropics (= 82° Fahr.) 
only 195-69 cubic inches were inspired, so that there is a difference of 
38°65 cubic feet in twenty-four hours, or 18°43 per cent. in favour of a 
temperate climate.t If 10 ounces of carbon are expired in the temperate 


_ 1 Itrises even 7° to 8° Fahr. (Ludwig, Lehrb. des Phys., 2nd edit., b. ii. p. 730). Obernier’s 
later observations are confirmatory (Der Hitzschlag, Bonn, 1867). Obernier confirms the 
pathology generally received in this country. From an observation of four cases of sunstroke, 
and from thirty-three experiments on animals exposed to artificial heat, he traces all the 
effects to the augmented temperature of the body, which cannot cool by evaporation from 
the surface and lungsas usual. Dr H.C. Wood, jun., of Philadelphia (Thermic Fever or Sun- 
stroke, 1872), also holds that the “ efficient cause of sunstroke is the excess of temperature.” 

2 “On the Effects of Change of Climate on the Human Economy,” by A. Rattray, M.D., 
Surgeon, R.N., Proceedings of the Royal Society, Nos. 122-126, 139 (1869-72). 

® Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 139, p. 2. 

4 These quantities seem very small; with 16 or 17 respirations per minute, the number of 
cubic inches per respiration would be only 13 to 15; whereas 30 is usually adopted as the 
average for adults. 


” 


388 CLIMATE. 


zone, only 8:157 ounces would be expired in the tropics. Is there, then, | 
greater excretion of carbon from the skin, or, as used to be supposed, from 
the liver ? 

Dr Francis (Bengal Army) has observed that the lungs are lighter after | 
death in Europeans in India than the European standard. Dr Parkes | 
made a similar observation many years ago, and recorded it in a work on | 
cholera,! but the facts were few. If this statement be confirmed, it would 
show a diminished respiratory function, and would accord with Rattray’s — 
observations. | 

3. The heari’s action has been usually stated to be quickened in the | 
tropics, but Rattray’s numerous observations show that this is incorrect ; _ 
the average pulse in the tropics was lower by 24 beats per minute than in — 
the temperate zone. In experiments on animals, moderate heat does not 
quicken the heart, but great heat does. 

4, The digestive powers are somewhat lessened, there is less appetite, less _ 
desire for animal food, and more wish for cool fruit. The quantity of bile | 
secreted by the liver is not increased, if the stools are to be taken asa _ 
guide (Marshall, in 1819, John Davy, Morehead, Parkes), though Lawson 
believes that an excess of colouring matter passes out with the stools; 
nothing is known of the condition of the usual liver work. 

5. The skin acts much more than usual (an increase of 24 per cent, | 
according to Rattray), and great local hypereemia and swelling of the _ 
papille occur in new-comers, giving rise to the familiar eruption known as _ 
“prickly heat.” In process of time, if exposed to great heat, the skin 
suffers apparently in its structure, becoming of a slight yellowish colour 
from, probably, pigmentary deposits in the deep layers of the cuticle. | 

6. The urine is lessened in quantity. The urea is lessened, as shown by 
experiments in hot seasons at home and during voyages (Dr Forbes Watson 
and Dr Becher).? It is probable that this is simply from lessened food. — 
The pigment has been supposed to be increased (Lawson), but this is 
doubtful. The chloride of sodium is lessened; the amount of uric and 
phosphoric acids is uncertain. 

7. The effect on the nervous system is generally considered as depressing 
and exhausting, 2.¢., there is less general vigour of mind and body. But it 
is undoubted that the greatest exertions both of mind and body have been — 
made by Europeans in hot climates. Robert Jackson thought as much — 
work could be got out of men in hot as in temperate climates. It is_ 
probable that the depressing effects of heat are most felt when it is com- 
bined with great humidity of the atmosphere, so that evaporation from the 
skin, and consequent lessening of bodily heat, are partly or totally arrested.? 

The most exhausting effects of heat are felt when the heat is continuous, 
z.€., very great, day and night, and especially in sandy plains, where the 
air is highly rarefied day and night. There is then really lessened quantity 
of oxygen in a given cubic space. Add to this fact that the respirations are 
lessened, and we have two factors at work which must diminish the ingress 
of oxygen, and thereby lessen one of the great agents of metamorphosis. 


1 On Algide Cholera, by E. A. Parkes, M.D., p. 14 (1847). 

2 These experiments have never been fully published ; they were made during voyages to 
Bombay and China, and show that when the temperature reached a certain point (75° in Dr 
Becher’s experiments) the solids of the urine and the urea lessened considerably (Proceed- 
ings of the Royal Society, 1862). 

3 See Dr Kenneth Mackinnon’s Zreatise on Public Health, p. 27, on the effect of plenty of 
exercise even in the hot, and moist, and presumed unhealthy climate of Tirhoot in Bengal. 
He proves that men can be much in the open air, even in the hot parts of the day, with 
impunity, and that when “they take exercise they are in the highest state of health.” Still 
Dr Mackinnon believes the climate is exhausting. 


EFFECTS OF HEAT IN SHADE—HUMIDITY. 389 


8. Rattray made observations! on the weight and height of forty-eight 
naval cadets, aged from 144 to 17 years, during four successive changes of - 
climate during a voyage. The results show that in the tropics they 
increased in height more rapidly than in cold climates, but that they lost 
weight very considerably, and, in spite of their rapid growth, Rattray con- 
dudes that the heat impaired the strength, weight, and “health of these lads. 
His figures seem conclusive on these points, and show the beneficial influence 
of cold on youths belonging to races long resident in temperate climates. 
On the whole, even when sufficient perspiration keeps the body tempera- 
ture within the limits of health, the effect of great heat in shade seems to be, 
as far as we can judge, a depressing influence lessening the nervous activity, 
the great functions of digestion, respiration, sanguification, and directly or 
indirectly the formation and destruction of tissues. Whether this is the 
heat alone, or heat and lessened oxygen, and great humidity, is not certain. 
_ So bad have been the general and personal hygienic conditions of 
Europeans in India, that it is impossible to say what amount of the former 
ereat mortality in that country was due to excess of heat over the temperature 
of Europe. Nor isit possible to determine the influence of heat alone on the 
endemic diseases of Europeans in the tropics—liver disease and dysentery. 
‘There is, perhaps, after all, little immediate connection between heat and 
liver disease. 

Rapid Changes of Temperature. —The exact physiological effects have not 
yet been traced out ; and these sudden vicissitudes are often met by altered 
clothing, or other means of varying the temperature of the body. The 
greatest influence of rapid changes of temperature appears to occur when the 
state of the body in some way coincides with or favours their action. Thus, 
the sudden checking of the profuse perspiration by a cold wind produces 
catarrhs, inflammations, and neuralgia. It is astonishing, however, to find 
how well even phthisical persons will bear great changes of temperature, if 
they are not exposed to moving currents of air; and there can be little doubt 
that the wonderful balance of the system is soon readjusted. 


SECTION ILI. 
JsUU/AW UD CNN, 


According to their degree of humidity, climates are divided into moist and 
dry. Professor Tyndall’s observations have shown how greatly the humidity 
of the air influences climate, by hindering the passage of heat from the 
earth. As far as the body is concerned, the chief effect of moist air is exerted 
on the evaporation from the skin and lungs, and therefore the degree of 
dryness or moisture of an atmosphere should be expressed in terms of the 
relative (and not of the absolute) humidity, and should always be taken 
in connection with the temperature, movement, and density of the air, if 
this last varies much from that of sea-level. The evaporating power of 
an atmosphere which contains 75 per cent. of saturation is very different, 
according as the temperature of the air is 40° or 80°. As the temperature 
rises, the evaporative power increases faster than the rise in the thermometer. 
There is a general opinion that an atmosphere which permits free, without 
‘excessive, evaporation is the best ; but there are few precise experiments. 

The most agreeable amount of humidity to most healthy people is when 
the relative humidity is between 70 and 80 per cent. In chronic lung 


| 1 Procecdings of the Royal Society, No. 189. 


ow 


= 


390 CLIMATE. 


diseases, however, a very moist air is generally most agreeable, and allays 
cough. The evaporation from the lungs produced by a warm dry atmosphere 
appears to irritate them. On the other hand, a still cold atmosphere is dry, 
without much capacity for holding moisture ; so that the bracing effects of 
the cold are felt, without the irritation produced by too rapid evaporation 
from the respiratory surface. This may be one cause (among others) of the 
benefit derived in winter from such places as Davos, &e. 

The moist hot siroccos, which are almost saturated with water, are felt as _ 
oppressive by man and beast ; and this can hardly be from any other cause — 
than the check to evaporation, and the consequent rise in the temperature — 
of the body. 

It is not yet known what rate of evaporation is the most healthy. Exces- 
Sive evaporation, such as may be produced by a dry sirocco, is well borne by — 
some persons, but not by all. Probably, in some cases, the physiological — 
factor of perspiration comes into play, and the nerves and vessels of the skin | 
are altered; and in this way perspiration is checked. We can hardly 
account in any other way for the fact that, in some persons, the dry sirocco, — 
or dry hot land wind, produces harshness and dryness of the skin and — 
general malaise, which possibly (though there is yet no thermometric proof) 
may be caused by a rise of temperature of the body. | 

From the experiments of Lehmann on pigeons and rabbits, it appears that | 
more carbon dioxide is exhaled from the lungs in a very moist than in a dry | 
atmosphere. The pathological effects of humidity are intimately connected _ 
with the temperature. Warmth and great humidity are borne on the whole 
more easily than cold and great humidity. Yet in both cases, so wonderful 
is the power of adaptation of the body that often no harm results. | 

The spread of certain diseases is supposed to be intimately related to 
humidity of the air. Malarious diseases, it is said, never attain their fullest — 
epidemic spread unless the humidity approaches saturation. Plague and | 
smallpox are both checked by a very dry atmosphere. The cessation of | 
bubo plague in Upper Egypt, after St John’s Day, has been considered to 
have been more owing to the dryness than to the heat of the air. ' 

In the dry Harmattan wind, on the west coast of Africa, smallpox cannot 
be inoculated ; and it is well known with what difficulty cowpox is kept up 
in very dry seasons in India. Yellow fever, on the other hand, seems inde-— 
pendent of moisture, or will at any rate prevail in a dry air. The observa- | 
tions at Lisbon, which Lyons recorded, show no relation to the dew-point. 

With regard to other diseases, and especially to diseases of sanguification | 
and nutrition, observations are much needed. 


SECTION III. 
MOVEMENT OF AIR. 


This is a very important climatic condition. The effect on the body is | 
twofold. A cold wind abstracts heat, and in proportion to its velocity ; a _ 
hot wind carries away little heat by direct abstraction, but, if dry, increases | 
evaporation, and in that way may in part counteract its own heating power. 
Both, probably, act on the structure of the nerves of the skin and on the - 
contractility of the cutaneous vessels, and may thus influence the rate of 
evaporation, and possibly affect also other organs. 

The amount of the cooling effect of moving bodies of air is not easy to | 
determine, as it depends on three factors, viz., the velocity of movement, the © 
temperature, and the humidity of the air. The effect of movement is very — 


EFFECTS OF DIMINISHED PRESSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 391 


great. Inacalm atmosphere an extremely warm temperature is borne with- 
out difficulty. In the Arctic expeditions calm air many degrees below zero 
of Fahr. caused no discomfort. But any movement of such cold air at once 
chills the frame. It has been asserted that some of the hot and very dry 
desert winds will, in spite of their warmth, chill the body ; and if so, it can 
scarcely be from any other reason than the enormous evaporation they cause 
from the skin. It is very desirable, however, that this observation should 
be repeated, with careful thermometrical observations both on the body in 
the usual way and on the surface of the skin. 


SECTION IV. 


WEIGHT OF THE AIR. 
Effects of Considerable Lessening of Pressure. 


When the difference of pressure between two places is considerable, a 
marked effect is produced, and there seems no doubt that the influence of 
mountain localities is destined to be of great importance in therapeutics. It 
is of peculiar interest to the army surgeon, as so many regiments in the 
tropics are, or will be, quartered at considerable elevations. 

In ascending mountains there is rarefaction, 2.¢., lessened pressure of air; 
on an average (if the weight of the air at sea-level is 15 tb on every square 
inch) an ascent of 900 feet takes off } Ib; but this varies with height ; 
| there are also lowered temperature and lessened moisture above 4000 feet, 
greater movement of the air, increased amount of light, greater sun radia- 
tion if clouds are absent; the air is freer from germs of infusoria ; owing 
to the rarefaction of the air and lessened watery vapour, there is greater 
diathermancy of the air; the soil is rapidly heated, but radiates also fast, 
as the heat is not so much held back by vapour in the air, hence there is 
very great cooling of the ground and the air close to it at night. 

_ The physiological effects of lessened pressure begin to be perceptible at 
2800 or 3000 feet of altitude (=descent of 24 to 3 inches of mercury); 
they are—quickened pulse! (fifteen to twenty beats per minute); quickened 
respiration (increase=ten to fifteen respirations per minute), with lessened 
Spirometric capacity,” increased evaporation from skin and lungs; lessened 
urinary water.? At great heights there is increased pressure of the gases 
in the body against the containing parts ; swelling of superficial vessels, and 
occasionally bleeding from the nose or lungs. A sensation of weight is felt 
in the limbs from the lessened pressure on the joints. At altitudes under 
6000 or 7000 feet the effect of mountain air (which is, perhaps, not owing 
solely to lessened pressure, but also, possibly, to increased light and 
pleasurable excitement of the senses) is to cause a very marked improve- 
ment in digestion, sanguification, and in nervous and muscular vigour.* It 
is inferred that tissue change is accelerated, but nothing definite is known. 
The rapid evaporation at elevated positions is certainly a most important 


1 Balloon ascents.—Biot and Gay-Lussac at 9,000 feet=iner. of 18 to 30 beats of the pulse. 

Glaisher, c at 17,000 5, = ,, Jl0to 24 Op 

at 24,000 ,, = ,, 24to3l 

| The beats seem to augment in number with the elevation. These are safer numbers than 
_ those obtained in mountain ascents, as there is no physical exertion. In mountain climbing 
the i increase is much greater. 
+2 Rattray found an ascent of 2000 feet (at Ascension) lessened the ‘‘ vital capacity,” as 
| judged of by the spirometer, from 266 to 249 and 243 cubic inches. 
3 Vivenot, Virchow’s Archiv, 1860, Band xix. p. 492. This is probable, but not yet proved. 
4 Hermann Weber, Climate of the Swiss Alps, 1864, p. 17. 


392 CLIMATE. 


element of mountain hygiene. At Puebla and at Mexico the hygrometer of 
Saussure will often mark 37°, which is equal to only 45 per cent. of satura- 
tion,t and yet the lower rooms of the houses are very humid; so that in 
the town of Mexico there are really two climates,—one very moist, in the 
rez-de-chaussée of the houses; one very dry, in the upper rooms and the 
outside air. 

The diminution of oxygen, in a certain cubic space, is precisely as the 
spressure, and can be calculated for any height, if the barometer is noted. 
Taking dry air only, a cubic foot of air at 30 inches, and at 32° Fahr., con- 
tains 130-4 grains of oxygen. An ascent (about 5000 feet) which reduces 


2) . 
the barometer to 25 inches will lessen this 3th, or == 108-6 


grains. But it is supposed that the increased number of respirations com- 
pensates, or more so, for this; and, in addition, it must be remembered 
that in experiments on animals, as long as the percentage of oxygen did 
not sink below a certain point (14 per cent.), as much was absorbed into 
the blood as when the oxygen was in normal proportion. Jourdanet has 
indeed asserted ? that the usual notion that the respirations are augmented 
in number in the inhabitants of high lands is “completely erroneous ”; that 
the respirations are in fact lessened, and that from time to time a deeper 
respiration is voluntarily made as a partial compensation. But Coindet, 
from 1500 observations on French and Mexicans, does not confirm this; the 
mean number of respirations was 19°36 per minute for the French, and 
20°297 for the Mexicans. 

As a curative agent, mountain air (that is, the consequences of lessened 
pressure chiefly) ranks very high in all anzmic affections from whatever 
cause (malaria, heemorrhage, digestive feebleness, even lead and mercury 
poisoning); and it would appear, from Hermann Weber’s observations, that 
the existence of valvular heart disease is, if proper rules are observed, no 
contradiction against the lower elevations (2000 to 3000 feet). Neuralgia, 
gout, and rheumatism are all benefited by high Alpine positions (H. Weber). 
Scrofula and consumption have been long known to be rare among the 
dwellers on high lands, and the curative effect of such places on these dis- 
eases is also marked; but it is possible that the open-air life which is led 
has an influence, as it is now known that great elevation is not necessary 
for the cure of phthisis.? 

Dr Hermann Weber, in his important work on the Swiss Alps (p. 22), 
has given the present evidence, and has shown how in the true Alpine 
region—in Dauphiné, in Peru and Mexico, and in Germany—phthisis is 
decidedly averted or prevented by high altitudes. The more recent ex- 
perience of Davos Platz is confirmatory. 

Although on the Alps phthisis is arrested in strangers, in many places 
the Swiss women on the lower heights suffer greatly from it; the cause is a 
social one: the women employed in making embroidery congregate all day 
in small, ill-ventilated, low rooms, where they are often obliged to be in a 
constrained position ; their food is poor in quality. Scrofula is very common. 
The men, who live an open-air life, are exempt ; therefore, in the very place 


1 Jourdanet, Du Mexique, p. 49. 

2 Du Mexique, p. 76. 

* Some time ago a remarkable paper was published by Dr James Blake, of California, on 
the treatment of phthisis (Pacific Medical Journal, 1860). He adopted the plan of making 
his patients live in the open air; in the summer months he made them sleep out without 
any tent: the result was an astonishing improvement in digestion and sanguification ; the 
resistance to any ill effects from cold and wet is described as marvellous. As Dr Blake is 
well known to be perfectly trustworthy, these statements are worthy of all consideration. 


EFFECTS OF INCREASED PRESSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 393 


where strangers are getting well of phthisis the natives die from it— 
another instance that we must look to local conditions and social habits for 
the great cause of phthisis. It would even seem possible that, after all, it 
is not indeed elevation and rarefaction of air, but simply plenty of fresh air 
and exercise which are the great agents in the cure of phthisis. 

Jourdanet, who differs from so much that is commonly accepted on this 
point, gives additional evidence on the effect of elevation on phthisis. At 
Vera Cruz phthisis is common ; at Puebla and on the Mexican heights it is 
almost absent (@ peu pres nulle). 

The diseases for which mountain air is least useful are—rheumatism, at 
the lower elevations where the air is moist; above this rheumatism is 
improved; and chronic inflammatory affections of the respiratory organs (?). 
The ‘mountain asthma” appears, however, from Weber’s observations, to 
be no specific disease, but to be common pulmonary emphysema following 
chronic bronchitis. 

It seems likely that pneumonia, pleurisy, and acute bronchitis are more 
common in higher Alpine regions than lower down. 

Effects of Increased Pressure.—The effects of increased pressure have been 
noticed in persons working in diving-bells, &c., or in those submitted to 
treatment by compressed air. (At Lyons and at Reichenhall! especially.) 
When the pressure is increased to from 14 to 2 atmospheres, the pulse 
becomes slower, though this varies in individual cases; the mean lessening 
is 10 beats per minute; the respirations are slightly lessened (1 per minute); 
evaporation from the skin and lungs is said to be lessened (?); there is some 
recession of blood from the peripheral parts; there is a little ringing and 
sometimes pain in the ears; hearing is more acute; the urine is increased in 
quantity; appetite is increased ; it is said men will work more vigorously. 
When the pressure is much greater (two or three atmospheres) the effects 
are sometimes very marked ; great lowering of the pulse, heaviness, head- 
ache, and sometimes, it is said, deafness. It is said? that more oxygen is 
absorbed, and that the venous blood is as red as the arterial; the skin also 
sometimes acts more, and there may even be sweating. The main effect is to 
lessen the quantity of blood in the veins and auricles, and to increase it in 
the arteries and ventricles; the filling of the ventricle during the relaxation 
takes place more slowly. The diastolic interval is lengthened, and the 
pulse is therefore slower. 

When the workmen leave the compressed air they are said to suffer from 
hemorrhages and occasional nervous affections, which may be from cerebral 
or spinal hemorrhage.* As a curative agent in phthisis, the evidence is 
unfavourable. 

Some observations made by M. Bert* show that oxygen, when it enters 
the blood under pressure (such as that given by 17 atmospheres of atmo- 
spheric air, or 34 atmospheres of pure oxygen), is toxic to birds, producing 
convulsions. Convulsions are produced in dogs when the pressure is only 
7 or 8 atmospheres and when the oxygen amounts to only double the nor- 
mal amount, or, in other words, reaches 32 c.c. per 100 c.c. of blood. M. 
Bert conjectured that the toxic influence of oxygen was on the nervous 
centres, like strychnine. The animal temperature fell 2 or 3 degrees (C.) 
during the convulsions, so that excess of oxygen did not cause increased 


1 For an account of the effects noted at Reichenhall, see Dr Burdon-Sanderson’s account 
in The Practitioner, No. iv. 1868, p. 221. 

2 Foley, “ Du Travail dans Vair comprimé,” Gaz. Hebdom., 1863, No. 32. 

3 See Limousin, in Canstatt, 1863, Band ii. p. 105, and Babington in Dublin Quarterly 
Journal, Nov. 1864. 

4 Chemical News, March 28, 1873. 


394 | CLIMATE. 


combustion. In the case of a dog kept under a pressure of 94 atmospheres 
for some time, gas was found in the ventral cavity and in the areolar tissue. 
In man the pressure of only 5 atmospheres appears to be dangerous.! 


Is Acclimatisation possible ? 


The doctrine of acclimatisation has been much debated, but probably we 
do not know sufficiently the physiological conditions of the body under 
different circumstances. In the case of Europeans living till puberty in a 
temperate region, near the sea-level, and in a moist climate like England, 
and then going to the tropics, the question of acclimatisation would be put 
in this form,—Does the body accommodate itself to greater heat, to lessened 
humidity in some cases, or greater in others, and to varying altitudes ? 

There can be little doubt that the body does accommodate itself within 
certain limits to greater heat, as we have seen that the lungs act less, the 
skin more, and that the circulation lessens when Englishmen pass into the 
tropics. There is so far an accommodation or alteration impressed on the 
functions of the body by unwonted heat. And we may believe that this 
effect is permanent, 7.e., that the lungs continue to act less and the skin 
more, as long the Europeans remain in the tropics. Doubtless, if the race 
were perpetuated in the tropics, succeeding generations would show fixed 
alterations in these organs. 

We may conclude that the converse holds true, and that the cold of tem- 
perate regions will influence natives of the tropics in an opposite way, and 
this seems to be rendered likely by the way in which lung affections arise 
in many of them. 

We may admit there is an acclimatisation in this sense, but in no other. 
The usual belief that the constitution acquires in some way a power of re- 
sisting unhealthy influences—that is, a power of not being any longer sus- 
ceptible to them—is not supported by any good evidence. The lungs in 
Europeans will not regain their weight and amount of action in the tropics; 
a change to a cold climate only will cause this; the skin retains its increased 
function until the cause producing it is removed. So also there is no 
acclimatisation in any sense of the word for malaria. 


‘SECTION V. 
COMPOSITION OF THE AIR. 


The proportionate amounts of oxygen and nitrogen remain very constant 
in all countries, and the range of variation is not great. 

So also, apart from the habitations of men, the amount of carbon dioxide 
is (at elevations occupied by men) constant. The variations in watery 
vapour have been already noticed. 

The only alterations in the composition of the air which come under the 
head of climate are changes in the state in which oxygen exists (for no 
change is known to occur in nitrogen), and the presence of impurities. 


1 In the colliery accident at Pont-y-Prydd, several men were confined for ten days in a 
small space, in which the air was much compressed. The exact pressure is unknown, but it 
was sufficient to drive one of the men, with fatal force, into the opening made for their 
rescue. Although the men were without food all the time, they appeared to have suffered 
less than might have been anticipated. 


ie 


COMPOSITION OF THE AIR—OZONE. 395 


SUB-SECTION J.—OZONE. 


Ozone is now admitted by most chemists to be an allotropic condition of 
oxygen; and, as conjectured by Odling, it is now believed that it is a com- 
pound molecule made up of three molecules (O,0) of oxygen. The so-called 
antozone is now believed to be peroxide of hydrogen diffused in a large 
quantity of atmospheric air. Variations in the amount of ozone have been 
supposed to be a cause of climatic difference, but, in spite of all the labour 
which has been given to this subject, the evidence is very inconclusive. 
The reaction with the ozone paper is liable to great fallacies! Yet it seems 
clear that some points are made out: the ozonic reaction is greater in pure 
than impure air; greater at the sea-side than in the interior; greater in 
mountain air than in the plains; absent in the centre of large towns, yet 
present in the suburbs; absent in an hospital ward, yet present in the air 
outside. In this country it is greater with south and west winds; greater, 
according to Moffat, when the mean daily temperature and the dew-point 
temperature are above the mean; the same observer found it in increased 
quantity with decreasing readings of the barometer, and conversely in 
lessened quantity with increasing readings. 

The imperfections in the test render it desirable to avoid drawing conclu- 
sions at present ; but one or two points must be adverted to. 

1. Owing probably to the oxidising power of ozone when prepared in the 
laboratory, a great power of destruction of organic matter floating in the air 
has been ascribed to ozone by Schoénbein, and the absence of ozone in the air 
has been attributed by others to the amount of organic matter in the air of 
towns. Even the cessation of epidemics (of cholera, malarious fevers) has 
been ascribed to currents of air bringing ozone with them. The accumula- 
tion of malaria at night has been ascribed to the non-production of ozone by 
the sun’s rays (Uhle). The effect of stagnant air in increasing epidemics 
has also been ascribed to the absence of ozone. 

It seems clear that the substance giving the reaction of ozone is neither 
deficient in marshy districts, nor, when ozone is conducted through marsh 
dew, does it destroy the organic matter.? 

2. On account of the irritating effect of ozone when rising from an 
electrode, Schénbein believed it had the power of causing catarrh, and 
inferred that epidemics of influenza might be produced by it. He attempted 
to adduce evidence, but at present it may safely be said that there is no 
proof of such an origin of epidemic catarrhs. 

3. A popular opinion is, that a climate in which there is much ozone 
(z.e., of the substance giving the reaction with potassium iodide and starch 
paper) is a healthy, and, to use a common phrase, an exciting one. The 
coincidence of excess of this reaction with pure air lends some support to 
this, but, like the former opinions, it still wants a sufficient experimental 
basis. 

On the whole, the subject of the presence and effects of ozone, curious 
and interesting as it is, is very uncertain at present; experiments must 
be numerous, and inferences drawn from them must be received with 
caution. 


1 The subject of ozone will be found fully discussed by Dr C. Fox (Ozone and Antozone, 
1873). The causes of fallacy in the tests are carefully explained. 

2 In addition to what has been previously said (p. 150), Grellois has stated that he found 
more ozone over a marsh than elsewhere. An interesting series of observations on ozone in 
the Bombay Presidency has been made by Dr Cook. 


396 CLIMATE, 


SUB-SECTION I7.—Matartia. 


The most important organic impurity of the atmosphere is malaria, and 

when a climate is called “unhealthy,” in many cases it is simply meant that 
it is malarious. In the chapters on Sos and Air the most important 
hygienic facts connected with malaria have been noted. In this place it 
only remains to note one or two of the climatic points associated with 
malaria. 
» 1. Vertical Ascent.—A marsh or malarious tract of country existing at 
any point, what altitude gives immunity from the malaria, supposing there 
is no drifting up ravines? It is well known that even a slight elevation 
lessens danger—a few feet even, in many cases, but complete security is 
only obtained at greater heights. Low elevations of 200 or 300 feet are 
often, indeed, more malarious than lower lands, as if the malaria chiefly 
floated up. 

At present the elevation of perfect security in different parts of the world 
is not certainly determined, but appears to be-— 


Italy, . . 400 to 500 feet.! 

America (Appalachia), : 3000 ,, 

California,? . : ; NOOO) 5 

India, . ‘ . 2000 to 3000 ,, 

West Indies, . ; . 1400 ,, 1800 up to 2200 feet. 


But these numbers are so far uncertain that it has not always been seen 
that the question is not, whether marshes can exist at these elevations (we 
know they can be active at 6000 feet), but whether the emanations from a 
marsh will ascend that height without drifting up ravines? 1000 to 1200 
feet would generally give security in all probability. 

2. Horizontal Spread.—In a calm air Lévy* has supposed that malaria 
will spread until it occupies a cube of 1400 to 2000 feet, which is 
equivalent to saying it will spread 700 to 1000 feet horizontally from the 
central point of the marsh. But currents of air take it great distances, 
though the best observations show that these distances are less than were 
supposed, and seldom overpass one or two miles, unless the air-currents are 
rapid and strong. The precise limits are unknown, but it is very doubtful 
if the belief in transference of malaria by air-currents for 10, 20, or even 
100 miles, is correct. 

3. Spread over Water.—The few precise observations show that this 
differs in different countries. In the Channel, between Beveland and 
Walcheren, 3000 feet of water stopped it (Blane). In China and the West 
Indies a farther distance is necessary. In China three-quarters of a mile 
has been effectual ;4 in the West Indies one mile. Grant thinks that salt 
water is more efficacious than fresh. 


SECTION VI. 
ELECTRICAL CONDITION—LIGHT. 


That these, as well as heat, are important parts of that complex agency 
we call Climate, seems clear ; but little can be said on the point. In hot 


1 Carriere, quoted by Lévy, t. i. p. 491. 

2 This information was given by Dr James Blake. 

3 T. i. p. 464, 

4 Grant (quoted by Chevers), Indian Annals, 1859, p. 636. 


ELECTRICAL CONDITION—LIGHT. 397 


countries positive electricity is more abundant ; but the effect of its amount 
and variation on health and on the spread and intensity of diseases is 
quite unknown, All that has been ascribed to it is pure speculation. The 
only certain fact seems to be that the spread of cholera is not influenced 
by it. 

With regard to light, the physiological doctrine of the necessity of light 
for growth and perfect nutrition makes us feel sure that this is an im- 
portant part of climate, but no positive facts are known. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


DESCRIPTION OF THE METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, 
: AND A FEW REMARKS ON METEOROLOGY. 


As meteorological observations are now so commonly made, and as in the 
army instruments are provided at many foreign stations, it is desirable to 
give a few plain instructions on the use of these instruments.! For the 
convenience of beginners, a few observations on Meteorology are also added. 


1 The following is the official circular issued by the Army Medical Department :—" 


Oficial Instructions for reading the Meteorological Instruments. 

The observer should make himself thoroughly acquainted with the scale of every instru- 
ment, especially with that of the barometer and its attached vernier, and by frequent com- 
parisons ascertain that he and his deputy read the instruments alike, and record the 
observations accurately. 

All observations must be recorded exactly as read. The corrections are to be made only at 
the end of each month on the “‘ means ” of the “‘ sums.” 

Barometrical observations must be recorded to the third decimal place ; thermometrical to 
the first decimal. When the readings are exactly to the inch or degree, the places for the 
‘decimals must be filled up with ciphers. 

The observations should be made as quickly as possible, consistent with perfect accuracy, 
and the observer must avoid breathing on the instruments, particularly the dry and wet bulb 
and maximum thermometers. 

Barometer Readings.—Note the temperature of attached thermometer in degrees only ; by 
means of the thumb-screw at the bottom adjust the mercury in the cistern to its proper level, 
—the point of the ivory cone, which should just touch the mercury without breaking the sur- 
face ; then bring the zero line of the vernier to the level of the apex of column of the mer- 
cury, and read off in the manner described at pages 15 and 16 of Sir H. James’s Book of 
Instructions.1 

Thermometer Readings.—The scales are divided to degrees only, but these are so open that 
the readings can be determined to the tenth of a degree. Practice and attention will insure 
accuracy. 

Maxinum Thermometer in Shade.—The maximum thermometer must be hung at such a 
distance (2 or 3 inches) from the water vessel of the wet-bulb thermometer that its readings 
may not be affected by evaporation. 

In hanging the maximum, care must be taken that the end of the tube is slightly inclined 
downwards, which will have the effect of assisting in preventing the return of any portion of 
the column of mercury into the bulb on a decrease of temperature. To read the instrument, 
gently elevate the end furthest from the bulb to an angle of about 45°, in which position of 
the instrument note the reading.2 To re-set the thermometer, a gentle shake or swing, or a 
tap on the wooden frame of the instrument, will cause the excess of mercury to return to the 
bulb, and it is again ready for use. 

Maximum in Sun’s Rays, or the Vacuum Solar Radiation Thermometer.—Being constructed 
on the same principle as the last-mentioned instrument, it must be read in a similar position. 
After completing the reading, by giving the instrument a slight shake, with the bulb still 
inclined downwards, the excess of mercury will return to the bulb, and the thermometer be 
ready for the next observation. 

Minimum Thermometer in Shade.—The minimum thermometer must be so hung that the 
bulb may be about one inch lower than the other extremity of the instrument, because in this 
position the index is less likely to be affected by a rise in temperature. 

The extremity of the index furthest from the bulb shows the lowest degree to which the 
spirit has fallen since the last observation. The reading on the scale corresponding to this is 
the temperature to be recorded. Then by elevating the bulb, the index will float towards the 
end of the spirit. When it has nearly arrived at that point, the instrument is re-set. 

Minimum on Grass, Terrestrial Radiation Thermometer is constructed like the last, and the 
directions above given are also applicable to it. 


1 For these are now substituted Instructions on the Use of Meteorological Instruments, by R. H. Scott, 
M.A., F.R.S., 1877. The Barometer corrections are explained at pp. 30, 31 of that work. 

2 The instrument had better be read as it is on the stand, because with a comparatively widely calibred 
tube the above instruction might lead to the mereury flowing backwards, and so giving an erroneous reading. 


METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS—THERMOMETERS. 399 


SECTION I. 
THERMOMETERS FOR TAKING THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR. 


Maximum Thermometers. 


Two maximum thermometers are issued—one to observe the greatest heat 
in the sun, the other in the shade. 

The Sun Maximum or Solar Radiation Thermometer is formed by a 
glass case (from which the air is removed), containing a mercurial thermo- 
meter with a blackened bulb. The case shelters from currents of air; the 
black bulb absorbs the sun’s rays. The tube of the thermometer is slightly 
bent near the bulb, and a piece of porcelain is inserted which narrows the 
tube. The effect of this is to make the thermometer self-registering, as, 
after the mercury has expanded to its fullest extent, instead of retiring into 
the bulb on cooling, it is stopped by the porcelain, and the mercury breaks 
between the porcelain and the bulb. The instrument is placed at a height 
of four feet from the ground on wooden supports, and in any place where 
the sun’s rays can fall freely on it. 

The Shade Maximum is a mercurial thermometer, not inclosed in a case, 
but mounted on a frame. Its construction and manner of reading are other- 
wise similar to those of the sun thermometer. 

It is placed in the shade four feet above the ground, and sufficiently far 
‘from any walls to be unaffected by radiation. It should be freely exposed 
| to the air, but perfectly protected from the sun’s rays. 


__ After reading and re-setting the self-registering thermometers, compare them with the dry- 
_ bulb thermometer in order to ascertain that their readings are nearly the same. 

_ Dry- and Wet-Bulb Thermometeis.—Bring the eye on a level with the top of the mercury in 
_ the tube of the dry-bulb thermometer, and ‘take the reading, then complete the observation 
_ by noting in like manner the reading of the wet-bulb thermometer. 

The temperature of the air is given by the former, that of evaporation by the latter. From 
_ these data hygrometrical results are to be calculated by Glaisher’s Tables, 3rd edition.1 

Rain-Gauge and Measure.—Pour the contents of the gauge into any convenient vessel with 
a lip, and from this into the glass measure, which has been graduated especially for the gauge, 
and is only to be used in measuring its contents. It is graduated to the hundredths of an 
inch. 

Anemometers.—The dials are read from left toright. The first on the left records hundreds 
of miles, the second tens, the third miles, the fourth tenths of a mile, and the fifth hun- 
| dredths of a mile. 
| The reading of the anemometer is obtained by deducting from the amount registered by the 
"dials the total sum registered at the period of the preceding observation. The difference be- 
| tween those (subject toa small correction) indicates the velocity or horizontal movement of the 

air in miles during the interval, and must be entered in the return. When the instrument 
‘is first set up, the reading on the dials must be noted, in order that it may be deducted from 
| the total registered by the dials at the end of the first period of observation. 
| In making observations on the presence of ozone, a box has been found to be unnecessary, 
equally satisfactory results having been obtained by fixing the paper immediately under the 
penthouse of the stand, which shelters it sufficiently from a strong light, while it secures 
_proper exposure. 

The minimum thermometers are liable to get out of order—first by carriage, when the index 
may be wholly or partly driven out of the spirit, or a portion of spirit may become detached 
from the main column ; and, secondly, by slow evaporation of the spirit, which, rising in the 
‘tube, condenses at the upper end. The first-mentioned errors are corrected by taking the 
‘thermometer in the hand, with its bulb downwards, and giving it a swingupanddown. The 
second is remedied by the inclined position of the instrument, which allows the condensed 
)spirit to trickle back to the main column. 

NV.B.—On no account whatever is artificial heat to be applied to a spirit thermometer. In 
a setting the minimum, the index should never be brought quite to the end of the column 
of spirit. 


1 A 6th edition is now published. 
2 It is generally necessary to swing the instrument to get back the broken portion of the column, 


400 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, 


Minimum Thermometers. 


Two minimum thermometers are supplied. 

The Shade Minimum is an alcoholic thermometer with a small index in 
the alcohol. It is set by allowing the index to slide nearly to the end of the 
spirit ; as the spirit contracts during cold, it carries the index down; when 
it expands again it cannot move the index, but leaves it at the degree of 
greatest cold. The end of the index farthest from the bulb is the point to 
read. 

This thermometer is placed in the shade four feet above ground, under the 
same conditions as the shade maximum. 

The Grass Minimum or Terrestrial Radiation Thermometer is a ther- 
mometer of the same kind, but protected by a glass shield. It is placed’ 
almost close to the ground on grass, suspended on little trestles of wood, but 
it should not touch the ground; it is intended to indicate the amount of 
cooling produced by radiation from the ground. If snow lies on the ground 
the bulb should be placed in the snow. Scott recommends a black board on 
which to lay the thermometer where no grass can be obtained,? 


Common Thermometer. 


The dry bulb of the “wet and dry bulb thermometer” is read as a 
common thermometer. 


Reading of the Thermometers. 


All these thermometers can be read, by the eye, to tenths of a degree. 
The maximum and minimum thermometers are read once a day, usually 
at 9 a.m.; the former marks the highest point reached on the previous 
afternoon, and must be so entered on the return; the latter, the lowest 
point reached on the same morning.? For the army returns the common 
thermometer is read twice a day, at 9 a.m. and 3 P.M. 

Range of the Temperature.—The maximum and minimum in shade give 
most important climatic indications; the difference between them on the 


same day constitutes the range of the diurnal fluctuation, The range is 


expressed in several ways. 
The extreme daily range in the month or year is the difference between 
the maximum and minimum thermometer on any one day. 


The extreme monthly or annual range is the difference between the greatest _ 


and least height in the month or year. 

The mean monthly range is the daily ranges added and divided by the 
number of days in a month (or between the mean of all the maxima and 
the mean of all the minima). 

The yearly mean range is the monthly ranges added and divided by 12. 

Mean Temperature.—The mean temperature of the day is obtained in the 
following ways:— ~ 

(a) At Greenwich and other observatories, where by means of photography 


i Great difficulty is found with spirit thermometers on account of their being so much less 
sensitive than mercurial. To remedy this the bulb is sometimes made fork-shaped, or other- 
wise modified so as to expose as large a surface as possible. 

2 Instructions, &e. Scott adds: ‘* Underany circumstances, a board givesa better measure 
of terrestrial radiation than grass.” 

% Itis desirable that these thermometers should be read both morning and evening. In 
winter the maximum sometimes occurs in the early morning and the minimum in the after- 
noon, and the range depends more on the direction of the wind than on the time of day 
(Scott). But uniformity of practice is the primary essential, and at stations where observa- 
tions are made only once a day, viz., at 9 A.M., or even twice, unless the second reading is” 
after 6 p.M., the above rule as to entry must be followed. 


| 


READING OF THE THERMOMETERS. 401 


the height of the thermometer at every moment of the day is registered, the 
mean of the hourly readings is taken. This has been found to accord with 
the absolute mean (found by taking the mean of the whole curve) to within 
qth of a degree. 

(6) Approximately in several ways. Taking the mean of the shade 
maximum and minimum of the same day. In this country, during the cold 
months (December and January), the result is very close to the truth; but 
as the temperature increases a greater and greater error is produced, until 
in July the mean monthly error is +1°-9 Fahr., and in some hot days is 
much greater. In the tropics, the mean of the maximum and minimum 
must give a result. still further from the truth. 

Monthly corrections can be applied to bring these means nearer the truth. 
Mr Glaisher’s corrections for this country are as follows :— 

Subtract from the monthly mean of the maximum and mininum— 


January, 0:2 May, lee September, 1°3 
February, 0-4 June, 1:8 October, 1:0 
March, 1:0 July, 1g) November, 0-4 
April, 15 August, 1: December, 0:0 


The result is the approximate mean temperature. But this is true only for 
this country.! 

In a great number of places the mean temperature of the day and year, as 
stated in books, is derived solely from the mean of the maximum and 
/minimum.? According to Scott, the approximation to the true mean is very 
close in most parts of the world, especially if the observations be taken as 
near the end of the period as possible, near midnight, for instance, for the 
»mean of the civil day of twenty-four hours. 

The approximate mean temperature may also be obtained by taking 
observations at certain times during the day, and applying a correction. Mr 
Glaisher has given some very valuable tables of this kind,? which can be 
—consulted.* 
| If the temperature be taken twice a day at homonymous hours, such as 
9 a.m. and 9 p.m., the mean of these does not differ much from the true daily 
mean (Scott). 

The nearest approach to the mean temperature of the day by a single 
observation is given at from 8 to 9 p.m.; the next is in the morning—about 

8 o'clock in July and 10 in December and January. 


| 
_ 1 These numbers of Mr Glaisher are likely to be modified very considerably ; they are 
largely dependent on the pattern of the thermometer stand employed. 
| .2 With a Stevenson’s screen the simple mean of the maximum and minimum is very near 
_ the truth. 
> On the Corrections to be applied to Meteorological Observations for Diurnal Range, pre- 
pared by the Council of the British Meteorological Society, 1850, These corrections are appli- 
cable only to this country. 
4 The following rules, which are applicable in all parts of the world, are given by 
| Herschel : 1— 
If observations are taken three times daily—at 7 A.u., 2 P.M., and 9 P.M.,—hours which we 
| may denote by ¢, ’, and ¢’; then 
| 3 4 
aan =mean temperature of day. 


If the hours are 8 A.M., 3 P.M., and 10 p.m., the formula is— 


7t+7¢+10 ¢” 
— 94 mean of day. - 


1 Meteorology, p. 173, 


402 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


The nearest approach to the mean annual temperature is given by the 
mean of the month of October. Observations made from a week before to | 
a week after the 24th April, and again in the corresponding weeks of | 
October, give a certain approximation to the yearly mean temperature. 

The changes in temperature of any place, during the day or year, are 
either periodic or non-periodic. The former are dependent on day and 
night, and on the seasons, 7.e., on the position of the place with respect to 
the sun. The periodic changes are sometimes termed fluctuations, and the 
differences between day and night temperatures, or the temperatures of the 
hottest and coldest months, are often called the amplitudes of the daily or 
yearly fluctuations. 

Daily Periodic Changes. —On land the temperature of the air is usually 
at its lowest about 3 o'clock A.M., or just before sunrise, and at its maximum 
about 2 o'clock p.m.; it then falls nearly regularly to 3 o’clock a.m. At 
sea, the maximum is nearly an hour later. 

The amount of diurnal periodic change is greater on land than on water ; 
in the interior of continents than by the sea-side; in elevated districts 
than at sea-level. As far as land is concerned, it is least on the sea-coast 
of tropical islands, as at Kingston in Jamaica, Colombo in Ceylon, Singa- 
pore, &e. 

Yearly Periodic Changes.—In the northern hemisphere, the coldest 
month is usually January; in some parts of Canada it is February. On 
the sea, the coldest month is later, viz., March. The hottest month is in 
most places July, in some few August ; on the sea it is always August. The 
coldest days in this country are towards the 21st January; the hottest, 
about the 18th to the 21st July. At Toronto the hottest day is 37 days 
after the summer solstice; and the coldest 55 days after the winter 
solstice. 

It is thus seen that both for the diurnal and annual alterations of heat the 
greatest heat is not simultaneous with, but is after, the culmination of the 
sun; this is owing to the slow absorption of heat by the earth. 

The amplitude of the yearly fluctuation is greater on land than sea, and 
is augmented by land, so that it reaches its highest point in the interior of 
great “extra- tropical continents. 

It increases towards the pole for three reasons, — 

1. The geographical fluctuation of the earth’s position causes a great 
yearly difference of the angle with which the sun’s rays fall on the earth. 

2. The duration of incidence of the sun’s rays (7.e., the number of hours 
of sunshine or shade) have greater yearly differences than in the tropics. 

3. In the northern hemisphere especially there is a very great extent of 
land, which increases radiation. 

The amplitude of the yearly fluctuation is very small in the tropical lands 
at sea-level. At Singapore it is only 3°°6 Fahr. (Jan. 78°:8, July 82°:4), 
while it is immense on continents near the pole. At Jakoutsk, in North 
Asia, it is 112°°5 (January —44°°5 and July +68). All fluctuations 
depend to a large extent upon the distance from the sea, although local 
causes may have some influence, such as the vicinity of high lands. 

In any place there may be great undulations and small fluctuations, or 
great changes in each way. At Brussels, the greatest possible yearly 
undulation is 90°. In some parts of Canada immense undulations 
sometimes occur in a day, the thermometer ranging even 50° to 70° in 
one day. 


1 Herschel, Meteorology, p. 180. 


TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR, 403 


The hot winds of the rainless deserts have long puzzled meteorologists ; 
they often cause enormous undulations, 50° to as much as 78° Fahr. 


Temperature of the Air of any Place. 

This depends on the following conditions :— 

1. Geographical Position as influencing the Amount and Duration of Sun’s 
Rays which are received.—The nearer the equator the hotter. For 233° on 
either side the equator the sun’s rays are vertical twice in the year, and 
are never more oblique than 47°. The mean yearly temperature of the 
equator is 82° Fahr.; of the pole about 2°°5 Fahr. The decline from the 
equator to the pole is not regular ; it is more rapid from the equator to 30 
than in the higher latitudes. 

2. Relative Amount of Land and Water.—The sun’s rays passing through 
the air with but trifling loss fall on land or on water. The specific heat of 
land being only one quarter that of water, it both absorbs heat and gives it 

out more rapidly. Water, on the other hand, absorbs it more slowly, stores 
‘up a greater quantity, and parts with it less readily. The temperature of 
the superficial water, even in the hottest regions, seldom exceeds 80° to 82°, 
and that of the air is generally below (2° to even 6°) the temperature of the 
water (J. Davy). Consequently the more land the greater is the heat, and 
‘the wider the diurnal and yearly amplitudes of fluctuation. The kind of 
‘soil has a great effect on absorption. The evaporation from the water also 
greatly cools the air. . 

__ 3. Elevation of the Place above the Sea-Level.—The greater the elevation 
the colder the air, on account—Isé¢, of the lessening amount of earth to 
absorb the sun’s rays; and, 2nd, on account of the ‘greater radiation into 
‘free space. The decline of temperature used to be reckoned at about 1° 
Fahr. for each 300 feet of ascent, but the balloon ascents of Mr Welsh, and 
especially of Mr Glaisher, have proved that there is no regular decline ; 
there are many currents of warm air even in the upper atmosphere. Still 
the old rule is useful as an approximation. The amount of decline varies, 
however, in the same place at different times of the year. In Mr Glaisher’s 
balloon ascents, in a cloudy sky, it was about 4° Fahr. for each inch of 
barometric fall, at first; but when the barometer had fallen 11 inches, the 
decline of temperature was more rapid. Under a clear sky, there was 
a fall of 5° Fahr. for each of the first four inches of descent: then 4° per 
inch till the thirteenth inch of descent, and then 4°°5 for fourteenth, 
fifteenth, and sixteeth inches of descent. 

_ The snow-line at any spot, or the height at which snow will lie the 
whole year, can be approximately reckoned by taking the mean yearly 
temperature of the latitude at sea-level, and multiplying the difference 
between that temperature and 32° Fahr. by 300. The aspect of a place, 
however, the distance from the sea, and other circumstances, have much to 
‘do with the height of the permanent snow-line. The mean temperature of 


any place can be approximately reckoned in the same way, if the mean 
‘temperature of the latitude at sea-level, and the elevation of the place in 
feet, be known. 

4, Aspect and Exposure, and Special Local Conditions.— These circum- 
‘stances chiefly affect a place by allowing free exposure to or sheltering 
from the sun’s rays, therefore lessening the number of hours the rays reach 
‘the soil, or by furnishing at certain times a large moist surface. Thus the 
extensive sandbanks of the Mersey cause very rapid alterations of tempera- 
ture in the water and air, by being exposed every twenty-four hours twice 
‘to the sun and sky (Adie). 


| 


404 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


5. Aérial and Ocean Currents.—These have a great effect, bringing clouds 
which block out the sun or produce rain, or which, in the case of ocean 
currents, cool or warm the air. The cold polar sea currents and the warm 
equatorial (like the Gulf Stream) in some cases almost determine, and 
always greatly influence, the temperature. 

6. Nature of the Soil.—On this point little is yet known, but it is certain 
that some soils easily absorb heat; others do not. The moist and clayey 
soils are cold ; the dry hard rocks and dry sands are hot. 

» The hottest places on the earth are—in the eastern hemisphere, near the 
Red Sea, at Massava and Khartoum (15° N. lat.), and on the Nile in Lower 
Nubia; annual temperature =90°:5 Fahr.; in the western hemisphere, on 
the Continent, near the West Indies, the annual temperature is 81°°5. 
These are sometimes called the climatic poles of heat. The poles of cold 
are in Siberia (Jakoutsk to Usjausk, 62° N.), and near Melville Island. 

Isothermal Lines.—These are lines drawn on charts, and were proposed by 
Humboldt to connect all places having the same mean annual temperature. 
The various conditions just noted cause these lines to deviate more or less 
from the lines of latitude. 

The lines of mean summer temperature (three months, June, July, August) 
are sometimes called ¢sotheral; those of mean winter temperature (Decem- 
ber, January, and February) zsochevmonal, or isocheimal, but those terms are 
now seldom used, the terms summer, winter, or monthly zsothermal being 
substituted.1 


SECTION II. 


HYGROMETERS—HUMIDITY OF THE AIR. 


The amount of watery vapour in the air can be determined in several 
ways,—by direct weighing, by Daniell’s, Regnault’s, or Dines’ hygrometer, 
by the hair hygrometers of Saussure and Wolpert, and by the dry and wet 
bulbs.2 The method by the dry and wet bulb thermometers has been 
adopted by the Army Medical Department, and observations are taken twice 
daily (9 a.m. and 3 p.m.). The instruments are not self-registering, and are — 
simply read off. They are placed in the shade, four feet above the ground, 
the bulbs freely exposed to the air, but not exposed to the effect of radiant 
heat from brick walls, &c. The wet bulb is covered with muslin, which is — 
kept moistened by cotton twisted round the bulb and then passing into the 
water vessel ; previous to use, the cotton is soaked in solution of carbonate 
of soda, or boiled in ether to free it from fat, so that water may ascend 
easily in it by capillary attraction ; the muslin and cotton should be renewed 
frequently, once or twice a month if possible; the water must be either rain 
or distilled water, and the supply ought to be more ample in dry hot weather 
than in damp. When the temperature is below the freezing-point, the pas- 
sage of water along the cotton is arrested ; it is then necessary to moisten 


' 
. 
' 
| 
| 
| 

1 It may be well to mention the relations between the three principal thermometer scales. : 
Whilst the freezing-point in the Fahrenheit scale is at 32° it is at 0° in both the Centigrade : 
(or Celsius) and the Réaumur scales. Water boils at 212° on the Fahrenheit scale (baro- 
meter=29°905), at 100° on the Centigrade, and at 80° of Réaumur. 

Hence the formula of reduction is— 


from which the corresponding temperatpres can be easily found. 
2 These last are to be considered as one instrument, and are frequently called the Psychro- 
meter of August, or (in this country) of Mason. 


HYGROMETERS—-HUMIDITY OF THE AIR. 405 


the wet bulb some time before the hour of observation, so as to allow the 
moisture to freeze. The dew-point, the weight of a cubic foot of vapour, and 
the relative humidity, are to be computed from Mr Glaisher’s tables.! 

Definition of these Terms. —The dew-point is the temperature when the air 
is just saturated with moisture, so that the least cooling would cause a 
deposit of water. The quantity of vapour which can be taken up and be 
made quite invisible to the senses varies with temperature, and is called the 
weight of a cubic foot of vapour, or, less accurately, the weight of vapour in 
a cubic foot of air, at the particular temperature. 

The dew-point may be obtained directly by Daniell’s, or Regnault’s, or 
Dines’ hygrometer, which enable us to cool and note the temperature of a 
bright surface until the dew is deposited on it, or indirectly by means of the 
dry and wet bulbs. 

Unless the air is saturated, the temperature of the wet bulb (z.e., the 
temperature of evaporation) is always above the dew-point, but is below the 
temperature of the dry bulb, being reduced by the evaporation. If the dry 
and wet bulbs are of the same temperature, the air is saturated with mois- 
ture, and the temperature noted is the dew-point ; if they are not of the 
same temperature, the dew-point is at some distance below the wet bulb 
temperature.? 

It can then be calculated out in two ways. 

(a) By Mr Glaisher’s factors.—By comparison of the result of Daniell’s 
hygrometer and the dry and wet bulb thermometers for a long term of years, 
Mr Glaisher has deduced an empirical formula, which is thus worked. Take 


Glaisher’s Factors. 


Reading 


Reading Reading Reading 

of Dry-bulb | Factor. of Dry-bulb | Factor. of Dry-bulb | Factor. of Dry-bulb Factor. 
Therm. Therm. Therm. Therm. 
10 8°78 33 3°01 56 1°94 79 1°69 
11 8-78 34 20. BY/ L592 80 1°68 
12 8°78 35 2°60 58 1-90 81 1°68 
13 8°77 36 2°50 59 1°89 82 1°67 
14 8°76 37 2°42 60 1°88 83 1°67 
15 8°75 38 2°36 61 1°87 84 1°66 
16 8-70 39 2°32 62 1°86 85 1°65 
17 8°62 40 2°29 63 1°85 86 1°65 
18 8°50 4] 2°26 64 1°83 87 1°64 
19 8°34 42 2°23 65 1°82 88 1°64 
20 814 43 2°20 66 1°81 89 1°63 
21 7°88 44 2°18 67 1°80 90 1°63 
22 7°60 45 2°16 68 179 91 1°62 
23 7:28 46 2°14 69 1°78 92 1°62 
24 6°92 47 212 70 Uo 93 1°61 
25 6°53 48 2°10 71 1°76 94 1°60 
26 6°08 49 2°08 72 17/5) 95 1°60 
2d 5°61 50 2°06 73 1°74 96 1°59 
28 5-12 51 2°04 74 1-73 97 1°59 
29 4°63 52 2°02 75 1-72 98 1°58 
30 4°15 53 2°00 76 eval 99 1°58 
31 3°60 54 1°98 77 1°70 100 by 
32 3°32 55 1°96 78 1°69 


1 Aygrometrical Tables, 6th edition, 1877. A copy is now sent to each station. 

2 Occasionally the wet bulb may read higher than the dry, as in thick fog or during very 
calm, cold weather. This is rare, but should it be met with, then the temperature of the 
dry bulb is to be taken and considered to be at saturation (Scott). 


406 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


the difference of the dry and wet bulb, and multiply it by the factor which 
stands opposite the dry-bulb temperature in the preceding table, deduct 
the product from the dry-bulb temperature ; the result is the dew-point. 
From this formula Glaisher’s tables are calculated. 

(b) Apjohn’s Formula.—From a most philosophical and exhaustive analysis 
of the conditions of this complicated problem, Dr Apjohn derived his cele- 
brated formula, which is now in general use. Reduced to its most simple 
expression, it is thus worked:—A table of the elastic tension of vapour, in 
‘inches of mercury at different temperatures, must be used. From this table 
take out the elastic tension of the temperature of the wet thermometer, and 
call it 7’. Let (¢—?’) be the difference of the two thermometers, and p the 
observed height of the barometer. Apjohn’s formula then enables us to 
calculate the elastic tension of the dew-point, which we will call f”; and, 
this being known, by looking in the table we obtain, opposite this elastic 
tension, the dew-point temperature. 

The formula is: 


_ POOL G — ESL. 
p= f’- OO1laT(e— 0) PS 


The fraction 2 = differs but little from unity, and may be neglected ; 


the formula then becomes, for the temperature above 32° Fahr., 


My Lae (¢-t’) 

if if Q7 = 

99° Se en t (t-t’) 

If below 32° the formula is: f” = f’ — Tagua, 


The dew-point being known, the weight of a cubie foot of vapour, and 
the amount of elastic tension, expressed in inches of mercury (if this is 


desired), are taken from tables; the relative humidity is got by calculation, 


or from tables. 

The relative humidity is merely a convenient term to express comparative 
dryness or moisture. Complete saturation being assumed to be 100, any 
degree of dryness may be expressed as a percentage of this, and is obtained 
at once by dividing the weight of vapour actually existing by the weight of 
vapour which would have been present had the air been saturated. 

In order to save trouble, all these points, and other matters of interest, 
such as the weight of a cubic foot of dry air, or of mixed dry and moist air, 
are given in Mr Glaisher’s Hygrometrical Tables, which all medical officers 
are advised to get. 

The amount of watery vapour can also be told by a hair hygrometer. A 
modification of Saussure’s hygrometer is still used in France, and also in 
Russia and Norway. A human hair, freed from fat by digestion in liquor 
potassze or ether, is stretched between a fixed point and a small needle, 
which traverses a scale divided into 100 parts. As the hair shortens or 
elongates the needle moves and indicates the relative humidity.! The scale 
is graduated by wetting the hair for complete saturation, and by placing it 
over sulphuric acid of known strength for fifteen degrees of saturation.? A 
very delicate instrument is thus obtained, which indicates even momentary 
changes in moisture. On comparison with the wet and dry bulb, it has 
been found to give accordant results for three or four months; it then 


1 Hair shortens when dry and elongates when moist. 
2 The graduation of the scale is explained in The Arctic Manual, p. 16. 


\ 


BAROMETER. 407 


gradually stretches, and requires to be a little wound up. If compared with 
the dry and wet bulb, the hair hygrometer seems to be exact enough for 
experiments in ventilation, for which it is adapted from its rapidity of indi- 
eation. It has also been recommended by the Vienna congress for use in 
extreme climates, when the indications of the psychrometer are either un- 
certain or entirely astray.t The horse-hair hygrometer of Wolpert is also 
much used in Germany. 

The amount of watery vapour in the air has a considerable effect on the 
temperature of a place. Hermann von Schlagintweit? has pointed out that 
the differences between the temperature marked in the sun and shade by 
two maximum thermometers are chiefly dependent on the amount of 
humidity. The maxima of insolation (measured by the difference between 
the sun and shade thermometers) occur in those stations and on those days 
when humidity is greatest. Thus, at Calcutta, the relative humidity being 
80 to 93, the insolation (or difference between the thermometers) is 50° 
Fahr.; at Bellari, the relative humidity being 60 to 65, the insolation is 8° 
to 11°. These results are explained by Tyndall’s observations, which show 
that the transparent humidity will scarcely affect the sun’s rays striking on 
the sun thermometer, while it greatly obstructs the radiation of invisible 
heat from the thermometer ; when the air is highly charged with moisture, 
the sun thermometer is constantly gaining heat from the sun’s rays, while 
it loses little by radiation, or if it does lose by radiation, gains it again from 
the air. 

When watery vapour mixes with dry air, the volume of the latter is aug- 
mented ; the weight of a cubic foot of dry air at 60° Fahr. is 536-28 grains, 
and that of a cubic foot of vapour at 60° is 5°77 grains; the conjoint weights 
would be 542-05 grains at 60°, but, owing to the enlargement of the air, the 
actual weight of a cubic foot of saturated air at 60° is only 532-84. 


SECTION ITI. 
BAROMETER. 


A good mercurial barometer is supplied to many army stations; the scale 
is brass, graduated on the scale to 20ths or half-tenths, and is read to 
iGsoths by means of a vernier. There is a movable bottom to the cistern, 
which is worked up and down by a screw, so as to keep the mercury in the 
cistern at the same level. Correction for capacity is thus avoided. 

To fix the Barometer.—Choose a place with a good light, yet protected 
from direct sunlight and rain; fix the frame sent with the barometer very 
carefully with a plumb-line, so as to have it exactly perpendicular ; then 
hang the barometer on the hook, and adjust it gently by means of the three 
screws at the bottom, so that it hangs truly in the centre. Test this by the 
plumb-line (a 4-0z. weight tied to a string will do), and then unscrew the 
bottom of the cistern till the ivory point is seen. 

Before fixing the barometer the bottom should be unscrewed till the mer- 
cury is two or three inches from the top; the barometer should be rather 
suddenly inclined, so as to let the mercury strike against the top; if there 
is no air it will do this with a sharp click ; if there be air there is no click ; 
in that case screw up the mercury again till the tube is full, turn the baro- 
meter upside down, and tap the side forcibly till you see the globule of air 


1 See Scott’s Instructions, p. 47. r 
2 Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xiv. p. 111, 1865. 


408 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


passing up the tube through the mercury into the cistern. Do not be afraid 
of doing this ; there is no danger of any damage to the instrument. 

Reading of Barometer.—Read the attached thermometer first; then adjust 
the cistern, so that the ivory point, known as the fiducial point, perceptible 
through the glass wall of the cistern, seems just to touch the point of the 
image in the mercury. Then adjust the vernier, so as to cut off the light 
from the top of the mercury, and thus be an exact tangent to the meniscus. 
Then read the scale with the help of the vernier. 

A little difficulty is sometimes experienced, by those who are not accus- 
tomed to such instruments, in understanding the vernier. It will be, 
probably, comprehended from a little description, read with the instrument 
before us. On the scale of the barometer itself, it will be seen that the 
smallest divisions correspond to half-tenths, that is, to ;85ths of an inch 
(=0°-05). The height of the mercury can be read thus far on the scale itself. 
The vernier is intended to enable us to read the amount of space the top of 
the mercury is above or below one of these half-tenth lines. It will be 
observed that the vernier is divided into twenty-five lines; but on adjusting 
it, so that its lower line corresponds with a line indicating an inch, it will be 
seen that its twenty-five divisions only equal twenty-four half-tenth divisions 
on the scale. The result is, that each division on the vernier is ;;th less 
than a half-tenth division on the scale. One 31;th of a half-tenth is _2,5ths 
of an inch (0:05 + 25=0-002 inch). This being understood, adjust the vernier 
so that its lowest lie accurately corresponds to any line on the scale. It 
will then be seen that its lowest line but one is a little distance below (in 
fact, 0002 inch) the next line on the fixed scale. Raise now the vernier, so 
that its second line shall correspond to the line on the scale to which it was 
a little below; and of course the bottom of the vernier must be raised 0-002 
inch above the line it first corresponded with. If the next line, the third 
on the vernier, be made to correspond with the line on the scale just above 
it, the bottom of the scale must be raised double this (0-004 inch) above the 
line it was first level with; if the next line on the vernier be made to 
correspond with a line on the scale, the scale is raised 0-006, and so on. 
Each division on the vernier equals 0-002 inch, and each five divisions equals 
ztoth, or 0°01 inch. 

The barometer is read thus :—The vernier being adjusted to the top of the 
mercury, read on the scale to the half-tenth ; then look above, and see what 
line on the vernier corresponds exactly to a line on the scale, Then read 
the number on the vernier, counting from the bottom; multiply by 0-002, 
and the result is the number of thousandths of an inch the top of the 
mercury is above the half-tenth line next below it. Add this number to 
that already got by direct reading of the fixed scale, and the result is the 
height of the mercury in inches and decimals of an inch. 

Corrections for the Barometer.—The barometer supplied to military 
stations requires no corrections for capacity. There are two constant 
corrections for all barometers, viz., capillarity and index error. The first 
depends on the size of the bore, and whether the mercury has been boiled 
in the tube or not. Index error is determined by comparison with a 
standard barometer. The index and capillarity errors are put together. 
The capillarity error is always additive ; the index error may be subtractive 
or additive, but the two together form a constant quantity, and the certifi- 


1 Instead of multiplying the number on the vernier by 0°002, a little practice will enable 
the calculation to be made at once. On the vernier will be seen the figures 1, 2, 5, 4, and 5; 
corresponding to the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th lines, and indicating 0°01, 0:02, 0:03, 
0:04, or 0°05 inch, . Each line between these numbered lines equals 0°002 inch. 


CORRECTIONS OF BAROMETER FOR TEMPERATURE AND ALTITUDE. 409 


eates furnished by the Kew Observatory, for all barometers verified there, 
include both corrections above mentioned. 

Corrections for Temperature.—The barometer readings are, to facilitate 
comparison, always reduced to what they would have been were both scale 
and mercury at 32° F. If the temperature of the mercury be above this, 
the metal expands, and reads higher than it would do at 32°. The amount 
of expansion of mercury is 0°0001001 of its bulk for each degree; but the 
linear expansion of the brass scale must be also considered. 

Schumacher’s formula is used for the correction, viz., 


h=observed height of barometer in inches. 
¢=temperature of attached thermometer (Fahr.). 
m = expansion of mercury per degree—viz., 0-0001001 of its length at 32 
s=linear expansion of scale, viz., 0:00001041 ; normal temperature 
being 62°. 
Pp, m (t — 32°) — s(t — 62°) 
1+ m (t — 32°) , 


To facilitate the correction for temperature, tables are given in Mr R. H. 
Scott’s Instructions in the Use of Meteorological Instruments, which is dis- 
tributed to medical officers. 

Correction for Altitude above Sea-Level.—As the mercury falls about 
ao (0°001 inch)! for every foot of ascent, this amount multiplied by the 
number of feet must be added to the height, if the place be above sea-level.” 
The temperature of the air has, however, also to be taken imto account if 
great accuracy is required. Tables for correcting for small altitudes are 
given in Scott’s Instructions. 

When all these corrections have been made, the exact height of the 
mercury represents the conjoint weights of the oxygen, nitrogen, carbon 
dioxide, and watery vapour of the atmosphere. It is difficult to separate 
these several weights, and late observations, which show that the humidity 
existing at any place is merely local, and that vapour is most unequally 
diffused through the air, render it quite uncertain what amount of the 
mercury is supported by the watery vapour. Yet that this has a consider- 
able effect in altering the barometric height, particularly in the tropics, 
seems certain (Herschel). 

The height of the barometer at sea-level differs at different parts of the 
earth’s surface, being less at the equator (29-974) than on either side of 
30° N. and S$. lat., and lessening again towards the poles, especially towards 
the south, from 63° to 74° S. lat., where the depression is upwards of an 
inch. It also differs in different places according to their geographical 
position. Like the thermometer, it is subjected to diurnal and annual 
periodic changes and to non-periodic undulations. 

In the tropics the diurnal changes are very steady: there are two maxima 
and two minima; the first maximum is about 9 a.m.; the first minimum 
about 3 to 4 p.m.; the second maximum at 10 p.m.; the second minimum 
at 4 A.M. ‘These changes are, perhaps, chiefly dependent on the watery 
vapour (Herschel). In this country the diurnal range is less, but occurs at 
about the same hours. The undulations depend on the constantly shifting 
currents of air, rendering the total amount of air over a place heavier or 
lighter. The wind tends to pass towards the locality of least barometric 


1 The exact amount is a little below this, but varies with altitude ; at sea-level the amount 
is 0'000886 for every foot of ascent. 

* For the British Isles, the mean sea-level at Liverpool has been selected by the Ordnance 
Survey as their datum. 


410 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


pressure. In this country the barometer falls with the south-west winds, 
rises with the north and east; the former are moist and warm, the latter 
dry and cold winds. 

Isobarometric lines are lines connecting places with the same barometric 
pressure. 

Measurement of Heights.—The barometer falls when heights are ascended, 
as a certain weight of air is left below it. The diminution is not uniform, 
for the higher the ascent the less weighty the air, and a greater and greater 
*height must be ascended to depress the barometer one inch. This is illus- 
trated by the following table : '— 


To lower from 31 inches to 30= 857 feet must be ascended. 


” 3 P) 29= 886 ” ” 
” 29 ” 28= 918 ” ” 
ee OB 1 On dG i 
” 27 ” 26= 986 ” ? 
” ‘26 ” 25 = 1025 ” ” 
” 25 ” 24= 1068 ” ” 
” Ae ” 23=1113 ” ” 
” 23 ” 22=1161 ” ” 
” 22 ” 21=1216 ” ” 
” 21 ” 20 = 1276 ” ” 
De ere OOa WLP Aveoe TNS 


” 19 99 18=1413 


The measurements of heights in this way is of great use to medical officers ; 
aneroid barometers can be used, and are very delicate instruments. The 
new pocket aneroids will measure up to 12,000 or 14,000 feet. 

A great number of methods are in use for calculating heights. It can 
be done readily by logarithms, but then a medical officer may not possess 
a table of logarithms. 

The simplest rule of all is one derived from Laplace’s formula. Mr Ellis” 
has stated this formula as follows:—Maultiply the difference of the baro- 
metric readings by 52,400, and divide by the sum of the barometric read- 
ings. If the result be 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, or 5000, add 0, 0, 2, 6, 14, 
respectively. Subtract 24 times the difference of the temperatures of the 
mercury. Multiply the remainder by a number obtained by adding 836 
to the sum of the temperatures of the air and dividing by 900. A correction 
must also be made for latitude, which can be done by Table III. p. 412. 

Tables such as those given by Delcros and Oltmanns are very convenient 
for estimating heights by the barometer. A table less long than these, 
but based on the same principle, has been given by Negretti and Zambra 
in their useful work,’ and is copied here. 

A good mercurial barometer, with an attached thermometer, or an aneroid 
compensated for temperature, and a thermometer to ascertain the tempera- 
ture of the air, are required. Two barometers and two thermometers, which 


can be observed at the same moment at the upper and lower stations, are 
desirable. 


1 The height can be readily taken from this table, by calculating the number of feet which 
must have been ascended to cause the observed fall, and then making a correction for tem- 
perature, by multiplying the number obtained from the table, which may be called A, by the 
formula (¢ is the temperature of the lower, and ? of the upper station)— 


t+¢ —64 
x A, 
900 a 
2 Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1865, No. 75, p. 283. 
3 A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments, by Negretti and Zambra, 1864. 


MEASUREMENT OF HEIGHTS BY THE BAROMETER. 411 


Supposing, however, there is but one barometer, take the height at the 
lower station, and correct for temperature to 32°. Take the temperature of 
the air. Ascend as rapidly as possible to the upper station, and take the 
height of the barometer (correcting it to 32°) and the temperature of the 
air; then use the accompanying tables, taken from Negretti and Zambra’s 
work. If the height is less than 3000 feet, Tables II., III., and IV. need 
not be used. 

“Table I. is calculated from the formula, height in feet = 60,200 (log. 
29-922—log. B) +925; where 29-922 is the mean atmospheric pressure at 
32° Fahr., and at the mean sea-level in latitude 45°; and B is any other 
barometric pressure ; the 925 being added to avoid minus signs in the table. 


TABLE I.—Approximate Height due to Barometric Pressure. 


Inch 

Bees Feet. Barone. | Feet. Bees Feet. 
31-0 0 27°3 3,323 23°6 7,131 
30°9 84 2 3,419 “5 7,242 
“8 169 ‘1 3,515 4 7,353 
7 254 27:0 3,612 3 7,467 
6 339 26-9 3,709 2 7,577 
5 425 ‘8 3,806 1 7,690 
“4 511 7 3,904 23-0 7,803 
3 597 6 4,002 229 7,917 
2 683 5 4,100 ‘8 8,032 
‘1 770 4 4,199 7 8,147 
30-0 857 3 4,298 6 8,262 
29°9 944 2 4,398 5 8,378 
8 1,032 ‘1 4,498 “4 8,495 
7 1,120 26:0 4,588 3 8,612 
6 1,208 25:9 4,699 2 8,729 
5 1,296 “8 4,800 1 8847 
“4 1,385 or 4,902 22:0 8,966 
3 1,474 6 5,004 21:9 9,085 
2 1,563 5 5,106 ‘8 9,205 
‘1 1,653 “4 5,209 7 9,325 
29°0 1,743 3 5,312 6 9,446 
28°9 1,833 2 5,415 5 9,567 
8 1,924 BT 5,519 “4 9,689 
7 2,015 25°0 5,623 3 9.811 
6 2,106 24°9 5,728 2 9,934 
5 2,198 8 5,833 ‘1 10,058 
“4 2,290 7 5,939 21-0 10,182 

3 2,382 6 6,045 20°9 10,307 | 
2 2,475 5 6,152 “8 10, 432 
‘1 2,568 “4 6,259 7 10,558 
28-0 2,661 3 6,366 | 6 10,684 
279 2,754 2 6,474 || 5 10,812 
8 2,848 1 6,582 || “4 10,940 
7 2,942 24:0 6691 | 3 11,069 
6 3,037 23°9 6,800 _—|| 2 11,198 
5 3,132 8 6,910 || 1 11,328 
27-4 3,227 | 23°7 7,020 || 20-0 11,458 

| 


“Table II. contains the correction necessary for the mean temperature of 
the stratum of air between the stations of observation ; and is computed 
from Regnault’s coefficient for the expansion of air, which is 0:002036 of its 
volume at 32° for each degree above that temperature. 


412 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


Tase II.—Correction due to Mean Temperature of the Air, the Tempera- 
ture of the Upper and Lower Stations being added and divided by 2. 


Mean Temp. Factor. | Mean Temp. Factor. Mean Temp. | Factor. 
10° 0-955 | 35° 1:006 60° 1°057 
iil ‘957 | 36 1-008 61 1°059 

; 12 "959 | 37 1°010 2, 1°‘061 
13 “961 38 1°012 63 1°063 
14 963 | 39 1°014 64 1°065 
15 “965 40 1°016 65 1°067 
16 “967 41 1°018 66 1:069 
17/ “969 42 1-020 67 1071 
18 ‘971 43 1-022 68 1°073 
19 ‘O74 44 1°024 69 1°075 
20 ‘976 45 1°026 70 1:077 
21 ‘978 46 1°029 71 1:079 
22 “980 47 1°031 72 1°081 
23 “982 48 1°033 73 1°083 
24 “984 49 1°035 74 1°086 
25 “986 | 50 1°037 Ue 1-088 
26 “988 51 1:039 76 1°090 
Ay “990 52 1°041 hia 1°092 
28 “992 53 1°043 78 1°094 
29 “994 54 1°045 79 1:096 
30 “996 55 1:047 80 1°098 
31 0°998 56 1:049 81 1:100 
32 1:000 57 1°051 82 17102 
33 1°602 58 1:053 83. 17104 
34 1°004 59 1°055 84 1°106 


“Table III. is the correction due to the difference of gravitation in any 
other latitude, and is found from the formula, z= 1+ 0-00265 cos 2 lat. 


TaseE III.—Correction due to Difference of Gravitation in Different 


Latitudes. 
; j 
Latitude. Factor. | Latitude. Factor. Latitude. Factor. 
80° 0°99751 50° 0°99954 | 20° 1°00203 
75 0°99770 45 1-00000 15 1°00230 
70 0°99797 40 100046 10 1:00249 
65 0°99830 35 1-00090 5 1:00261 
60 0°99868 30 1°00132 0 1°00265 
55 0°99910 25 1°00170 


“Table IV. is to correct for the diminution of gravity in ascending from 
the sea-level. 

“To use these tables: The barometer readings at the upper and lower 
stations having been corrected and reduced to temperature 32° Fahr., take 
out from Table I. the numbers opposite the corrected readings of the two 
barometers, and subtract the lower from the upper. Multiply this 
difference successively by the factors found in Tables II. and III. The 
factor from Table III. may be neglected unless great precision is desired. 
Finally, add the correction taken from Table IV.” (Negretti and Zambra.) 

In the table the barometer is only read to 10ths, but it should be read to 


WEIGHT OF THE AIR. 413 


100ths (0:01) and 1000ths (0-001), and the number of feet corresponding to 
these amounts calculated from the table, which is easy enough, 


TaBe IV. 
Height in Correction Height in Correction 
Thousand Feet. Additive. Thousand Feet. Additive. 
il 3 9 26 
2 5 10 30 
3 8 11 33 
4 11 12 37 
5 14 13 4] 
6 17 14 44 
7 20 15 48 
8 23 


Example.—At two stations the barometer read respectively 29°9 and 21:2, the tempera- 
tures of the air being 60° and 40°. 


Barometer at upper station, : 5 Mil. Wolke Io. ; 9,934 

53 lower ,, ; . 5 PO, § 96 : 944 
Approximate height, . 3 : : : 8,990 
Mean temperature 50°, Table II., ‘Factor, : : : : 1-037 
Height corrected for temperature, c : : : é 9,323 
Latitude (say) 30°, Table III., Factor, : : é 5 Iwolg7 
Height corrected for latitude, . : : : : 3 9,353 
Correction from Table LYV., é j é 3 : A 26 
Height corrected for altitude, . : : F 9,378 
Height of lower station above sea- level (say )b ° d E 150 
Final corrected height of upper station above sea-level, i 9,528 


A very simple rule for approximative determinations has been given by 
Mr R. Strachan.!~ Read the aneroid to the nearest hundredth of an inch: 
subtract the upper reading from the lower, leaving out or neglecting the 
decimal point; multiply the difference by 9: the product is the elevation in 
feet. 


Example. Inches, 
Lower station, . i : 3 : : : : : 30°25 
Wipperer.; : : 0 ‘ : : 6 ; 5 29°02 
123 
9 
Elevation, 3 : : ‘ ; ‘ : 1107 feet. 


If the barometer at the upper station is below 26 aoe or the temperature 
above 70°, the multiplier should be 10. 

Weight of the Air.—The barometer expresses the weight of the air in 
inches of mercury. The actual weight can be determined if the reading of 
the barometer, temperature, and humidity, are all known. 

The weight of a cubic foot of dry air, at 32° Fahr. and normal pressure, is 
566°85 grains, For any other temperature the weight can be calculated. 
Multiply the coefficient of the expansion of air (viz., 0°0020361 for 1° Fahr.) 
by the number of degrees above 32, the sum added to tut W al give the 


1 Pocket Altitude Tables, by G. J. Symons, F.R.S., 3rd el, 1880, by Bh, 


414 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, 


volume of a cubic foot of dry air at that temperature. Divide 566-85 by the 
number so obtained. The result is the weight of the dry air at the given 
temperature, 


SECTION IV. 


RAIN. 


, Rain is estimated in inches; that is, the fall of an inch of rain implies 
that on any given area, say a square yard of surface, rain has fallen equal to 
one inch in depth. The amount of rain is determined by a rain-gauge. 
Two gauges are supplied for military stations; one to be placed on the 
ground, one 20 feet above it; in all parts of the world the latter indicates 
less rain than the lower placed gauge; this is due to wind.! 

Several kinds of gauges are in use. The one used by the Army Medical 
Department is a cylindrical tin box with a rim or groove at the top; a cir- 
cular top with a funnel inside fits on to this groove, which, when filled with 
water, forms a water valve. The opening above is circular (the circle being 
made very carefully, and a rim being carried round it to prevent the rain- 
drops from being whirled by wind out of the mouth), and descends funnel- 
shaped, the small end of the funnel being turned up to prevent evaporation. 
But leaves, dust, or insects sometimes choke this tube, so that it is now 
generally straightened, the loss by evaporation being insignificant compared 
with that caused by obstruction. The best size for the open top, or, in ~ 
other words, the area of the receiving surface, is from 50 to 100 square 
inches, The lower part of the box is sunk in the ground nearly to the 
groove ; the upper part is then put on, and a glass vessel is placed below 
the funnel to receive the water. At stated times (usually at 9 a.m. daily) 
the top is taken off, the glass vessel taken out, and the water measured in 
a glass vessel, graduated to hundredths of an inch, which is sent with the 
gauge.? 

If snow falls instead of rain, it must be melted and the resulting water 
measured. This may be easily done by adding a measured quantity of 
warm water, and then subtracting the amount from the total bulk of 
water. 


1 See British Rainfall (G. J. Symons, F.R.8.), 1872, p. 338, and 1881, p. 41. 

2 A glass vessel should not be used in winter, for fear of breakage in frost. 

’ If this glass is broken it can be replaced by the following rule, or a rain-gauge can be 
made. It need not be round, though this is now thought the best form, but may be a 
square box of metal or wood, and may be of any size between 3 and 24 inches in diameter, 
but 5 to 8 is the most convenient range. 

Determine the area, in square inches, of the receiving surface, or top of the gauge, by 
careful measurement. This area, if covered with water to the height of one inch, would 
give us a corresponding amount of cubic inches. This number of cubic inches is the 
measure for that gauge of one inch, because when the rain equals that quantity it shows 
that one inch of rain has fallen over the whole surface. 

Let us say the area of the receiving surface is 100 square inches. Take 100 cubic inches 
of water and put it into a glass, put a mark at the height of the fluid, and divide the glass 
below it into 100 equal parts. If the rainfall comes up to the mark, one inch of rain has 
fallen on each square inch of surface ; if it only comes up to a mark below, some amount less 
than an inch (which is so expressed in ysths and ydsths) has fallen. 

To get the requisite number of cubic inches of water we can weigh or measure. A cubic 
inch of water at 62° weighs 252°458 grains, consequently 100 cubic inches will be (252°458 x 100) 
=25245'8 grains, or 57°7 ounces avoir. But an easier way still is to measure the water :— 
an ounce by measure is equal to 1°728 cubic inches, therefore divide 100 by 1°728, and we 
obtain the number of ounces avoir. which corresponds to 100 cubic inches. It is always 
best, however, to use a gauge made by a regular maker, if possible, as inaccurate records 
are worse than none. 

Usually a one-inch measure is so large a glass that half an inch is considered more 
convenient, 


RAIN—EVAPORATION. 415 


From a table of the weight of vapour, it will be seen that the amount of 
vapour which can be rendered insensible increases with the temperature, 
but not regularly; more, comparatively, is taken up by the high tempera- 
tures ; thus, at 40°, 2°86 grains are supported in a cubic foot of air; at 50°, 
4-10 grains, or 1:24 grains more; at 60°, 5°77 grains, or 1°67 grains more 
than at 50°. Therefore, if two currents of air of unequal temperatures, 
but equally saturated with moisture, meet in equal volume, the temperature 
will be the mean of the two, but the amount of vapour which will be kept 
invisible is less than the mean, and some vapour therefore necessarily falls 
as fog or rain. Thus one saturated current being at 40°, and the other 
at 60°, the resultant temperature will be 50°, but the amount of invisible 
vapour will not be the mean, viz., 4315, but 4:1; an amount equal to 
0-215 will therefore be deposited. 

Rain is therefore owing to the cooling of a saturated air, and rain is 
Yeaviest under the following conditions,—when, the temperature being high, 
and the amount of vapour large, the hot and moist air soon encounters a 
cold air. These conditions are chiefly met with in the tropics, when the 
hot air, saturated with vapour, impinges on a chain of lofty hills over 
which the air is cold. The fall may be 130 to 160 inches, as on the 
Malabar coast of India, or 180 to 220 in Southern Burmah, or 600 at 
Cherrapunji, in the Khasyah Hills. Even in our own country the hot air 
from the Gulf Stream impinging on the Cumberland Hills causes, in some 
districts, a fall of 80, 100, 200, and even more inches in the year. 

The average of the kingdom is about 30 inches, which is exactly that of 
Netley (30°12), on an average of 23 years, 1864-86. 

The rainfall in different places is remarkably irregular from year to year ; 
thus at Bombay, the mean being 76, in 1822 no less than 112 inches, while 
in 1824 only 34, inches fell. 

The amount of rain at the different foreign stations is given under the 
respective headings. 


SECTION V. 
EVAPORATION. 


The amount of evaporation from a given moist surface is a problem of 
great interest, but it is not easy to determine it experimentally, and no 
instrument is issued by the Army Medical Department. A shallow vessel 
of known area, protected round the rim by wire to prevent birds from 
drinking, is filled with a known quantity of water, and then, weekly or 
monthly, the diminution of the water is determined, the amount added by 
rain as shown by the rain-gauge being of course allowed for. 

Water has been placed under a cover, which may protect it from rain 
and dew, and yet permit evaporation, and the loss weighed daily; but it is 
impossible to insure that the evaporation shall be equal to that under the 
free heavens. 

A third plan is calculating the rate of evaporation from the depression of 
the wet-bulb thermometer, by deducting the elastic force of vapour at the 
dew-point temperature from the elastic force at the air temperature, and 
taking the difference as expressing the evaporation. This difference ex- 
presses the force of escape of vapour from the moist surface. 

Instruments termed Atmometers have been used for this purpose; the 
first was invented by Leslie. A ball of porous earthenware was fixed to a 

glass tube, with divisions, each corresponding to an amount of water which 


416 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


would cover the surface of the ball with a film equal to the thickness of 


aoooth part of an inch. The evaporation from the surface of the ball was 


then read off. Dr Babington has also invented an ingenious Atmdometer — 


The amount of evaporation is influenced by temperature, wind, humidity 
of the air, rarefaction of the air, degree of exposure or shading, and by 
the nature of the moist surface; it is greater from moist soil than from 
water. 

The amount of vapour annually rising from each square inch of water 


‘surface in this country has been estimated at from 20 to 24 inches; in the © 


tropical seas it has been estimated at from 80 to 130, or even more inches, 
In the Indian Ocean it has been estimated at as much as an inch in twenty- 
four hours, or 365 in the year, an almost incredible amount, No doubt, 
however, the quantity is very great. 

It requires an effort of imagination to realise the immense distillation 
which goes on from the tropical seas. Take merely 60 inches as the annual 
distillation, and reckon this in feet instead of inches, and then proceed to 
calculate the weight of the water rising annually from such a small space 
as the Bay of Bengal. The amount is almost incredible. 

This distillation of water serves many great purposes. Mixing with the 
air it is a vast motive power, for its specific gravity is very low (0°6230, air 
being 1), and it causes an enlargement of the volume of air; the moist air 


is therefore much lighter, and ascends with great rapidity; the distillation | 
also causes an immense transference of heat from the tropics, where the © 


evaporation renders latent a great amount of heat, to the extra-tropical 
region where this vapour falls as rain, and consequently parts with its 
latent heat. The evaporation also has been supposed to be a great cause 
of the ocean currents (Maury), which play so important a part in the dis- 
tribution of winds, moisture, and warmth, 


SECTION VI, 
WIND. 


} 


Direction.—F¥or determining the direction of the wind a vane is necessary. 


It should be placed in such a position as to be able to feel the influence of © 


the wind on all sides, and not be subjected to eddies by the vicinity of build- 
ings, trees, or hills. The points must be fixed by the compass,” the mag- 


netic declination being taken into account; the declination of the place © 


must be obtained from the nearest Observatory ; in this country it is now a 
little under 18° (or two points) to the westward of true north.? The direction 
of the wind is registered twice daily in the army returns, but any unusual 
shifting should receive a special note. The course of the wind is not always 
parallel with the earth; it sometimes blows slightly downwards ; contriy- 
ances have been employed to measure this, but the matter does not seem 
important. 
To ascertain the mean direction of the wind: give a numerical value to 
each observation, and then analyse them. Thus, suppose we read to 16 
points and give a numerical value of 6 to each observation: if the wind were, 
say, due N. then we should have 6 N.; if N.W., we should have 3 N. ang 
Dee he NW. , we should have 4 N. and 2 2 W. Suppose now we have the 


zs See Negretti and Zambra’s Treatise, p. 141, for details. 
2 Or, better still, by the pole star. 
3 Thus N. magnetic will be N.N.W. true, S. magnetic 8.8.E. true, and so on. 


e WIND—VELOCITY— FORCE. 417 


following observations :—N., N.W., N.N.W., 8.E., E.S.E., S.W., W.S.W., 
S., S.W. ; giving each a numerical value of 6 we should have— 


NE Ss E. We IN, Sh E. Wie 
INGER oe, PLO OSS Seco ce aS, = ong | AY, 5 ee 
INEWee pate ee eke a SW. = 3 3 
Nie eM ee. ame S | WoW. = 2 4 
INGINGVVitera=> ed ee eaek 82 Sera eeeancO eee 
Sug, = aon | 3 ies Saito eter, Otc 
Then setting off the opposite directions against each other we should have—« 
S. 19 W. 21 7 
N. 13 8, 


Net, S. 6 Net, W. 14 


This would give us an angle of about 66°, or a mean direction of nearly W.S.W. 

Velocity. —A small Robinson’s anemometer is now supplied to each sta- 
tion ; it is read every twenty-four hours, and marks the horizontal move- 
ment in the preceding twenty-four hours. 

This anemometer consists of four small cups,! fixed on horizontal axes of 
such a length (1°12 feet between two cups), that the centre of a cup, in one 
rev olution, passes over ;;'5jth of a mile, the circumference being 3-52 feet. 
These cups revolve with about a third of the wind’s velocity ; 500 revolu- 
tions of the cups are therefore supposed to indicate one mile, and by an 
arrangement of wheels the number of tiles traversed by the wind can be 
appr oximately ascertained. 

Osler’s anemometer is a large and very beautiful instrument. It registers 
simultaneously, on a piece of paper fitted on a drum, which is turned by 
clock-work, direction, velocity, and pressure. 

Casella’s self-registering instruments register velocity and direction in a 
very ingenious way. 

Other anemometers, Lind’s, Whewell’s, &c., need not be described. 

The average velocity of wind in this country near the surface of the earth 
is from 6 to 8 miles per hour; its range is from something over zero to 
60 or even 70 miles per hour, but this last is very rare; it is seldom more, 
even in heavy winds, than 35 to 45 miles per hour. _ In the hurricanes of 
the Indian and China seas it is said to reach 100 to 110 miles per hour. 

Force.—The force of the wind is reckoned as equal to so many pounds or 
parts of a pound on a square foot of surface. Osler’s anemometer, as just 
stated, registers the force, as well as the velocity and direction, but Robin- 
son’s (used in the army) marks only the velocity ;-the force must then be 
calculated. The rule for the calculation of the ee from the velocity is 
as follows :— 

Ascertain the mean velocity per hour by shsenvine the velocity for a 
minute and multiplying by 60; then square the hourly velocity and multi- 
ply by 0-005. The result is the pressure in pounds or parts of a pound per 
square foot. 

The formula is, if V = velocity per hour, 


WA 52 O05 = IP, 
If the force be given, the velocity may be found : 
Ee 200 - IP == We 


1 The current of air is opposed one-fourth more by a concave surface than by a convex one 
the same size. 
2D 


418 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


When no anemometer is in use, the Beaufort scale may be employed, 
0 =calm, about 3 miles an hour,—and 12=hurricane, 90 miles and over. 


SECTION VII. 
CLOUDS (Prats IX.). 


» The nomenclature proposed by Howard! is now almost universally 
adopted. 
There are three principal forms and four modifications. 


Principal Forms. 


Cirrus.—Thin filaments, which by association form a brush, or woolly 
hair, or a slender net-work. They are very high in the atmosphere, pro- 
bably more than 10 miles, but the exact height is unknown. It has even 
been questioned whether they are composed of water; if so, it must be 
frozen. In this climate they come from the north-west. 

Cumulus.—Hemispherical or conical heaps like mountains rising from a 
horizontal base ; cumuli are often compared to balls of cotton. 

Stratus.—A widely extended, continuous horizontal sheet, often forming 
at sunset. 


Modifications. 


Cirro-cumulus.—Small rounded, well-defined masses, in close, horizontal 
arrangement ; when the sky is covered with such clouds it is said to be 
fleecy. 

Cirro-stratus.—Horizontal strata or masses, more compact than the cirri ; 
at the zenith they seem composed of a number of thin clouds ; ; at the hori- 
zon they look like a long narrow band. 

Cumulo-stratus.—Stratus blended with cuniulus. 

Cumulo-cirro-stratus, Nimbus, or Rain-cloud.—A horizontal sheet above 
which the cirrus spreads, while the cumulus enters it laterally or from 
below. 

Of the above forms Nos. 1, 2, and 3 of the plate (copied by permission 
from Mr Scott’s Instructions) are “upper” clouds ; the others are “lower” 
clouds. To those described is added the form shown in No. 5, viz., oll- 
cumulus, which consists of portions of cumulus rolled into a cylindrical 
shape, and either separate or packed together, as shown in the plate. 
Alongside the names in the plates are contractions, which ought to be used 
in description. 

Estimation of Amount of Cloud.—This is done by a system of numbers: 
0 expresses a cloudless sky, 10 a perfectly clouded sky, the intermediate 
numbers various degrees of cloudiness. To get these numbers, look midway 
between the horizon and zenith, and then turn slowly round, and judge as 
well as can be done of the relative amount of clear and clouded sky. This 
is to be entered without reference to the thickness of the cloud. 


= 2 = 


1 Climate of London. 


URI wos 9 Ke] syooig quaouY,, 


‘sHTENS poyseieq e 
(un) snquiiy, g sty (4ag) sxe 119 “psig 


“S @ i © Wo S MO teh sho S IS © 4 


‘XI Td 


PO RW SG Op MW Brain 


\ Gamulus. 


Tig. 1 Cirrus (Gx) 


pet a en 
? 
ae ee PA 
i, es OVER yo 


« Fig. 6. Cumulus. (Gumn,) 


rd 


Bi 67-Cx 
1g iS 


UEMTO 


Fig.4. Stratus (Str) Fig. 8. Nimbus. (Vz) 
a Detached Stratus 


. Son, Lith 


ent Brooks 


OZONE. 419 


SECTION VIII. 
OZONE." 


Papers saturated with a composition of iodide of potassium and starch, 
and exposed to the air, are supposed to indicate the amount of ozone pre- 
sent in the atmosphere. Schédnbein, the discoverer of ozone, originally 
prepared such papers, and gave a scale by which the depth of blue tint was 
estimated. Subsequently similar but more sensitive papers were prepared 
by Dr Moffat, and Mr Lowe afterwards improved on Moffat’s papers, and 
also prepar ed some ozone powders. 

The papers are exposed for a definite time to the air, if possible with the 
exclusion of light, and the alteration of colour is compared with a scale. 

Schonbein’s “proportions are—l part of pure iodide of potassium, 10 parts 
starch, and 200 parts of water. Lowe’s proportion is 1 part of iodide to 5 
of starch ; Moffat’s proportion is 1 to 24. The starch should be dissolved 
in cold water, and filtered so that a clear solution is obtained ; the iodide is 
dissolved in another portion of water, and is gradually added. Both must 
be perfectly pure ; the best arrowroot should be used for starch. 

The paper, prepared by beimg cut into slips (so as to dry quicker and to 
avoid loss of the powder in cutting @) and soaked in distilled water, is placed 
in the mixed iodide and starch for four or five hours, then removed with a 
pair of pincers, and slowly dried in a cool dark place, in a horizontal 
position. The last point is important, as otherwise a large amount of the 
iodide drains down to one end of the paper, and it is not equally diffused. 
The papers when used should hang loose in a place protected from the sun 
and rain: a box is unnecessary; they should not be touched with the 
fingers more than can be helped when they are adjusted. 

When Schénbein’s papers are used they are moistened with water after 
exposure, but before the tint is taken. Moffat’s papers are prepared some- 
what similarly to Schénbein’s, but do not require moistening with water. 

The estimation of ozone is still in a very unsatisfactory state, and this 
arises from two circumstances. 

1. The fact that other substances besides ozone act on the iodide of 
potassium, especially nitrous acid, which is formed in some quantity during 
electrical storms. Cloez has shown that air taken about one metre above 
the ground often contains nitrous acid in sufficient quantity to redden 
litmus. Starch and iodide paper is coloured when air contains 0:00005 of 
its volume of nitrous acid. 

2. The fact that the papers can scarcely be put under the same con- 
ditions from day to day; light, wind, humidity, and temperature (by ex- 
pelling the free iodine) all affect the reaction. 

Chemical objections have also been made.” Supposing that iodine is set 
free by ozone, a portion of it is at once changed by additional ozone into 
iodozone, which is extremely volatile at ordinary temperatures, and is also 
changed by contact with water into free iodine and iodic acid. Hence a 
portion of the iodine originally set free never acts on the starch, being 
either volatilised or oxidised. Again, the iodine and caustic potash set free 
_by the ozone combine in part again, and form iodate and iodide of potassium 
(4th of the former and $ths of the latter), and in this way the blue colour 


1 For a full account of the tests of ozone, see Dr Fox’s work on Ozone and Antozone, 1873, 
already referred to. After discussing all the tests, he gives the preference to the iodine 
plan. He has not found Schénbein’s thallium method satisfactory. 

2 Beitraége zur Ozonometrie, von Drv. Maach; Archiv fiir Wiss. Heilk., Band ii. p. 29. 


420 DESCRIPTION OF METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS. 


of iodide of starch first produced may be removed. The ozone may possibly, 
and probably, act on and oxidise the starch itself, and hence another error. 

The conclusion arrived at by the Vienna congress was the following :— 
“The existing methods of determining the amount of ozone in the atmo- 
sphere are insufficient, and the congress therefore recommends investiga- 
tions for the discovery of better methods,” 


, SECTION IX, 
ELECTRICITY. 


The instruments used by meteorologists are simple electroscopes, with 
two gold-leaf pieces which diverge when excited, or dry galvanic piles 
acting on gold-leaf plates or an index attached to a Leyden jar (Thomson’s 
Electrometer). For further details, see Scott’s Instructions, op. cit. 


SECTION X. 
THERMOMETER STAND. 


A stand is issued by the War Office, and provided at every station where 
observations are recorded. Or it would be very easy to make a stand with 
two or three strata of boards, placed about 6 inches apart, so as to form a 
kind of sloping roof over the thermometers, which are suspended on a 
vertical board. 

The dry and wet bulb thermometers are placed in the centre; the 
maximum on the right side, and the minimum on the left. The wood 
should be cut away behind the bulbs of the maximum and minimum ther- 
mometers, so as to expose them freely to the air. The bulbs of the dry 
and wet bulbs should also fall below the board. These stands are made to 
rotate on the pole so as to turn the roof always to the sun. 

A much better stand is Stevenson’s screen, a square or oblong box, with 
double louvred sides and open below. This is raised upon legs four feet 
from the ground, placed upon grass.1 


SECTION XI. 
WEATHER. 
In registering the kind of weather, it is well to adhere to the Beaufort 


notation and symbols, which are carefully explained in Scott’s Instructions. 
Columns are given in the return to be filled up in this way. 


SECTION XII. 


DISEASES AND VARIATIONS IN THE METEOROLOGICAL 
ELEMENTS. 


The variation in the prevalence of different diseases at a particular place, 
in connection with the simultaneous variation of meteorological elements, is 


1 Scott’s Instructions, fig. 10, p. 41. 


DISEASE AND METEOROLOGICAL CHANGES. 491 


an old inquiry which has at present led to few results. The reason of this 
is that the meteorological elements are only a few out of a great many 
causes affecting the prevalence and severity of diseases. Consequently, in 
order to estimate the real value of changes of temperature, pressure, 
humidity, ozone, &c., the other causes of disease, or of variations in pre- 
valence or intensity, must be recognised and eliminated from the inquiry. 
The best of the modern observations are those by Guy, Ransome, Vernon, 
Moffat, Tripe, Scoresby-Jackson, Ballard, Mitchell, and Buchan. Obserya- 
tions have also been made by Fodor and others in the continent of Europe, 
and by various observers in America and elsewhere. But they must be 
much more extended and numerous before anything practical can be drawn 
from them. 


CEPAGP Avia exc Via te 


DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


THE term disinfectant,! which has now come into popular use, has unfor- 
tunately been employed in several senses. By some it is applied to every 
agent which can remove impurity from the air ;? by others to any substance 
which, besides acting as an air purifier, can also modify chemical action, or 
restrain putrefaction in any substance, the effluvia from which may con- 
taminate the air; while, by a third party, it is used only to designate the 
substances which can prevent infectious diseases from spreading, by destroy- 
ing their specific poisons. This last sense is the most correct, and it is that 
which is solely used here. The term disinfectant might also be applied to 
substances destroying entozoa or ectozoa, or epiphytes or entophytes, but there 
is a disadvantage in giving it so extended a meaning. The mode in which 
the poisons are destroyed, whether it be by oxidation, deoxidation, or arrest 
of growth, is a matter of indifference, provided the destruction of the poison 
is accomplished. The general term ar purifier is given in this work to 
those agents which in any way cleanse the air, and which therefore include 
disinfectants ; and the term sewage deodorants to those substances which 
are used to prevent putrefaction in excreta or in waste animal or vegetable 
matters, or to remove the products of putrefaction. In a great many 
instances the substances which are recommended as disinfectants are little 
more than deodorants, and ought properly to be spoken of as such. 

The chief human diseases which are supposed to spread by means of 
special agencies (conveniently designated under the name of “ contagia”) 3 
are —the exanthemata; typhus exanthematicus; enteric fever; relaps- 
ing fever; yellow fever; paroxysmal and the allied remittent fevers ; 
dengue; cholera; bubo-plague; influenza; hooping-cough; diphtheria ; 
erysipelas ; dysentery (in some cases); puerperal fever; syphilis; gonor- 
rhoea ; glanders ; farcy ; malignant pustule ; and perhaps phthisis. There 
are some few others more uncommon than the above. 

It has long been a belief that the spread of the infectious diseases might 
be prevented by destroying the agencies in some way, and various fumiga- 
tions, fires, and similar plans have been employed for centuries during great 
epidemics. 

In order to apply disinfection in the modern sense of the term, we ought 
to know—lst, the nature of these contagious agencies; 2nd, the media 
through which they spread ; and, 3rd, the effect produced upon them by the 
chemical methods which are supposed to destroy or modify them. 


! The best resumé up to date on the subject of Disinfectants is Vallin’s Traité des Désin- 
fectants, Paris, 1883. 

2 Tardieu, for example, Dict. d’Hyg., art. ‘‘ Désinfection,” and many other authors. 

% Tt will be seen that the old distinctions between infectious and contagious diseases, and 
between miasmata and contagia, are not adhered to. They were at no time thoroughly 
definite, and are now better abandoned. 


NATURE OF THE CONTAGIA. 49 


oo 


l. The Nature of the Contagia. 


This point is at present the object of eager inquiry. In the case of one or 
two of the above diseases, the question has been narrowed to a small com- 
pass. In variolous and vaccine discharge, and in glanders, the poison 
certainly exists in the form of solid particles, which can be seen by high 
powers as glistening points of extreme minuteness.? In cattle plague blood 
serum there are also excessively small particles discovered by Beale, which 
are probably the poison. ‘The size of the particles supposed to be contagia 
is minute ; some of them are not more than 55155 of an inch, and Beale 
believes that there may be smaller still to be discovered with higher powers. 
Chauveau has washed the vaccine solid particles in water; the water did not 
become capable of giving the disease ; the washed particles retained their power. 
The epidermic scales of scarlet fever and the pellicle of the diphtheritic mem- 
brane certainly contain the respective poisons, and after exposure to the air 
for weeks, and consequent drying, still retain their potency. It is more likely 
that solid matters should thus remain unchanged than liquids, but it has not 
yet been proved that this is so, and at present the exact physical condition of 
the contagia of the other infectious diseases remains doubtful. 

The extraordinary power of increase, and capability of producing their 
like, possessed by some of the contagia when placed under special fostering 
circumstances, as in the bodies of susceptible animals, lead to the belief 
that they are endowed with an independent life. The old doctrines that 
they are simply either poisonous gases or animal substances in a state of 
chemical change, and capable of communicating this change, or that, like 
the so-called ferments (ptyalin, pancreatin, diastase, emulsin), they split up 
certain bodies they meet, are not now in favour. 

The retention of the power of contagion for some time, and its final loss, 
the destruction of the power by antiseptics which do not affect the action 
of such bodies as ptyalin or diastase, and the peculiar incubative period, 
which is most easily explained by supposing a gradual development of the 
active agent in the body, are more in accordance with the hypothesis of 
independent life and power of growth. 

The independent living nature of the contagia is a belief which has long 
been held in various forms. At the present time there are three views, 
each of which has some arguments in its favour. 

(1) The particles are supposed to be of animal origin, born in and only 
_ growing in the body; they are, in fact, minute portions of bioplasm (to 
use Dr Beale’s phrase) or protoplasm.® 

This is the old doctrine of “‘fomites” expressed in a scientific form, and 
supported by a fact which was not known until recently. This is that the 
independent life ascribed to these particles of bioplasm is no assumption, 
since we are now aware that many of the small animal cells or bioplastic 
molecules are virtually independent organisms, having movements, and 
apparently searching for food, growing, and dying. 

This view explains singularly well the fact of the frequent want of power 


1 See Report on Hygiene for 1872 (Army Medical Department Report, vol. xiii.). 
* The observations of Chauveau, Beale, and Burdon-Sanderson, and still more recently of 
Braidwood and Vacher, prove this very important point by what seems indisputable 
evidence. It does not follow that all small bodies are in such fluids the contagia, but the 
| experiments prove that some of them must be. In many kinds of blood there are numerous 
small particles, derived, according to Riess, from retrograde metamorphosis of white blood 
cells, and these have no contagious property. 

_ 3 This view has been advocated with great force by Beale (Disease Germs, 2nd edition) 
and Morris (Zhe Germ Theory of Discase, 2nd edition). 


A24 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


of the contagia of one animal to affect another family ; as, for example, the 
non-transference of many human diseases to brutes, and the reverse. It also 
partly explains the non-recurrence of the disease in the same animal by 
supposing an exhaustion of a special limited supply of food, which cannot 
be restored, since it may be supposed that some particular bodily structure 
is altogether destroyed, as, for example, Peyer’s patches may be in enteric 
fever. One objection to this view is, on the other hand, that living animal 
particles die with great rapidity after exit from the body, while the con- 
‘tagia do certainly last for some considerable time.! 

(2) The particles have been conjectured to be of fungoid nature, and to 
simply grow in the body after beimg introduced ab externo. This view is 
supported by the peculiarities of the rapid and enormous growth of fungz, 
by their penetrative powers and splitting-up action on both starchy, fatty, 
and albuminoid substances, and by the way in which certain diseases of 
men and of animals? are undoubtedly caused by them. It is clearly a view 
which would explain many phenomena of the contagious diseases, and has 
been supported by the experimental evidence of Hallier and many others, 
who have believed either that they have invariably identified special fungi 
in some of these diseases, or that they have succeeded in cultivating fungi 
from particles of contagia. At the present time, however, the evidence of 
true, recognisable, and special fungi being thus discovered and grown, and 
forming the efficient causes, is very much doubted by the best observers. 
The micrococct of Hallier, supposed to be formed by the disintegration of 
the protoplasm of fungi, which Hallier considers can again develop to fungi, 
are looked upon by many as mere detritus.? 

(3) The particles of contagia are thought to be of the nature of the 
Schizomycetes, 1.e., of that class of organisms which Nageli has separated from 
the fungi, and which form the lowest stratum at present known to us of 
the organic world. They are termed Bacteria, Bacilli, Microzymes, Microbes, 
Vibrios, Spirilla, Monads, &c. Their relation to the fungi, or to the Osczl- 
larinee, to which they are perhaps more closely allied, is yet a matter of 
warm debate. 

That these creatures are concerned in many diseases is clear. Lister’s 
genius first brought their practical importance forward, and the later 
researches of Klebs, Recklinghausen, and others, have shown how great a 
part they play in the production of Septichemia. The carbuncular disease 
of cattle and sheep (splenic apoplexy) is also intimately connected with 
Bacilli; and, if the observations of Coze, Feltz, and others are correct, the 
same is true of enteric fever. Ferdinand Cohn has asserted? that even the 


1 A modification of this view, under the name of the Glandular Origin of Disease, is 
advocated by Dr B. W. Richardson, F.R.S. (Address to the Sanitary Institute of Great 
Britain, Leamington, 1877; Nature, No. 414, Oct. 4, 1877, p. 480). Admitting that the 
disease poison generally comes from without, he looks upon its action as catalytic, causing 
an altered glandular secretion or a change in the blood, the changed secretion reacting on 
the nervous centre supplying the gland or glands. He also conceives that during epidemic 
periods a strong nervous impression may have the same effect as the direct introduction of 
poison from without, so that the disease may occasionally arise spontaneously. He looks 
upon many diseases as hereditary, in the sense that the condition of the child resembles that 
of the parent, and will therefore be open to similar influences. 

2 Not only some skin and hair diseases of men and animals, and diseases of insects and 
fishes, are caused by the growth of fungi which fall on the surface of the body, or are drawn 
into the mouth, but internal diseases are caused by the growth of undoubted fungi, sucli as 
Aspergillus. 

3 The supposed fungus, which Klein (Reports of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 
new series, No. vi., 1875) thought he had discovered in the patches of typhoid ulceration, 
was shown by Creighton to be merely an altered condition of fibrine simulating an inde- 
pendent organism (see Procecdings of the Royal Society, June 15, 1876). 

4 Virchow’s Archiv, Band iv. p. 229 (1872). 


NATURE OF THE CONTAGIA. 495 


glistening particles of vaccine lymph;are Bacteria. Bacteria have been 
proved to cause disease of the intestinal mucous membrane, the uterus, the 
kidneys, and the heart, and they play some part in hemorrhagic smallpox. 
Bacilli were found to be the active agents in the poisoning by ham at Wel- 
beck. Klebs and Tommasi-Crudeli have shown the probability of malarial 
poisoning being due to a Bacillus. Still more recently, Koch has essayed, 
with apparent success, to connect phthisis with a similar organism, Bacillus 
Tuberculosis. Ransome has demonstrated its presence in the breath of 
phthisical patients.! The peculiar form of febrile disease observed at Aber- 
deen by Dr Beveridge was distinctly connected with the existence of minute 
organisms in milk.2- The researches of Pasteur on fowl cholera and charbon 
have shown not only that those diseases are due to Bacteria, but that they 
can be prevented or modified by inoculation with cultivated virus. His later 
labours in the matter of hydrophobia have been in the same direction. 

Yet in some of the epidemic diseases no Bacteria have been as yet 
demonstrated. In cholera, Lewis and Cunningham failed, in spite of the 
most persevering search, to find Bacteria (or fung?) in the discharges or blood. 
Koch, however, believed he had succeeded in connecting cholera with a so- 
called comma-shaped Bacillus, which he said he found in the intestinal dis- 
charges of cholera patients, as well as in the water of the tanks from which 
patients had drunk. The reports of Drs Klein and Heneage Gibbes confirmed 
the existence of such a structure under certain circumstances, but threw 
doubt upon its positive connection with cholera. A committee assembled at 
the Indian Office reported that they did not think the connection positively 
made out. Lewis showed that the so-called commas were segments of a vzbrio, 
and that similar structures could be obtained from the mouths of healthy per- 
sons. Finkler and Prior,and Emmerich found similar bodies in cases of cholera 
nostras. Cultivations, however, showed some difference of life-history. 

The reasons for attributing in many cases great influence to Bacteria, 
which are undoubtedly present, are obvious enough. 

They are so widely spread in nature (in both air and water); their powers 
of growth, by division, are so wonderful; their food (ammonia, phosphates, 
and perhaps starches or sugars) is so plentiful; and their tenacity of life so 
great, that it is no wonder great consequence is now attached to them. 
Yet it is their very universality which is one of the strongest arguments 
against the view that they constitute the contagia of any of the specific 
diseases, and any one who considers the peculiar spread of the contagious 
diseases will admit the force of this objection. 'To meet this objection it 
has been surmised that they are not the contagia, but merely their carriers. 
This view has not been defined; but as the plasma of Bacteria is albu- 
minoid, it may perhaps be taken to mean that while the Bacteria are 
usually harmless, their plasma may become, in certain cases, altered in 
composition, and then becomes poisonous in different specific ways. 
Bacteria feeding in the blood of a typhus patient will become nourished 
with morbid plasma, and thus, so to speak, it is diseased Bacteria which 
become dangerous. Another and more probable view is that there are 
benign Bacteria as well as malign, and that the latter cannot continue to 
exist in the presence of the former, in fact that they are crowded out. 
Some of the experiments of Fodor and Miquel seem to show this.? 


1 Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xxxiv. p. 274 (1882). 

2 See note by Professor Ewart, Procecdings of the Royal Society, 1881, vol. xxxii. p. 492. 

* For further information, see the “‘ Address in Medicine,” by W. Roberts, M.D., F.R.S., 
delivered at the Manchester Meeting of the British Medical Association, 1877 (Brit. Med. 
Journal, No. 867, 11th Aug. 1877, p. 168). Also Professor Tyndall’s papers in the Royal 


426 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


The belief which some entertain that Schizomycetes are the efficient 
agents of the contagious diseases has led to a number of experiments on the 
destruction of Bacteria by heat and by chemical agents, in the belief that 
the doctrine of disinfection was thereby elucidated. This could hardly be 
the case, unless we are certain that the Bacteridia are the contagia, which 
is not yet proved to be the case generally, however probable it may be. 
Disinfection must rest at present on its own experimental evidence. 

The belief in the part played by Bacteridia has led also to much interest 

, being taken in the discussion on ferments, and in the question of spontaneous 
generation, as it is imagined that a clue might thus be found to the origin, 
de novo, of the contagia. Mr Darwin’s doctrine of Pangenesis has even 
been pressed into the discussion, though it rather makes the darkness 
greater than before. It is curious to find so practical a matter as that of 
disinfection brought into relation with some of the most subtle and con- 
troverted questions of the day; but the important bearing which the 
acceptance of one or other of these views would have on the practice of 
disinfection is evident. 

The following are some of the pathogenic organisms which have been 
more or less accepted:—Aspergillus Mycosis; Bacillus Anthracis (splenic 
fever, malignant pustule, wool-sorter’s disease); B. Malarie(!); B. Septi- 
chemie (experimental); B. Lepre; B. Tuberculosis (the smallest of the 
Bacilli); organisms not exactly determined, but believed to be the causes 
of septic pneumonia and diphtheria; Actinomyces (Actinomycosis hominis) ; 
the Micrococcus of scarlatina (Klein); Micrococcus of vaccine; to these may 
be added, but doubtfully, the Comma Bacillus of Koch (cholera); the Baczlla 
of Finkler and Prior, and of Emmerich; the supposed microbe of enteric fever; 
and others. Bacillus subtilis and ulna have not been found in man or animals. 


2. The Media in which the Contagia are spread. 


Our knowledge of this point is far more defined, and may be thus 
summarised :— 

The special and distinctive phenomena of each disease are usually attended 
with special implication of some part of the body, and it is especially these 
parts which contain the contagia. In these parts there is frequently rapid 
growth, and if the parts are on the surface, frequent detachment. The pus 
and epidermis of smallpox; the epidermis and the mouth and throat epi- 
thelium of scarlet fever, sore throat and diphtheria ; the skin and bronchial 
secretions of measles; the stools containing the discharged detritus of Peyer's 
glands in enteric fever; the discharges of cholera; the discharges and erup- 
tions of syphilis, glanders, farcy, and malignant pustule, are instances of this. 
In typhus fever the skin is greatly affected, and it is generally supposed that 
it is from the skin that the virus spreads, since this disorder is so easily carried 
by clothes; the same is the case with plague. In fact, those parts of the 
body which are the breeding-places of the contagious particles give off the 
poison in greatest amount. The portions of the body thus thrown off, and ~ 
containing the contagia, may then pass into air, or find their way into water 
or food, and in this way be introduced by breathing, drinking, or eating, or 
through broken surfaces of the body. 

The principles of disinfection ought evidently then to deal with the poisons, 
at their seats of origin, as far as these are accessible tous. It was the instinct 


Society’s Proceedings and Transactions (see Zransactions of the Royal Society, 1876, part i. 
p. 27); Floating Matter in the Air, by the same author; Niageli’s Wiedere Pilze; Fodor's 
Untersuchungen, op. cit.; the works of Miquel, Klein, Cornil and Babes, and Crookshank. 


HEAT AS A DISINFECTANT. 427 


of genius which led Dr William Budd to point out that the way to prevent 
the spread of scarlet fever is to attack the skin from the very first ; to destroy 
the poison in the epidermis, or, failing that, to prevent the breaking up and 
passage into the air of the particles of the detached epidermic scales. Oily 
disinfectant inunctions of the skin, and the most complete disinfection of 
the clothing which touches the skin of the patient, are the two chief means 
of arresting the spread of scarlet fever. The rules for smallpox are almost 
identical, though it is more difficult to carry them out. In enteric fever the 
immediate destruction of all particles of poison in the stools by very strong 
chemical reagents, and the prevention of the poison getting into sewers or 
drinking water or food, are the measures obviously demanded by the pecu- 
lharities of this special disease. 

The more completely these points are investigated, and the more perfectly 
the breeding-places in the body are known, the more perfect will be our 
means of disinfection. 


3. Effects of Heat as a Disinfectant. 


If the contagia are simply excessively minute portions of bioplastic 
particles, in Beale’s sense, we may be sure they will be easily killed ; a heat 
far below that of boiling water, and very weak chemical agents, destroy all 
signs of vitality in animal cells and molecules. We might, therefore, hope 
much from disinfection. /ungi in water are destroyed by a comparatively 
low heat ; while in dry air Penicillium glaucum is not completely destroyed, 
according to Pasteur, till 127° C. (= 260° Fahr.), and Oidium aurantiacum 
dies at about the same temperature. On the contrary, the Bacteroid bodies 
are often extremely stable. Lex found a temperature of 127° C. (or 260° 
Fahr.) insufficient to kill them, and after boiling them for half an hour they 
still showed vital movements; and in Calvert’s experiments a heat of no 
less than 400° Fahr. (= 205° C.) was required to thoroughly destroy them, 
and some kinds seem unaffected even by strong acids and caustic alkalies. 
Bastian has, however, stated! that Bacteria and Vibrios are killed at a 
much lower temperature ; his experiments show that a brief exposure to a 
temperature of 70° C. (=158° Fahr.) either killed the germs of Bacteria or 
completely deprived them of their powers of multiplication. Dowdeswell 
found that the Bacteria of Septichzemia, both Pasteur’s and Davaine’s, were 
killed at 140° C. (=284° F.)?. Sanderson found that Bacterza in water are 
not developed in fluids heated to 366° Fahr. (= 185° C.) or even only boiled. 
Disinfection, if Bacteridia are to be destroyed, would be then a matter 
of much greater dithculty. Tyndall? has since pointed out what appears 
to be an explanation of the above discrepancies. He shows that, whilst 
prolonged boiling failed to sterilise an infusion, successive heatings for a 
short time, even below the boiling-point, were successful. The explana- 
tion proposed is, that during the period of latency the spores are in a 
hard state capable of resisting high temperature, but that just before the 
period of active germination, they become softened, and therefore amen- 
able to the influence of heat. As, however, spores in various stages may 
exist in the same fluid, successive heatings are necessary so as to arrest 
each group at the proper time; but by repeating the heatings sufficiently 
often an infusion may be sterilised at a point below the boiling-point of 
water. This method of intermittent heating is now in general use for 
sterilising cultivating fluids. Important in all ways, this question of the 


1 Proceedings of Royal Society, No. 143, p. 224, March 1873. z 
~ Proceedings of Royal Society, vol. xxxiv. p. 274, 1882. 3 Thid., No. 178, p. 569. 


428 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION, 


nature of contagia is especially so in a practical sense, viz., that of the easy 
or dithicult destruction of these agents. It does not, however, follow that 


ordinary putrefactive Bacteria are identical with those which may be sup-_ 


posed to produce disease. It is probable that they are quite different, and 
that disease Bacteria are more easy destructible by heat at least. Klein 
says that mzcrococci of scarlatina are killed at 85° C. (185° 

Purification of Clothes and Bedding.—The best plan of doing this is 
certainly by the agency of heat. Dr Henry, of Manchester, after showing 
that vaccine matter lost its power if heated to 140° Fahr. (60° C.) for three 
hours, proposed to disinfect clothing by dry heat. He disinfected scarlet fever 
clothing by exposure to 212° Fahr. (100° C.) for one hour ; woollen clothing 
from plague patients, after being heated twenty-four hours from 144° to 167° 
Fahr. (62° C. to 75° C.), was worn with impunity by fifty-six healthy persons 
for fourteen days.—Heat was largely used to disinfect clothing by the Ameri- 
cans in their civil war, both in the form of dry heat and boiling water. It is 
believed that the cessation of the plague in Egypt, after St John’s Day, 
was due to the increased heat of the air; but possibly the hygrometric 
condition of the air may have more to do with this. It has also been 
surmised that the yellow fever poison is destroyed by an intense heat. Dr 
Shaw has collected the few facts which we know on this subject. 


Disinfecting Chambers, that is, hot-air chambers, into which clothing, - 
linen, and bedding are put, are used. The usual arrangement is a furnace 
with the smoke shaft passing under or on one side of a brick chamber, and_ 
with a hot-air blast from a shaft running through or under the fire into the 
chamber itself, or into a passage below it, whence it passes into the chamber 


through a valve; an exit for the hot air is provided at the top of the 
chamber ; the clothes are suspended in the chamber, at a little distance 
from the walls. 

In other cases the bottom of the chamber is made of iron, and the smoke 
flue passes beneath it; the iron becomes red hot, and is covered with sand, 
to prevent the clothes taking fire. Hot air is then poured into the chamber 
in the same way. The disadvantage of the hot-air blast is the uncertainty 
and variation in the amount of heat. 

Fraser has devised a good form of stove, in which high temperature and 
the use of sulphurous acid are combined. The articles are wheeled into the 
stove in the cart that brings them. Dr Ransom of Nottingham has devised 
a gas stove, viz., an iron box well covered with non-conducting material ; in 
a channel leading to it a gas-jet burns; by means of a regulator (modified 
from Kemp’s reg ulator) the heat is kept uniform day and night ; the hourly 
consumption of gas is 9 cubic feet for a small stove, which is sufficient for 
the hospital at Nottingham. 

Steam has also st used ; and at Berlin a steam disinfecting chamber, 
proposed by Dr Esse,” is said to work well. This chamber is in the form 
of two iron setindees of different diameters, one inside the other, and with 
walls strong ‘enough to withstand the pressure of the steam; between the 
two cylinders steam enters from a neighbouring boiler, and heats the 
internal cylinder in which the clothes are suspended ; at the top of the 
cylinder is a brass box which dips a little way down, and is pierced with 
holes at the bottom, so that the air of the inner cylinder can rise into it} 
in the box is a thermometer. The outer cylinder is covered with wood, an 


the top of the cylinder with felt, to economise heat; the steam, when it 


1 Trans. Soc. Science Assoc. for 1864, p. 558. 
2 Deutsche Vierteljahrsch. fiir off. Gesundheitspjlege, Band iii. p. 534 (1871). 


HEAT AS A DISINFECTANT. 429 


condenses in space between the cylinders, flows out by means of a valve 
which is lifted when the water reaches a certain point in the condenser. 
The clothes are introduced at the top, the lid of the cylinder being lifted 
ap by a pulley; they are not allowed to touch the cylinder, but are sus- 
pended from wooden pegs. In an hour’s time the heat can be brought to 
90° R. (= 234°°5 Fahr., or 112° C.). Another apparatus has been contrived 
by Esse for mattresses. It is an iron case with a spiral steam pipe in the 
centre, which heats with compressed steam (two atmospheres). 

A steam cylinder has also been used at the London Fever Hospital, for 
lisinfecting the feathers used as bedding. 

The best disinfecting chamber is that by Mr Washington Lyons, of Peck- 
ham. It is a cylinder, within which the clothes are placed, and superheated 
steam, gauged by pressure, driven into them. The steam is perfectly dry 
out it penetrates every part. This apparatus is in use in the Metropolitan 
Asylums Hospitals, and elsewhere. 

The ordinary drying closet in a good laundry will sometimes give 
geat enough, but not always. A baker's oven can also be used on 
emergency. 

The question of temperature has been much discussed. It is desirable to 
zet as high a temperature as possible so as to ensure the destruction of 
lisease poison, On the other hand, the temperature must not be too high, 
or fear of destroying the fabrics. 

Ransom found that fine fabrics began to scorch at 255° to 260° Fahr. 
124° to 133° C.). In some experiments, undertaken at the request of the 
Jirector-General, A.M.D.,! the following results were obtained :— Woollen 
abrics changed colour after six hours’ exposure at 212° Fahr. (100° C.), or 
ifter two hours at 220° Fahr. (114° C.); generally length of exposure and 
tlevation of temperature were complementary. Cotton and linen showed 
jigns of change of colour after six hours at 212° Fahr. (100° C.), or four 
iours at 220° Fahr. (114° C.). Professor E. Vallin,? of Val de Grace, found 
hat a piece of new white flannel was not more discoloured after two hours 
4 230° Fahr. (132° C.) than after one ordinary washing, and that even after 
hree hours a piece already washed showed no change ; two hours, however, at 
140° Fahr. to 250° Fahr. (122° to 140° C.) showed distinct change. Cotton 
nd linen did not change until they had been exposed for two hours to 257° 
fabr. (153° C.). The strength of the material was not diminished (as shown 
yy a dynamometer) until after two hours at 300° Fahr. (149° C.) Horse-hair 
ecame friable after exposure to heat, but this was chiefly an effect of dry- 
, a8 it regains its ordinary condition after a short time (Vallin, Lake). 
n Ransom’s stove the heat is arranged to be between 235° and 255° Fahr. 
113° and 131° C.). After an accident at the Southampton Infirmary, where 
ll the clothes, &c., in the chamber were consumed, a modification was in- 
roduced by Dr Ransom ; a chain with a link of fusible metal is set free by 
he melting of the link as soon as 300° Fahr. (149° C.) are reached ; this 
loses a door, shuts off the gas, and prevents any further rise of heat. In 
he Liverpool chambers 280° Fahr. (138° C.) has been registered, and no 
288 than 380° Fahr. (194° C.) in the drying closet over the Cockle stove. 

There is no doubt considerable variation in the temperature of different 
arts of the chamber, and the effects on fabrics vary according as they are 
laced on or near the floor and sides, or suspended in the centre or upper 


1 By Dr F. de Chaumont, Lancet, 11th Dec. 1876. 
Pe: “De la Désinfection par Vair Chaud,” Mémoires de la Société de Médecine Publique ct 
Hyyitne Professionelle, 1877. 


430 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


parts. At the Southampton Infirmary, all bedding and clothing are exposed 
in the chamber after every occasion of use, the mean temperature being 
under 230° Fahr. (110° C.), but there is distinct deterioration of fabric, a 
loss incurred designedly in order to secure complete destruction of disease 
poison. 

As before stated, we have no reason to believe that disease germs will 
resist a temperature of 220° Fahr. (114° C.), or even 212° Fahr. (100° C.), 
if completely and thoroughly exposed to it. Even when liquids, such as 
water or milk, have been infected, no case of disease has ever been traced 
to the use of such liquids after being boiled. It seems therefore unneces- 
sary to carry the heat to excess, 220° Fahr. (114° C.) being in all 
likelihood sufficient, or even 212° Fahr. (100° C.) with some length of 
exposure. In the Army Medical Regulations (1885, 1093 a), exposure to 
a temperature of not less than 212° Fahr. (100° C.) for at least two hours: 
is ordered. 

Soaking and Boiling Clothes.—The boiling of clothes is not generally 
considered so good as baking, but still is very useful. It is desirable to add 
‘some chemical agent to the water, and chloride of lime is frequently used in 
the proportion of 1 gallon of the strong commercial solution to 20 or 50 
gallons of water. Carbolic acid (1 part of pure acid and 2 parts of com- 
mercial acid to 100 of water) is also much employed. The German military 
regulations order the clothes to be laid for twenty-four hours in a solution 
of sulphate of zinc, in the proportion of 1 part to 120, or of chloride of zinc, 
in the proportion of 1 part to 240, and then to be washed with soap and 
water, if the clothes cannot be baked. Corrosive sublimate (1 : 1000) is now 
used. The routine Dr Parkes followed in the case of a large military hos- 
pital during war (Renkioi) was to receive all dirty clothes into a large open 
shed, and to plunge them at once into tubs of cold water with chloride of 
lime. After twelve to twenty-four hours’ soaking, according to their con- 
dition, they were put into coppers and boiled, chloride of lime being again 
added to the water; they were then put into the washing machine, and 
then dried and baked in a dry closet, heated to the highest point that could 
be got—about 200° to 230° Fahr. (92° to 114° C.). If lice were very 
numerous, it was a good plan to bake the clothes before soaking ; the lice 
were mostly killed, but some were only torpid, and were still living, after a 
temperature of probably 200° Fahr. (92° C.). They could, however, be 
shaken out of the clothes easily even if not dead. 

Fumigating Clothes.—This is best done with sulphur, which may be used | 
in the hot chamber, as in Fraser’s oven, or the clothes are suspended in a 
small close chamber or large vat, and a large quantity of sulphur is set on 
fire, care being taken that the clothes are not burnt. Hair mattresses must 
be taken to pieces before fumigation if they be much defiled.? 


4. Effects of Chemical Agents. 


Although numerous experiments have been made upon this point, yet our 
knowledge still remains somewhat obscure. A large number of substances 
have been proposed, and many actually tried, with varying results. One 
cause of discrepancy has been the somewhat loose way in which the term 
disinfectant has been employed in cases where the action has been little 
more than deodorant. Chemical agents may be divided into—(a) those 
which actually destroy disease poison and minute organisms ; (4) those which 


1 Army Medical Regulations, 1885, part 6, section v. paras. 1093-1102. 


PURIFICATION OF AIR BY CHEMICAL AGENTS. 431 


suspend vitality and propagation ; and (c) those which merely deodorise, 
that is, destroy or mask smell. Even such a division cannot be carried out 
consistently, and all that we can say is, that some substances act powerfully 
as destroyers of disease poison and minute life, if used in sufficient quantity 
and degree of concentration ; such substances are also generally deodorants. 
Other substances do not appear positively to destroy disease poison or 
minute life, but they certainly suspend its vitality for a time, and we may 
therefore use this interval of suspension advantageously by getting rid of 
the infected matter without danger in transit. 

A further division of chemical agents might be into gaseous, liquid, and 
solid, and other divisions might also be suggested. Perhaps the most con- 
venient plan will be to state the objects to be attained, and consider the 
agents which may be used. 


Purification of the Air by Chemical Methods. 


The great purifying actions of Nature are diffusion, dilution, transference 
by winds, oxidation, and the fall of rain. In houses the power of ventilation 
is the only safe method, but some effect can be produced by chemical 
agencies in aid of ventilation. 

The foreign matters in the air, which can be removed by chemical means, 
are carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, ammonia (usually in the form of 
ammonium sulphide), and various organic substances, arising in an infinity 
of ways, some being odorous, others not, and of the physical and chemical 
nature of which little or nothing is known. Air purifiers are also used to 
check the growth of fungoid, infusorial, or bacterioid organisms. They are 
used in the form of solids or of liquids, which may absorb the substances 
from the air, or of gases which may pass into the air and there act on the 
gases or molecular impurities. 

(a) Solid Air Purifiers.—Dried earth, quicklime, charcoal, and calcium 
and magnesium carbolates (phenates), a mixture of lime and coal-tar, are the 
most important. 

Of these charcoal is the most effectual. It presents an immense surface, 
and has a very extraordinary power of separating and absorbing gases and 
vapours from the atmosphere,! and oxidises rapidly almost every sub- 
stance capable of it. Its action is not indiscriminate, but elective (A. Smith); 
when charcoal which has absorbed oxygen is warmed, it gives off CO, (A. 
Smith), a proof of its great oxidising power. Exposed to the air in bags 
or shallow pans, its action is rapid and persistent; its effect is especially 
marked with sewage gases, and with the organic emanations in disease. It 
also absorbs hydrogen sulphide. Its power of purifying air from organic 
emanations is really great, and can be employed in hospital wards with 
advantage. 

Of the different kinds of charcoal, the animal charcoal has the highest 
reputation, and then peat. But the carbon left in the distillation of 
Boghead coal has been stated to be even better than animal charcoal. If 
vegetable charcoal be used, it should be rather finely powdered. The dis- 
infecting qualities of charcoal on air scarcely lessen with time if the charcoal 
be kept dry. Charcoal filters to be placed before the mouth have been re- 
commended by Stenhouse, and might be useful in cases of very impure air. 
Dried marly earth is much inferior to charcoal, but still can be employed in 
the absence of the latter. 


1 Sennebier, quoted by Chevallier, Vraité des Désinfect., p. 146, and A. Smith. 


432 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


Quicklime absorbs CO, and perhaps compounds of sulphur, and has been 
employed for that purpose. 

Calcium and magnesium carbolates have also been used ; as they give off 
carbolic acid, their action is probably chiefly in that way. ° 

(6) Liquid Air Purifiers—Solutions of potassium permanganate (Condy’s 
red fluid), zine chloride, and lead nitrate are sometimes used, being either ex- 
posed in flat dishes, or cloths are dipped in the solution and exposed to the 
air. They act only on the air which comes in contact with them, but in 
that way absorb a good deal of impurity. Condy’s fluid, when well exposed 
to the air, seems to have a good purifying effect, and to lessen the close smell 
of ill-ventilated rooms, and it absorbs hydrogen sulphide, and so will also 
solution of nitrate of lead. 

(c) Gaseous Air Purifiers—The evolution of gases into the air is the 
most powerful means of purifying it independent of ventilation. The 
principal gases are ozone, chlorine, fumes of zodine and bromine, nitrous, 
sulphurous, and hydrochloric RTS carbolic acid, tar fumes, acetic acid, 
ammonia. 

Ozone.—It has been proposed to disengage ozone constantly into the air 
of a room by heating a platinum wire by a Bunsen cell; by half immersing 
a stick of phosphorus in tepid water in a wide-mouthed bottle ; or by mixing 
very gradually 3 parts of strong sulphuric acid and 2 parts of permanganate 
of potassium. This last method is that used by Dr Fox.t The amount of 
ozone can be measured by the common ozone paper, and the stopper put in 
if the tint is too deep. It is presumed it will then act as a powerful oxidis- 
ing agency, and destroy organic matter, as it certainly removes the putrid 
effluvia of decomposing blood (Wood and Richardson). It was much used 
by Dr Moffat in cholera and cattle plague. 

Chlorine.—Given off from chloride of lime, moistened with water or with 
dilute sulphuric acid, and placed in shallow vessels, or from chloride of soda, 
or evolved at once. Four parts by weight of strong hydrochloric acid are 
poured on one part of powdered manganese dioxide, or four parts of common 
salt and one part of manganese dioxide are mixed with two parts by weight 
of sulphuric acid and two of water, and heated gently. According to the 
size of the room, the actual weight of the substances taken must vary. Or 
two table-spoonfuls of common salt, two tea-spoonfuls of red lead, half a 
wine-glassful of sulphuric acid, and a quart of water are taken. Mix the 
lead and salt with the water, stir well, and add the sulphuric acid gradually. — 
Chlorine is evolved, and is absorbed by the water, from which it is slowly 
driven out. It may be kept in ajar or stoppered bottle, left open as occasion 
may require.? 

Chlorine decomposes hydrogen and ammonium sulphides at once, antl 
more certainly than any other gas. It doubtless destroys organic matter in 
the air, as it bleaches organic pigments, and destroys odours, either by 
abstracting hydrogen, or by indirectly oxidising. Euchlorine, a mixture of | 
chlorous acid and free chlorine, obtained by gently heating (by placing the 
saucer in warm water) a mixture of strong hydrochloric acid and potassium 
chlorate, has been also used instead of pure chlorine. It has been strongly 
recommended by Professor Stone, of Manchester, who has devised a special 
apparatus for its disengagement. He also uses it by placing fuming © 
hydrochloric acid in a wine-glass, and adding a few grains of chlorate from — 
time to time. In that way there is no danger of explosion, as sometimes Is _ 


' Ozone and Antozone, p. 25. 
2 Medlock’s Record of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 1858, p. 20. 


AERIAL DISINFECTANTS, 433 


the case if a large quantity of chlorate is warmed with hydrochloric acid. 
The odour of euchlorine is more pleasant than that of chlorine; it acts 
as rapidly on iodide of potassium and starch paper, and appears to have 
a similar action on organic substances; it is probably inferior to pure 
chlorine, but the ease of development and its pleasanter smell are in its 
favour. 

Iodine can be easily diffused through the atmosphere by placing a small 
quantity on a hot plate. Dr Richardson proposes to saturate a solution of 
peroxide of hydrogen with iodine, and to add 24 per cent. of sea-salt; by 
“atomising” or “pulverising” the fluid by the little instrument used for 
this purpose, the air can be charged with iodine and sea-salt spray very 
readily. Jodine will decompose SH,, and destroys, therefore, much odour. 
Its action was investigated by Duroy in 1854,! who showed that it is a 
powerful arrester of putrefaction. As it condenses easily, and does not 
diffuse everywhere like chlorine, it might be expected to be less useful than 
chlorine. 

Bromine.—In the American civil war bromine was rather largely used as 
an aérial dismfectant; a solution of bromine in bromide of potassium is 
placed in saucers and exposed to the air; the vapour is, however, very irritat- 
ing, and should not be disengaged in too large an amount. 

Nitrous acid or Nitrogen tetroxide can be evolved by putting a bit of 
copper in nitric acid and a little water. The nitrogen dioxide which is given 
off takes oxygen from the air, and red fumes, consisting chiefly of nitrogen 
tetroxide or nitrous acid (NO,), are formed. 

The oxidising action of nitrous acid is very great on organic matter. It 
removes the smell of the dead-house sooner than any other gas. It is rather 
irritating to the lungs, and, in some persons, large quantities of it cause 
vertigo, nausea, and even vomiting. 

The action of nitrous acid results from the ease with which it parts with 
oxygen to any oxidisable substance, beimg converted into nitrogen dioxide, 
which again at once combines with atmospheric oxygen, and so on. 

Sulphurous acid or Sulphur dioxide.—Most easily evolved by burning 
sulphur. It decomposes hydrogen sulphide (SO, + 28H, = 3S + 20H.,), and 
also combines with ammonia. It has also been supposed to act powerfully 
upon organic matter (Graham), and probably does so if ammonia is not 
present. Guyton-de-Morveau, who studied the action of this acid, was of 
opinion that it completely disinfected miasms, and he gave some evidence 
on this point. It must be used in large quantity. The use of sulphur fires 
in times of epidemics has been recommended (Tuson). 

Hydrochloric Acid.—Vhe fumes of this acid were used by Guyton-de- 
Morveau, and at one time they were much employed, but the action of 
chlorine is so much more powerful that they are now seldom used. 

Carbolic Acid.—This substance is given off when solid carbolic acid is 
placed in a saucer, or when the liquid acid and water are sprinkled about, 
or, still better, when one part of the acid and two of ether are allowed to 
evaporate. It is difficult to measure its action, as it decomposes solution of 
potassium permanganate, which cannot therefore be used as a measure of the 
organic impurity of air when carbolic acid vapours are present. 

Dr Sansom? has shown that when the acid evaporates, 1 grain of carbolic 
acid is taken up, at different temperatures, by the following amounts of air, 
viz., by 320-75 cubic inches at 50° Fahr, (10° C.), by 159-44 cubic inches 


1 Chevallier, Traité des Désinfect., p. 19. 
2 The Antiseptic System, by A. E. ganet: WL ID). WUSy/Il, jo. 15)- 


b 
ie] 


434 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


at 60° Fahr..(15:5° C.), and by 93°75 cubic inches at 70° Fahr. (21° C.). 
Vaporisers for carbolic acid fumes have been made, by means of which 
carbolic acid falls, drop by drop, on a hot metal plate! Dr Langstaff? 
invented a trough, containing flannel wetted with water and carbolic acid 
(1 part of acid and 20 of water), which is placed in the inlet ventilating 
tubes; he found that: at a temperature of 57° Fahr. (14° C.), four ounces 
of water are taken up in twenty-four hours, and this will keep the air of 
a room, 22 feetx 10 and 11 feet high, thoroughly impregnated with the 
vodour. Carbolic acid conceals all odours, though it will not destroy 
hydrogen sulphide if it exists; it lessens the rapidity of putrefaction of 
animal substances suspended in a room, and they also dry faster, according 
to Langstaff. It also rapidly arrests the growth of fungi, though it will 
not completely destroy them; for example, some fresh fecal matter, free 
from urine, was put in a bottle, and air washed in strong sulphuric acid 
drawn over it; fungi appeared rapidly on the fecal matter. Air impregnated 
with carbolic acid was then passed over the fungi; they became discoloured, 
brownish, and apparently died; but on again substituting washed air, they 
revived. The rapid destruction, and the as rapid recovery and regrowth, 
could be repeated many times, and showed that the carbolic acid air had 
withered without actually killing the fungi. 

The small growing cells suspended in the air are also stopped in their 
growth (according to Trautman); and, in fact, the action of carbolic acid 
may be said to be restraint of putrefaction and limitation of growth of low 
forms of aérial life. The exact mode in which it acts is uncertain. When 
in some quantity, it coagulates albumen; and it has been supposed to be 
in this way that it restrains putrefaction.+ 

A mixture of | part of carbolic acid and 9 of vinegar, and a little camphor, 
has been used as a disinfectant (deodorant ?) in cabins on board ship. 

Coal-tar and Bitumen Fumes.—This is an old plan much used in the last 
century; the fumes contain carbolic and cresylic acids with other substances, 
and, it is presumed, have the same effect as carbolic acid. The substance 
employed by Siivern, and which has had some reputation in Germany, owes 
its success as an air-purifier to the fumes of coal-tar. 

Vinegar and Ammonia.—The vapour of vinegar is an old remedy, and 
was much employed by Howard in the purification of jails; the efficient 
agents were probably heat and ventilation, which Howard made use of at 
the same time. The vinegar would, of course, neutralise any ammoniacal 
vapours which might be in the air; whether its action would extend beyond 
this is doubtful.® 

The vapour of ammonia would not a priort seem likely to be a purifier, 
though, as it restrains decomposition in solid matters, its vapour may have 
an effect in the air. Winter Blyth® found it reduced bacterza colonies in 
sewage by 97 per cent. 

It will be observed that the chief gases attacked by the air-purifiers are 
hydrogen and ammonium sulphide, which are easily destroyed by sevérat 
agents, especially by chlorine, iodine, and sulphurous acid gas. 

Purification of Rooms after Infectious Diseases.—In addition to thorough 


1 Savory and Moore’s vaporiser is figured by Sansom. 

2 Hospital Hygiene, by Charles Langstaff, M.D., 1872, p. 20. 

3 Lemaire, Crookes, Sansom, and others. 

4 Various other hydrocarbons probably act in the same way, as, for instance, the terebene 
proposed by Dr Bond of Gloucester, Jeyes’ Perfect Purifier, and Little’s Soluble Phenol. 

5 It may perhaps delay putrefaction and the growth of minute organisms, 

6 Proceedings of the Royal Socicty, vol. xxxix. p. 272. 


PURIFICATION AFTER INFECTIOUS DISEASES, 438 


cleansing of all wood-work with soft soap and water, to which a little carbolic 
acid has been added (1 pint of the common liquid to 3 or 4 gallons of water), 
and to removal and washing of all fabrics which can be removed, and brush- 
ing of the walls, the room should be fumigated for three hours with the 
fumes of either sulphurous or nitric acids. Both of these are believed to 
be superior to chlorine, especially in smallpox. All doors and windows and 
the chimney being closed, and curtains taken down, sulphur is put in a 
metallic dish, a little alcohol is poured on it, and it is lighted. The propor- 
tions should be | tb of sulphur for every 1000 cubic feet of space; and in a 
long room it is best to have the sulphur in two or more places. The amount 
ordered in the army is } ib for 1000 cubic feet.1_ After three hours the doors 
and windows should be opened, and kept open for twenty-four or thirty-six 
hours. 

Letheby gives a much larger proportion, viz., } ounce for every ten cubic 
feet. Even this is not an excessive amount. The quantity given above 
yields little more than 1 per cent. to the quantity of air. Thus—l1 hb of 
sulphur produces 11-7 cubic feet of sulphurous acid gas, and this diluted with 
1000 cubic feet of air gives only 1:17 per cent. Half an ounce of sulphur 
yields 0°366 of a cubic foot of the gas, and this for 10 cubic feet of air gives 
3°66 per cent. Baxter found that 0-194 to 1 per cent. destroyed the repro- 
ductive power of septic microzymes in an albuminous or aqueous medium, 
but with 0°58 per cent. the poison of infective inflammation was still active. 
Vaccine was destroyed after ten minutes’ exposure to an atmosphere saturated 
with SO,, whilst chlorine or carbolic acid took 30 minutes’ exposure. He 
concludes that for aérial disinfection SO, is the most convenient, but that 
the air should be saturated with it. 

A lamp has been proposed by Messrs Price & Co., in which disulphide of 
carbon is burned. This seems, from experiments made at Netley by Professor 
Macdonald to be efficacious, but the extreme inflammability of the substance 
may be a source of danger. An ounce burned in 53 cubic feet arrested the 
movements of putrefactive Bacteria in a meat infusion in a saucer; it also 
made the infusion acid, but after some hours Bacteria were again in active 
motion. The amount of SO, evolved in the air was 1°16 per cent. 

In white-washed rooms the walls should be scraped, and then washed with 
hot lime to which carbolie acid is added. 

Mortuaries and dead-houses are best purified with nitrous acid or chlorine. 

It ought to be clearly understood that anything like effectual disinfection 
is only possible by fumigation, when the air is rendered irrespirable for the 
time. Therefore any attempt whilst a room is in actual occupation can 
only be successful in deodorising,—experiment having shown that minute 
organisms are not destroyed by anything short of poisonous doses which 
would prove fatal to man or the higher animals. If, however, the germs of 
disease are (as is suspected) much more vulnerable than ordinary putrefactive 
Bacteria, partial fumigation, such as may be employed in a sick-room, may 
do some good, ven the deodorisation alone will be an advantage, but it is 
well not to depend too much upon it as a disinfectant, and so permit it to 
engender a false security, or allow it to interfere with complete and perfect 
ventilation. 

With regard to the effect of chemical reagents on low forms of vegetable 
and animal life, the works of Sansom,? of Dr Dougall, and the papers of 


1 Army Medical Regulations, 1885, Appendix 7, p. 274. 

2 The Antiseptic System, by A. E. Sansom, M.D., 1871. 

* On the Relative Power of various Substances in Preventing the Germination of Animalcule, 
by John Dougall, 1871. 


436 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


Calvert! may be consulted ; it need only be mentioned here that, according 
to Dougall,? the most powerful agents in destroying “ animalcule” are the 
following substances :—Sulphate of copper, chloride of aluminum, chromic 
acid, and dichromate of potassium, dichloride of mercury, benzoic acid, 
bromal hydrate, chloral hydrate, hydrocyanic acid, alum, hydrochlorate of 
strychnia, ferrous sulphate, arsenious acid, picric acid, and others which are 
less efficacious. 

Picot 3 has stated that silicate of soda, even in very small quantity, arrests 
putrid fermentation and retards other fermentations, and is very useful in 
the treatment of blennorhagic urethral discharge in women. It also opposes 
the transformation of glucose and of the glycogenous matters of the liver. 
If silicate of soda has such an effect, may not some of the other silicates be 
also active in this way, and may not the antiputrescent power of some soils 
be thus produced? Lex found the movements of Bacteria to be best arrested 
by chloroform, carbolic acid, prussic acid, and strong solutions of quinine, 
in the ordernamed, Dr O’Nial, C.B. (Surgeon-General), made many experi- 
ments on the time of appearance of Bacteria in extract of meat and other 
menstrua.* He found, like Dougall, the potassium dichromate to be the 
most powerful agent in preventing the appearance of Bacteria, and after it, 
but far below, is carbolic acid, yet neither was quite efficacious. The 
sodium disulphite was found to be of no value, and permanganate of potas- 
sium, though a good deodorant, had scarcely any restraining effect on the 
formation of Bacteria. Commercial chlor-alum was of little use, but a 
strong solution of chloride of aluminum was fairly effectual. The paper 
must be consulted for many details, but it shows clearly how little Bacteria 
can be influenced by our present modes of using these “ chemical disin- 
fectants.” See also Baxter’s paper.® 

From a number of experiments made at Netley by Drs M‘Donald, Notter, 
and de Chaumont,® the conclusions arrived at were that disinfectants required 
to be in poisonous quantity before they affected low forms of life, such as 
Bacteria. Similar conclusions have been arrived at by Lebon.’ At the 
same time, he points out that there is little or no parallelism between 
action on ordinary Bacteria and disinfection. Thus potassium perman- 
ganate is a disinfectant, but has little action on Bacteria ; alcohol, on the 
other hand, prevents the development of the latter, but is no disinfectant. 

An elaborate inquiry by Mr Winter Blyth into the power of disinfectants, 
by means of cultivation, is given in detail in the Proceedings of the Royal 
Society, vol. xxxix., October 1885. He finds that absolute alcohol 60 per 
cent. disinfects, but absolute amyl alcohol, pure ether, chloroform, and 
carbon disulphide merely delay growth. Phenol disinfects at 15°°5 C. 
(=60° F.) with a strength of 0°5 per cent., whilst at 35°°5 C. (=96° F-.) 
0-25 per cent. is efficacious. Cresol at either temperature disinfects at 0°25 
per cent. The pyridine bases are efficacious at varying strengths (3 per 
cent. and under), but especially at the higher temperature. Tobacco 
smoke (which contains bases of the pyridine series) was found to disinfect. 
Strychnine, brucine, quinine, and atropine are effieacious at 0°25 to 0°50 
per cent. Morphine, even at 1-0 per cent. has no effect. Ferrous sulphate 
merely delays growth; potassic permanganate must be of at least 1 per 


1 Proceedings of the Royal Society, yol. xx. p. 185, 

2 Op. cit., table, p. 6. 3 Comptes Rendus, Dec. 1872. 

4 Army Medical Department Report for 1871, vol. xlii. (1873). 

5 Reports of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council and Local Government Board, new 
series, No. vi. p. 216. 

6 Report on Hygiene, Army Medical Reports, vol. xx., 1880, 

7 Comptes Rendus, Juillet 1882, p. 259. 


DISINFECTION IN VARIOUS DISEASES. 437 


cent. strength, and even then its effect may be arrested by some innocuous 
organic matter reducing it. Chlorine, bromine, and iodine disinfect com- 
pletely at 0-01 per cent., the order of strength being as stated. All the 
above experiments were made on Bacterium termo. 


5. Disinfection in various Diseases. 


Exanthemata, Scarlet Fever, and Rotheln.The points to attack are the 
skin and the throat. The skin should be rubbed, from the very commence- 
ment of the rash until completed desquamation, with camphorated oil, or oil 
with a little weak carbolic acid. The throat should be washed with Condy’s 
fluid, or weak solution of sulphurous acid. Clothes to be baked, or to be 
placed at once in boiling water, to every gallon of which 2 ounces of com- 
mercial chloride of lime, or 1 ounce of sulphate of zinc, or } fluid ounce of 
chloride of zinc, is added. The clothes should not be washed at a common 
laundry. 

In this, as in all cases, there can be no use in using aérial disinfectants, 
unless they are constantly in the air, so as to act on any particle of poison 
which may pass into the atmosphere ; aérial disinfectants are therefore inap- 
plicable to a sick room while occupied. 

Smallpox.—The skin and the discharges from the mouth, nose, and eyes 
are to be attacked. There is much greater difficulty with the skin, as 
inunction cannot be so well performed. But smearing with oil and a little 
carbolised glycerine, or in dificult cases applying carbolised glycerine to the 
papules and commencing pustules, might be tried. The permanganate and 
sulphurous acid solutions should be used for the mouth, nose, and eyes. 
The clothing should always be baked before washing, if it can be done. 
The particles which pass into the air are enclosed in small dried pieces of 
pus and epithelial scales ; and Bakewell, who has examined them, expresses 
great doubt whether any air-purifier would touch them. 

Measles.—Oily applications to the skin, and chloride of zine or of 
aluminum in the vessels receiving the expectoration, appear to be the 
proper measures. 

Typhus (exanthematicus).—Two measures seem sufficient to prevent the 
spread of typhus—viz., most complete ventilation and immediate disinfec- 
tion and cleansing of clothes. But there is also more evidence of use from 
air-purifiers than in the exanthemata. The nitrous acid fumes were tried 
very largely towards the close of the last century and the beginning of this, 
in the hulks and prisons where Spanish, French, and Russian prisoners of 
war were confined.! At that time, so rapidly did the disease spread in the 
confined spaces, where so many men were kept, that the efficacy even of 
ventilation was doubted, though there can be no question that the amount 
of ventilation which was necessary was very much underrated. Both at Win- 
chester and Sheerness the circumstances were most difficult ; at the latter 
place (in 1785), in the hulk, 200 men, 150 of whom had typhus, were 
closely crowded together; 10 attendants and 24 men of the crew were 
attacked ; 3 medical officers had died when the experiments commenced. 
After the fumigations, one attendant only was attacked, and it appeared as 
if the disease in those already suffering became milder. In 1797 it was 
again tried with success, and many reports were made on the subject by 


1 It was used at Winchester in 1780 by Carmichael Smith, and again at Sheerness in 1785. 
Smith published several accounts.—An Account of the Experiment made at the desire of the 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, by J. C. Smith, 1796. 


438 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION, 


army and naval surgeons. It was subsequently largely employed on the 
Continent,! and everywhere seems to have been useful. 

These facts lead to the inference that the evolution of nitrous acid should 
be practised in typhus fever wards, proper precautions being taken to diffuse 
it equally through the room, and in a highly dilute form. 

Hydrochloric acid was employed for the same purpose by Guyton-de- 
Morveau, in 1773, but it is doubtless much inferior to nitrous acid. Chlorine 
has been also employed, and apparently with good results.” 

» In typhus it would seem probable that the contagia pass off constantly by 
the skin; at least, the effect of ventilation, and the way in which the agent 
adheres to body linen, seems to show this. The agent is not also enclosed 
in quantities of dried discharges and epidermis, as in the exanthemata, and 
is therefore less persistent, and more easily destroyed, than those cases. 
Hence possibly the greater benefit of fumigations, and the reason of the 
arrest by ventilation. The clothes should be baked, steeped, and washed, 
as in the exanthemata. 

Bubo Plague.—The measures would probably be the same as for typhus. 

Enteric (Typhoid) Fever—The bowel-discharges are believed to be the 
chief, if not the sole, agents in spreading the disease; effluvia from them 
escape into the air, and will adhere to walls, and retain power for some time, 
or the discharges themselves may get into drinking water. Every discharge 
should be at once mixed with a powerful chemical agent ; of those, chloride 
and sulphate of zine have been chiefly used, but sulphate of copper (which 
Dougall found so useful in stopping the growth of animalculz), chloride of 
aluminum,’ nitrate of lead, carbolic acid,* or mercuric dichloride. Ferrous 
sulphate is not to be relied upon, according to Winter Blyth. After com- 
plete mixing, the stools must be thrown into sewers in towns; but this 
should never be done without previous complete disinfection ; Winter Blyth 
shows that the shorter the time the disinfectant acts the less the disinfection. 
In country places they should be deeply buried at a place far removed from 
any water supply; they should never be thrown on manure heaps or into 
middens, nor into earth closets, if it can possibly be avoided. The best plan 
would be to burn them. As the bed-clothes and beds are so constantly 
soiled with the discharges, they should be baked, or if this cannot be done 
boiled immediately after removal with sulphate or chloride of zinc. 

Cholera.—There can be little doubt that the discharges are here also the 
active media of conveyance of the disease, and their complete disinfection is 
a matter of the highest importance. It is, however, so difficult to do this 
with the immense discharges of cholera, especially when there are many 
patients, that the evidence of the use of the plan in the last European 
epidemic is very disappointing. 

The ferrous sulphate (green vitriol), which has been strongly recom- 
mended by Pettenkofer as an addition to the cholera evacuations, was fully 
tried in 1866 at Frankfurt, Halle, Leipzig, in Germany, and at Pill, near 
Bristol,° and in those cases without any good result. In other places, as at 
Baden, the benefit was doubtful. It seemed to answer better with Dr Budd 
and Mr Davies at Bristol, but other substances were also used, viz., chlorine 


1 Chevallier, Traité des Désinfectants, pp. 39, 40. 

2 Thid., pp. 14, 15. 

3 In speaking of chloride of aluminum, reference is always made to the strong solution, 
and not to the commercial “chlor-alum,” which, though useful in various ways, is yet a 
weak solution. 

4 Ora mixture of two or more (Budd). Be lavish (says Budd) in the use of chemicals, 
rather than run the terrible risk of failing by default. 

° Tibbets, Medical Times and Gazette, October 1867. 


DISINFECTION IN CHOLERA. 439 


gas in the rooms, and chloride of lime and Condy’s fluid for the linen. On 
the whole, it seems to have been a failure. Ferric sulphate, with or with- 
out potassium permanganate, has been recommended by Kiihne, instead of 
ferrous sulphate, but there does not appear to be any evidence on the point. 
Carbolic acid was largely used in England in 1866, and appeared in some 
cases to be of use, as at Pill, near Bristol, and perhaps in Southampton. It 
failed at Erfurt, but, as it is believed the wells were contaminated by soak- 
age,? this is perhaps no certain case. Chloride of lime and lime were used 
at Stettin without any good result, and, on the whole, it may be said that 
the so-called disinfection of the discharges of cholera does not seem to 
have been attended with very marked results. At the same time, it cannot 
be for a moment contended that the plan has had a fair trial, and we can 
easily believe that unless there is a full understanding on the part of both 
medical men and the public of what is to be accomplished by this system, 
and a conscientious carrying out of the plan to its minutest details, no safe 
opinions of its efficacy or otherwise can be arrived at. It would be desirable 
to try the effect of chromic acid or potassium dichromate. Corrosive sub- 
limate would probably be the best chemical reagent, but burning would be 
the best of all. 

With regard to air-purifiers, little evidence exists. Chlorine gas, diffused 
in the air, was tried very largely in Austria and Hungary in 1832, but 
without any good results. Nitrous acid gas was used at Malta in 1865, but 
apparently did not have any decided influence, although Ramon de Luna 
has asserted that it has a decided preservative effect, and that no one was 
attacked in Madrid who used fumigations of nitrous acid. But negative 
evidence of this kind is always doubtful. Charcoal in bulk appears to have 
no effect ; Dr Sutherland saw a ship’s crew severely attacked, although the 
ship was loaded with charcoal. 

Carbolic acid vapour diffused in the atmosphere was largely used in 1866 
in England; the liquid was sprinkled about the water, and sawdust 
moistened with it was laid on the floors and under the patients. The effect 
in preventing the spread of the disease was very uncertain. The lighting 
of sulphur fires in infected districts has been recommended in India. 

Yellow Fever.—In this case the discharges, especially from the stomach, 
probably spread the disease, and disinfectants must be mixed with them. 
Fumigations of nitrous acid were employed by Ramon de Luna,’ and it is 
asserted that no agent was so effectual in arresting the spread of the 
disease. 

Dysentery.—It is well known that dysentery, and especially the putrid 
dysentery, may spread through an hospital from the practice of the same 
close stool or latrines being used. As long ago as 1807 fumigations of 
chlorine were used by Mojon,* to destroy the emanations from the stools, 


1 In Dr Parkes’ experiments on sewage putrefaction (Army Med. Reports, vol. viii. p. 
318), ferrous sulphate had very little action in preventing putrefaction, and the Com- 
mittee of the Berlin Medical Society declined to recommend it for cholera, as they found 
it did not prevent fermentative action. 

2 Ninth Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council. 

3 Ann. d Hygiene, April 1861. 

4 His words, as quoted by Chevallier, are interesting :—‘‘ The dysentery became contagious 
in the hospital at Genoa; almost all the sick in my division, nearly 200, were attacked; and 
as we know that this disease, when contagious, is communicated ordinarily from one person 
to another by the abuse which exists in all hospitals of making the same latrines serve 
for all the sick of a ward, I wished to see if fumigations of chlorine had the power of 
destroying these contagious exhalations. I therefore caused fumigations to be used twice 
daily in the latrines, and, in a few days, I was able to destroy that terrible scourge which 
already had made some victims.” 


f 


440 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


and with the best effects. The chlorine was diffused in the air, and the 
stools were not disinfected ; but this ought to be done, as in enteric fever, 
and especially in the sloughing form. It is probable that carbolic acid in 
large quantity would be efficacious. 

With respect to Erysipelas, Diphtheria, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Glanders, 

and Farcy, local applications are evidently required, and carbolic acid in 
various degrees of strength, and the metallic salts, are evidently the best 
measures.! 
» Cattle Plague——The experiments made by Mr Crookes on the disin- 
fectant treatment of cattle plague with carbolic acid vapour have an 
important bearing on human disease. Although the observations fall short 
of demonstration, there are grounds for thinking that when the air was 
kept constantly filled with carbolic acid vapour, the disease did not spread. 
So also euchlorine was employed in Lancashire by Professor Stone, of Man- 
chester, and with apparent benefit. Dr Moffat employed ozone (developed 
from phosphorus exposed to the air), and he believes with benefit. As such 
experiments are very much more easily carried out on the diseases of 
animals than on those of men, it is much to be wished that the precise 
effect of the so-called disinfectants should be tested by continuing the 
experiments commenced by Mr Crookes, not only in cattle plague in the 
countries where it prevails, but in epizootic diseases generally. 

Among other substances which may be used are Jeyes’ Perfect Purifier, 
and Little’s Absolute Phenol, both coal-tar preparations ; Sporokton, a con- 
centrated solution of sulphurous acid; and many others. 


6. Deodorisation of Sewage. 


A very great number of substances have been added to sewage for the 
"purpose of preventing decomposition and retaining the ammoniacal com- 


pounds. 

1. Charcoal, which soon, however, gets clogged and loses its power ; it is 
not nearly so useful when used in this way as in the purification of air. 
When in relatively large quantity it decomposes the ammonia and sets 
nitrogen free, and so diminishes the agricultural value. Sillar’s preparation 
(A, B, C deodorant) is a mixture of animal charcoal, blood, clay, and alum 


refuse. Under the name of native guano, the resulting product seems to — 


be of value. Messrs Weare & Co.’s is also a charcoal process. Patent 
Porous Carbon, a substance prepared from Devonshire lignite, clay, and 
iron, is used at Southampton to the extent of 4 grains per gallon. The 
solid matter is deposited, and a moderately good effluent discharged. 

2. Dry Earth, especially humus, and marly and clayey soils; the effect 
is similar to that of charcoal, but it is not so soon clogged. Bird’s pre- 
paration is ferruginous clay, moistened with sulphuric acid, and then dried 
and pulverised. 

3. Quicklime is sprinkled overt the solid excreta, or quicklime and water 
added to sewer water, till a deposit occurs, leaving a clear fluid above. 
This is a very imperfect method, and the solid deposit has little or no value 
as a manure. 


1 Davaine finds iodine most powerful in destroying the infection of malignant pustule, 
y\ecth part being effectual. It may be injected into the skin without injury (Comptes 
Rendus, Sept. and Oct. 1873). See also Report on Hygiene, Army Med. Reports, vol. xiv., 
in which its use in snake bite is suggested. 

2 On Meteorology in reference to Epidemic and Sporadic Cholera, by F. Moffat, M.D., 
Hawarden, 1868, 


DEODORISATION OF SEWAGE. 441 


From 15 to 16 grains of quicklime are enough for | gallon of sewage, or 
20 ewt. per million gallons. At Leicester 580 tons of quicklime were used 
per annum for 4,700,000 tons of sewage. The process has now been dis- 
continued there, but is still partially employed at Birmingham and else- 
where. 

Hanson’s process consists in the use of slaked lime and black ash refuse, 
or the soda and tank waste from the alkali works, mixed with sulphuric 
acid. 

4. Cheap salts of alumina, and then lime, or alum sludge, lime, and 
waste animal charcoal (Manning), or zine and charcoal (Stothert’s process), 
A, B, C (Sillar’s process), chloride of aluminum (chlor-alum). 

The alumina precipitated by the lime forms a very bulky precipitate, well 
suited to the entanglement of suspended matters. The clearance of the 
sewage is more perfect than with lime alone, but otherwise the process and 
the objections are the same, and the cost is greater. The whole of the 
phosphoric acid is precipitated as aluminum phosphate. To a gallon of 
sewage water there should be added 734 grains of aluminum sulphate, 34 
erains of sulphate of zinc, 734 grains of charcoal, and 16? grains of quick- 
lime. 

Chlor-alum is a weak solution of chloride of aluminum; it is not a very 
powerful deodoriser, and must be used in large quantity, but its cheapness 
and want of poisonous properties! are recommendations, and when in sufficient 
amount it is effectual. It is efficacious against ammonia, but not against 
hydrogen sulphide ; it acts moderately against feecal odour. 

5. Chloride of Lime is most powerful as a deodorant and also as a steril- 
iser, especially at a high temperature ; even at the ordinary temperature of 
60° F. it reduced the colonies of Bacteria by 99-9 percent. Chloride of Soda 
is similar in action, but is more soluble and throws down no deposit. 
Holmes’ Ozone Fluid is simply a very strong solution of chloride of soda. 

6. Magnesium Superphosphate and Lime- Water (Blyth’s patent).—The idea 
was to add a substance which, in addition to deodorising, might be useful as 
a manure, and it was thought that a double phosphate of magnesium and 
ammonium would be thrown down; but this salt is sufficiently soluble in 
water, especially when the water contains chloride of sodium, to render this 
expectation incorrect. This method has been practically found to be useless, 
and to be more costly than any other plan. 

7. F. Hille,? whose process was in use at Wimbledon, the town of Alder- 
shot, and elsewhere, uses a mixture of lime, tar, and salts of magnesium for 
defzecating and deodorising the sewage. The effluent water is then passed 
through artificial filters, or used for irrigation purposes. This plan has 
been well spoken of by Major Flower® and others, and it appears to be 
moderate in cost compared with most other processes. At Wimbledon now 
the lime process is used, the sludge compressed into cakes, and the liquid 
gassed over land. 

8. Iron Perchloride.—When this salt is added to sewage, a precipitate of 
‘erric oxide is caused by the ammonium carbonate (which forms so rapidly 
n sewage), and carries with it all the suspended matters of the sewage. A 
lear fluid remains above. The hydrogen sulphide falls in the precipitate 


1 Tn some samples a considerable amount of lead was at one time found, but by improved 
aanufacture this (it is said) has since been remedied. 
| 2 System—F. Hille, Sewage Disinfecting and Filtration Process, 2nd edition, 1876. 
_ ® Sewage Treatment, more especially as affecting the pollution of the River Lea, a paper 
ontributed to the Sewage Conference held by appointment of the Council of the Society of Arts, 
o May 1876, by Captain L. Flower, Sanitary Engineer, Lea Conservancy Board, &c. 


“ 


449 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION, 


as iron sulphide. As the sulphide of iron tends to form ferric oxide, sulphur | 
being let free, it has been conjectured by Hofmann that an oxidising effect 
from the oxide may follow the first action. 

Both precipitate and supernatant liquid are free from odour. 

This substance has been tried at Croydon and Coventry. From 14 to 29 | 
grains per gallon of sewage are necessary for London sewage; for Croydon 
sewage from 5 to 15 grains were necessary. One gallon of liquid perchloride 
was suflicient for 15,000 gallons of sewage (Hofmann and Frankland). 

The perchlorides of iron can be manufactured by dissolving in hydrochloric¢ 
acid peroxide of iron, the different iron ores, refuse oxide of iron from 
sulphuric acid works, iron rust in foundries, &c. Another plan is to take 
equivalent proportions of common salt, sulphuric acid, iron rust, and water, | 
so that chlorine, when disengaged, shall combine with the iron. A hard | 
yellowish, not very deliquescent substance, containing 26 per cent. of. 
perchloride of iron, is formed, which can be transported to any distance. | 
The price, if made in this way, is £2, 7s. per ton (cost of labour not in- 
cluded) in England. 

The perchloride acts both on hydrogen and alkaline sulphides, in both | 
cases setting free sulphur. In sewage its ordinary action is on ammonium 
sulphide. Winter Blyth found 16-4 per cent. give a moderately successful - 
result, but it seemed less efficacious than ferrous sulphate. 

Objections have been made to the perchloride, as it contains arsenic; but | 
the amount of this is small, and as it falls with the deposit it is never likely ' 
to be dangerous. 

9. Lueder and Leidlof’s Powder consists (according to Leuchtenberg’s — 
analysis) of ferric sulphate, 36 per cent.; ferrous sulphate, 16; free sulphuric 


_acid, 4; calcium sulphate and other substances, 44. It has been highly 


commended, but, from experiments made at Netley, it does not seem very 
powerful, 

10. Lead Nitrate, or Ledoyen’s Fluid, is made by dissolving | ib of litharge 
in about 7 ounces of strong nitric acid and 2 gallons of water ; a little of the 
water is mixed with the litharge ; the acid is gradually added, and then the 
rest of the water. This quantity will deodorise a moderate-sized cesspool. 
It acts rapidly on hydrogen sulphide, and can be depended upon for this | 
purpose. 

11. Mercurie Chloride (corrosive sublimate) has been tried, and shown by 
Winter Blyth (doc. cit.) to be very powerful at strengths of from 071 to 0° 
per cent. It is a question whether its use on a large scale might not be 
attended with danger. It is, however, used abroad for various purposes, and 
in Russia for flushing the bilges of ships. 

12. Zine Chloride.—Burnett’s fluid contains 25 grains to every fluid 
drachm ; 1 pint is added to a gallon of water (1 to 8). It is usually said to 
decompose hydrogen sulphide until the solution becomes acid, when its_ 
action ceases; but Hofmann finds that it does not act on free hydrogen 
sulphide, but on ammonium sulphide, forming zine sulphide and ammonium 
chloride. It destroys ammoniacal compounds and organic matter. The sul- 
phates of zine and copper decompose free hydrogen sulphide, with formation 
of metallic sulphide and water. Winter Blyth found zine chloride very 
powerful. | 

Burnett’s fluid delays decomposition in sewage for some time ; but a very 
peculiar odour is given out, showing that some change is going on, A 
good effect is produced on hydrogen sulphide by a mixture of zine and 
ferrous sulphates (Larnaudeés’ mixture), which also lessens for the time the 
peculiar sewage smell. . 


SEWAGE DEODORANTS. 443 


13. Zine Sulphate.—This forms part of the Universal Disinfecting Powder! 
(Langston-Jones’ patent), along with Cooper’s salts, viz., calcium and sodium 
chlorides. This powder has the advantage of being inodorous, but it is not 
a strong deodorant. It, however, gets rid of feecal odour to some extent, 
and is efficacious against H,S. 

14. Potassium permanganate prevents putrefaction for a short time, and 
removes the odour from putrefying sewage, but it requires to be used in large 
quantity. Ina strength of 1 per cent. Winter Blyth found it very power- 
ful at ordinary temperatures, and at 96° F. (35°°5 C.) it perfectly sterilised 
sewage. Sodium manganate has been tried, with and without lime, the 
success depending upon the quantity used. 

15. Preparations from coal-tar ; carbolic acid (phenol or phenic acid, or 
phenyl-alcohol (C,H,O) ); coal tar creasote, and cresylic acid (cresol or 
eresyl-alcohol (C-H,O) ), in various admixtures. These substances are all 
excellent sewage deodorants and arresters of putrefaction. 

The last few years have seen an extraordinary development in the manu- 
facture of these substances. Phenol or carbolic acid is now obtained in great 
purity, and is sold in crystals, and also in a liquid form. All the prepar- 
ations may be conveniently classed under the three divisions of crystals, 
liquids, and powders. 

(a) Crystals.—Carbolic acid, more or less pure, is the only substance 
under this head ; it is so slightly soluble in water (only in the proportion of 
5 per cent.) that it is not so useful as a deodorant as the impurer kind. 
When mixed with sewage it acts slowly and not so perfectly as the impurer 
kinds. When exposed to the air it liquefies, and is slowly given out into 
the air, and is then supposed to be useful as an air purifier. 

(6) Liquids.—Carbolic acid, more or less impure, dissolved in water, 
simply, or with a little alcohol and cresylic acid (cresol), forms the liquid 
carbolic acids. In the market they are found almost colourless, or highly 
coloured. The various liquids contain from 10 to 90 per cent. of phenol. 
Cresol, though crystalline and colourless when pure, is usually found in the 
market as a dark liquid. Some of it, no doubt, exists in most samples of 
earbolic acid. Owing probably to the way they mix at once with the 
sewage, the liquid acids are more deodorant than the crystallised acid, and 
restrain putrefaction for a long time. Carbolic acid, however, does not 
act on hydrogen sulphide, though it will restrain the processes which pro- 
duce it. 

Samples of so-called carbolic acid are sold, which are only impure tar oils, 
and almost destitute of deodorising power. Sometimes a nauseous sulphur 
compound is. also present. 

Mr Crookes? gives the following rules in order to determine the presence 
of the tar oils:— 

“Commercial carbolic acid is soluble in from 20 to 70 parts of water, or 
in twice its bulk of a solution of caustic soda, while oil of tar is nearly 


1 Analysis (de Chaumont)—Water, . ; : : , ‘ : 7°40 
Calcium and sodium chlorides, . > 3-20 

Zinc sulphate, : : c : » 14-26 

Insoluble, . ; 3 ; ; p 5:20 

otalsmee : ; : . 100°06 


To later samples some calcium borate was added. 
2 It is perhaps unfortunate that phenol and cresol, which are rather alcohols than acids, 
should have been termed carbolic and cresylic acids. If the terms phenol and cresol could 
be used instead it would be better. 

3 Third Report—Cattle Plague Commission. Carbolic acid can be distinguished from 
creosote by its solubility in glycerine (Morson). 


444 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


insoluble, but if the amount of carbolic acid be increased, some remains | 
undissolved. 

“To apply the tests—1. Put a teaspoonful of the carbolic acid in a! 
bottle, pour on it half a pint of warm water, and shake the bottle at! 
intervals for half an hour, when the amount of oily residue will show the | 
impurity; or dissolve one part of caustic soda in 10 parts of warm water, | 
and shake it up with 5 parts of the carbolic acid. As before, the residue | 
will show the amount of impurity. . 

“These tests will show whether tar oils have been used as adulterants, 
but to ascertain whether the liquid consists of a mere solution of carbolic | 
acid in water or alkali, or whether it contains sulpho-carbolic or sulpho- 
cresylic acids, another test must be used based on the solubility of these, | 
and the insolubility of carbolic acid, in a small quantity of water. In this 
case proceed as follows:—2. Put a wine-glassful of the liquid to be tested 
in a bottle, and pour on it half a pit of warm water. If the greater part 
dissolves, it is an adulterated article. Test the liquid in the bottle with 
litmus paper: if strongly acid, it will show the probable presence of sulpho- » 
acids; whilst if alkaline, it will show that caustic soda has been probably 
used as a solvent.” 

If the quantity of carbolic acid has to be estimated from a liquid, it must 
be distilled at a given temperature. Carbolic acid boils at 184° C. (= 363° | 
Fahr.), cresol at 203° C. (=397°-4 Fahr.). 

In using the liquid acid, 1 part is mixed with 50 or 100 of water, accord: | 
ing to the strength of the acid, and thrown down drains or into cesspools, 
or sprinkled with a water ing-can over dung-heaps. 

(c) Powders.—The two principal carbolic acid powders are MDougall’s 
and Calvert’s, but there are several others in the market known under 
various names. i 

M‘Dougall’s and Calvert’s powders are widely different in composition. 

The former is strongly alkaline from lime, and makes the sewage alkaline. | 
It consists of about 33 per cent. of carbolate of lime and 59 per cent. of 
sulphite of magnesia, the rest being water. 

Calvert’s powder is carbolic acid, about 20 to 30 per cent., mixed with | | 
alumina from alum works, and some silica. 

The quantity of these preparations which must be used depends on the 
degree and duration of deodorisation wished for. For the daily solid | 
excreta (4 ounces) of an adult at least from 30 to 70 grains of the crystal- | 
lised acid, 60 drops of the strong liquid (90 per cent. of acid), or a } ounce 
of the dilute carbolic acid, sold at 1s. per pint, are necessary, if the sewage | 
is to be kept in an unaltered state for 10 to 20 days, but a smaller amount | 
is sufficient for 2 or 3 days.! Dr Sansom, who does not rate the effect of | 
carbolic acid so highly as a deodorant, also finds that much larger quantities | 
must be used than is usually stated.2. Half an ounce of either Calvert’s or | 
M‘Dougall’s powder for 4 ounces of sewage has a preservative effect for 18° 
to 20 days; } ounce or less is effectual for 3 or 4 days, but if the stools | 
contain urine much more is necessary.? Winter Blyth found phenol and | 


y 


\ 


1 See Dr aa eOS. experiments in the Army Medical Department Report, vol. viii. p. 318. 
2 Op. cit., p. 2 
3 Dr J aia Day (of Geelong) published a paper in the Australian Medical Journal (June | 
1874), on the comparative value as disinfectants of carbolic acid and mineral oils, such as - | 
gasolene and kerosene. He prefers gasolene, and finds it may be used for papered walls, 
furniture, clothing, and flooring. It must be used with caution near lights, as it is very | 
inflammable. Dr “Day attributes its action to its str ong oxidising properties ; ; paper brushed | 
over with it gave the reaction of peroxide of hydrogen after more than a year. if 


SEWAGE DEODORANTS. 445 


eresol about equal in power, but their efficacy was greatly enhanced when 
mixed with caustic lime. 

Smaller quantities can, however, be used, if diminution but not entire 
removal of smell and putrefaction is desired. Quicklime 5 parts, and 
carbolic acid 1 part, make a good deodorising mixture. If hydrochloric 
acid is added, and then water, the lime is deposited, and the carbolic acid 
floats on the surface, and its amount can be determined. 

16. The Stivern Deodorant.—The water flowing from sugar factories has 
long been a source of annoyance and ill-health; it contains quantities of 
vegetable organisms (Oscillaria alba or Beggiatoa), which act like ferments, 
and rapidly decompose the sulphates in the water, and liberate hydrogen 
sulphide. Herr Siivern, to remedy this, proposed a preparation of coal-tar 
thus prepared: !—A_ bushel and a half of good quicklime are put in a cask 
and slaked; it is well stirred, and 10 tb of coal-tar are thoroughly mixed 
with it, so that the coal-tar may be thoroughly divided. Fifteen pounds of 
magnesium chloride dissolved in hot water are then thoroughly mixed with 
the mass, and then additional hot water is added, enough to make a mass 
of just sufficient liquidity to drop slowly from a stick inserted init and then 
pulled out. The magnesium chloride forms deliquescent calcium chloride, 
magnesia being liberated, and it is found that this prevents the caking of 
the deodorant and the adherence to pipes, This deodorant has come into 
considerable use for cesspools, drains, &c. The Miiller-Schurr deodoriser 
has been already noticed. 

17. Dr F. T. Bond (of Gloucester) introduced some years ago a new 
deodorant in the form of powder and liquid, consisting essentially of 
metallic salts, alum, and terebene (a hydrocarbon derived from turpentine 
by treatment with sulphuric acid). Terebene has a pleasant odour, and so 
far is superior to carbolic acid; its deodorising powers are very considerable, 
and Winter Blyth found that im a 20 per cent. solution the colonies were 
reduced toa minimum. ‘The preparations in the form of powder are various, 
she chief being ferralum and cupralum, the latter being most frequently 
smployed, It consists of copper sulphate, aluminum sulphate, a little 
potassium dichromate, and terebene. It is a very powerful deodorant, 
zounteracting ammonia and hydrogen sulphide, and at least masking fecal 
ydour as much as carbolic acid. Some objections were formerly made to it 
m account of a tendency to deliquescence, due to the presence of sodium 
thloride. This has now been remedied, and the preparation keeps well. 

_ The substance advertised as Sanitas is a hydrocarbon derived from 
turpentine acted upon by steam. It has the advantage of being easily 
niscible with water, but it is not very powerful. 

18. The remarkable power shown by salicylic acid in arresting fermenta- 
jon, and its value in the antiseptic treatment of wounds, would seem to 
ndicate it as a good agent, but it is at present too expensive for use on a 
sarge scale. 

General Conclusion.—It must be remembered that deodorisation is only 
iossible within certain limits, and that in a number of cases only partial 
esults can be obtained, unless very large quantities? of the deodorant are 


1 Trautman, Die Zersetzungsgase, 1869, p. 35. 
| 2TIn experimenting at Netley with the very offensive infusion of linseed, it was found 
(most impossible to get rid of odour without using very large quantities of the deodorants. 
' For further information on the subject of sewage deodorants, see the Reports of the Royal 
ommission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, particularly vol. ii. See also Digest of Facts 
vlating to the Deodorisation and Utilisation of Sewage, by Professor W. H. Corfield and 
WL. Parkes, 3rd edition, 1887, 


446 DISINFECTION AND DEODORISATION. 


used. The most effectual appear to be the terebene preparations, espe-| 
cially the cupralum, and carbolic acid and its preparations. Of these the| 
cupralum has the advantage of destroying hydrogen sulphide and neutralis- 
ing ammonia, which are only masked by the others. Chloride of lime and 
chloride of soda are also powerful, but have themselves a sickly odour, very| 
disagreeable to many persons. The Siivern deodorant is probably the next; 
best, and after that the ferric chloride (FeC],). 


| 
1 


CHAE ai, Sey Ta, 


ON THE PREVENTION OF SOME IMPORTANT 
AND COMMON DISEASES, 


THERE are two modes by which we may attempt to prevent the occurrence 
of disease. 

1. By conforming with the general rules of hygiene, by which the body 
and mind are brought into a state of more vigorous health. The import- 
ance of this as providing a means of resisting disease has not always been 
sufficiently recognised. But there seems little doubt that in many epidemics 
this has been quite as important a factor as the introduction of disease 
poison itself. 

2. By investigating and removing the causes of the diseases which we find 
actually in operation. This part of the inquiry is in fact a necessary supple- 
nent to the other, though in proportion to the observance of the general 
cules of hygiene, the causes of disease will be gradually removed. At pre- 
sent, however, we have to deal with the facts before us, viz., that there 
ie a great number of diseases actually existent which must form the sub- 
ect of investigation. We proceed in this case from the particular to the 
reneral, whereas, in the first mode, we deduce general rules which have to 
ve applied to individual instances. 

_ Hygiene is in this direction an application of etiology, and etiology is the 
shilosophy of medicine ; while in its turn the very foundation and basis of 
tiology is an accurate diagnosis of disease. Unless diseases are completely 
dentified, all inquiry into causes is hopeless. Let us remember, for example, 
yhat utter confusion prevailed in our opinions as to causes and preventive 
aeasures at the time when typhus and enteric fevers were considered iden- 
ical, or when paroxysmal fever and the true yellow fever or vomito were 
hought to own a common cause, Any useful rules of prevention were 
imply impossible—as impossible as at present in many of the diseases of 
utrition, which, in the proper sense of the word, are yet undiagnosed. 

_ The advance of diagnosis has of late years been owing not merely to im- 
roved methods of observation, but to the more complete recognition of the 
reat principle of the invariableness of causation. The sequence of pheno- 
jena in the diseased body proceeds with the same regularity and constancy 
3 in astronomy or chemistry. Like causes always produce like effects. To 
appose that from the same cause should proceed a sequence of phenomena 
) utterly distinct as those of typhus and enteric fever, now seems incredible; 
®t with a full, or at any rate a sufficient knowledge of the phenomena, it 
as at one time almost universally believed that these two perfectly distinct 
‘seases owned a common origin. At the present moment, the superficial 
semblance between gout and rheumatism causes them to be put together 
_ almost all systems of nosolog gy, although, with the exception of the | joints 
sing affected, the diseases have almost nothing i in common, 


1 See Creighton’s Unconscious Memory in Disease, London, Lewis, 1886, 


448 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


In proportion as this great principle is still more constantly applied, and as _ 
our means of diagnosis advance, and consequently, causes are more satis- 
factorily investigated, methods of prevention will become obvious and pre- 
cise. At present they are very far from being so. In many cases they are 
founded on very imperfect observation ; and very frequently all that can be | 
done is to apply general sanitary rules, without attempting to determine 
what are the special preventive measures which each disease requires. 

It is not necessary, however, that we should wait until the causation of | 
any disease is perfectly understood. We must act, as in so many other 
affairs, on probability; and endeavour to remove those conditions which, in 
the present state of our knowledge, seem to be the most likely causes of the © 
disease. It may be that, in some cases, we may be attacking only subsidiary 
or minor causes, and may overlook others equally or more important, In 
some cases, indeed, we may overlook entirely the effective causes, and may 
be fighting with shadows. Still, even from mistakes progress often arises,— _ 
indeed, the difficult path of human knowledge is perhaps always through error, 

The term cause is applied by logicians to any antecedent which has a share 
in producing a certain sequence; and it is well known that in many diseases | 
two sets of causes are in operation—one external and one internal to the 
body (exciting and predisposing). The investigation of the internal causes, | 
which in some cases are necessary to the action of the external causes, is 
equally curious and intricate as that of the external causes, and in some 
respects it is even more obscure; but measures of prevention must deal with 
them as well as with the external causes. 

In this chapter we can, of course, only venture to enumerate very briefly, | 
and without discussion, what seem to be the best rules of prevention for the. 
principal diseases of soldiers. To enter on the great subject of the preven- | 
tion of disease generally, and to discuss all the complicated questions con- 
nected with causation, would demand a volume. 


SECTION I, 
THE SPECIFIC DISEASES. 


Paroxysmal Fevers,+ 


External Cause.—This was presumed to be putrescent, or, at any rate, 
decomposing vegetable matter derived from a moist and putrescent soil, | 
which was carried into the body by the medium of water or of air, But the 
later views of Klebs and Tommasi-Crudeli attribute it to a low organism of 
the nature of Bacillus, to which they have given the name Bacillus malar 
propagated in the presence of decaying vegetable matter. This view, hal 
ever, has not yet been completely corroborated. 

Ii the ingestion is by water, a fresh source must be obtained. Well water 
is generally safe, but not always. Rain water may be unsate, if the tanks) 
are not clean.? If a fresh source cannot be obtained, boiling, filerations and 
alum, as well as infusion with tea or coffee, appear to be the best prevent] 
measures.® 

If the sa rocineare be by air, and if the locality cannot be left, the mosti 


1 See Mr North's Lectures, Brit. Med. Journal, 1887. | 

2 For instance of propagation by so-called rain-water, see cases at Tilbury Fort, noted at 
page 46. 

% Dr Blanc and Mr Prideaux preserved themselves from intermittent fever, in a mareh 1 in, | 

Abyssinia, by always using water in the form of tea or coffee, 


PAROXYSMAL FEVER—YELLOW FEVER. 449 


approved plan is elevation to at least 500 feet above the source of the porson 
in temperate climates ; and 1000 to 1500 feet in the tropics, or higher still, 
if possible.t If this plan cannot be adopted, two points must be aimed at— 
viz., to obviate local, and to avoid drifting malaria. Thorough subsoil 
draining; fillmg up moist ground when practicable; paving or covering the 
eround with herbage kept closely cut, are the best plans for the first point. 
For the second, belts of trees, even walls can be interposed ; or houses can 
be so built as not to present openings towards the side of the malarious 
currents. 

The houses themselves should be raised above the ground on arches ; or, 
if wooden, on piles. Upper floors only should be occupied. The early 
morning air, for three hours after sunrise, should be avoided, and, next to 
this, night air. 

Internal Causes.—The conformation, or structural condition, which per- 
mits the external cause to act, is evidently not equal in different individuals, 
or in different races; but we are quite ignorant of its nature. It is not 
removed by attacks of the disease ; but, on the contrary, after repeated 
attacks of ague, a peculiar condition is produced, in which the disease can 

be brought on by causes, such as cold or dietetic errors, which could never 
have caused it in the first instance. The internal predisposition is greatly 
heightened by poor feeding, anzemia, and probably by scurvy. 

To remove the internal causes our only means at present are the adminis- 
tration of antiperiodics, especially quinine, and good and generous living, 
| with iron medicines. The use of flannel next the skin, and of warm clothing 
_ generally ; warm coffee, and a good meal before the time of exposure to the 

malaria, and perhaps moderate smoking (?), are the other chief measures. 
‘Wine in moderation is part of a generous diet; but spirits are useless, and 
probably hurtful, unless given considerably diluted. 


Yellow Pever. 


Lxternal Cause.—During late years the progress of inquiry has entirely 
disconnected true yellow fever from malaria, though yellowness of the skin 
is a symptom of some malarious fevers. Yellow fever is a disease of cities, 
and of parts of cities, being often singularly localised, like cholera. In the 
West Indies it has repeatedly attacked a barrack (at Bermuda, Trinidad, 
Barbadoes, Jamaica), while no other place in the whole island was affected. 
In the same way (at Lisbon, Cadiz, and many other places) it has attacked 
only one section of a town, and, occasionally, like cholera, only one side of a 
‘street. In the West Indies it has repeatedly commenced in the same part 
of a barrack. In all these points, and in its frequent occurrence in non- 
malarious places, in the exemption of highly malarious places, in its want 
of relation to moisture in the atmosphere, and its as evident connection with 
putrefying feecal and other animal matters, its cause differs entirely from 
malaria.® 
If these points were not sufficient, the fact that the agent or poison which 


causes yellow fever is portable, can be carried and introduced among a com- 
| 


1 It must be understood that these heights are assumed to be above a marsh. They will 
not secure from malaria from marshes, if situated at that or a much greater height. A 
marsh at Erzeroum is 6000 feet above sea-level; one at Puebla, in New Mexico, is 5000 feet ; 
both cause fevers. 

2 See Creighton, op. cif. 

8 The belief in the malarious origin of yellow fever, so long and tenaciously held by many 
American physicians, seems to be ‘losing ground. (See paper by Dr Perry, read before the 
American Health Association, The Daily Picayune, Noy. 23, 1873.) 


2F 


450 PREVENTION OF DISEASE, 


munity, and is increased in the bodies of those whom it attacks, indicates 
that the two agencies of yellow fever and paroxysmal fevers are entirely 
distinct.” 

That great point being considered settled, the inquiry into the conditions 
of the spread of yellow fever becomes easier. The points to seize are its 
frequent and regular localisation and its transportation. The localisation at 
once disconnects it from any general atmospheric wave of poison; it is no 
doubt greatly influenced by temperature, and is worse when the tempera- 

*ture is above 70° Fahr. (21° C.). Though it will continue to spread in a 
colder air than was formerly supposed, it does not spread rapidly, and 
appears to die out; but even temperature does not cause it to become 
general in a place. 

The localising causes are evidently (cases of Lisbon, Gibraltar, West Indies, 
&c.) connected with accumulation of excreta round dwellings, and overcrowd- 
ing. Of the former there are abundant instances, and it is now coming out 
more and more clearly that, to use a convenient phrase, yellow fever, like 
cholera and typhoid fever, is a fecal disease. And here we find the explana- 
tion of its localisation in the West Indian barracks in the olden time. Round 
every barrack there were cesspits, often open to sun and air. Every evacua- 
tion of healthy and sick men was thrown into perhaps the same places. 
Grant that yellow fever was somehow or other introduced, and let us 
assume (what is highly probable) that the vomited and fecal matters spread 
the disease, and it is evident why, in St James’ Barracks at Trinidad, or St 
Ann’s Barracks at Barbadoes, men were dying by dozens, while at a little 
distance there was no disease. The prevalence on board ship is as easily 
explained. Granted that yellow fever is once imported into the ship, then 
the conditions of spread are probably as favourable as in the most crowded 
city ; planks and cots get impregnated with the discharges, which may even 
find their way into the hold and bilge. No one who knows how difficult it 
is to help such impregnation in the best hospitals on shore, and who remem- 
bers the imperfect arrangements on board ship for sickness, will doubt this. 
Then, in many ships, indeed in almost all, in unequal degrees, ventilation is 
most imperfect, and the air is never cleansed. 

Overcrowding, and what is equivalent, defective ventilation, is another 
great auxiliary ; and Bone ® relates several striking instauces.* 

The question of the origin of yellow fever is one which cannot be con- 
sidered in this volume, and at present no preventive rules of importance can 
be drawn from the discussion. Audouard’s view, however, may be cited as 


1 Cases of the Bann, Eclair, Icarus, and several others. The remarkable introduction of 
yellow fever from Havannah into St Nazaire, in France (near Brest), is most striking, and 
cannot be explained away. It spread both from the ship, and, in one instance, from persons. 
(See Aitken’s Medicine, 7th edit., 1880 ; and Report on Hygiene for 1862, in the Army Medical 
Report, by Dr Parkes.) The introduction into Rio in 1849, and into Monte Video, are still 
more striking cases of importation; and a case very similar to that of St Nazaire occurred 
some years ago at Swansea. (See Report (by Dr Buchanan) to the Medical Officer of the Privy 
Council, 1865.) 

2 As more care is taken, the symptoms of the two diseases also are found to be diagnostic, 
and if it were not for the constant use of the unhappy term “ remittent,” the confusion 
would not have so long prevailed. 

An interesting instance of good diagnosis was made by the French at Vera Cruzin 1861. In 
the spring the vomito prevaiied, and then disappeared. Some months afterwards, cases of a 
disease occurred so like yellow fever that they were at first taken to be that disease, but ona 
closer examination they were found to be clearly paroxysmal, and to yield to quinine.—Kee, 
de Mem. de Méd. Milit., 1863. 

® Yellow Fever, by G. F. Bone, Assist.-Surg. to the Forces. 

+ For example, in the same barrack, the windward rooms have been quite healthy, and the 
leeward rooms attacked. Men in the latter have ceased to have cases of the disease when 
moved to the former locality. (See a good case in Bone, op. cit., p. 13.) 


YELLOW FEVER. 451. 


having much to commend it, viz., that it is due to the dysenteric evacua- 
tions of slaves in the slave-trade times. The known immunity of the black 
races to the disease seems to corroborate this. 

The chief preventive measures for the external cause are these :— 

1. The portability being proved, the greatest care should be taken to pre- 
vent introduction, either by sick men or by men who have left an infected 
ship. The case of the “Anne Marie”! has made it quite uncertain what 
period of time should have elapsed before an infected ship can be considered 
safe ; in fact, it probably cannot be safe until the cargo has been discharged 
and the ship thoroughly cleansed. Still, it appears that if men leaving an 
affected place or ship pass into places well ventilated and in fair sanitary 
condition, they seldom carry the disease; in other words, the disease is 
seldom portable by men, but it will occur. It appears necessary, also, to 
consider that the incubative period is longer than usually supposed, pro- 
bably often fourteen or sixteen days. In the case of a ship, it seems desir- 
able not to consider danger over until at least twenty days have elapsed 
since the cure or death of the last case, and even at that time to thoroughly 
fumigate the ship with chlorine and nitrous acid before the cargo is touched. 
Men working on board such a ship should work by relays, so as not to be 
more than an hour at a time in the hold.? 

In case men sick with yellow fever must be received into a barrack or 
hospital, they should be isolated, placed in the best-ventilated rooms at the 
top of the house, if possible, or, better still, in separate houses, and all 
discharges mixed with zinc sulphate, zine chloride, or mercuric chloride, and 
separately disposed of, and not allowed to pass into any closet or latrine, or, 
better still, burned. 

2. The introduction by drinking water not being disproved, care 
should be taken that the possibility of this mode of introduction be not 
overlooked. The provision of pure drinking water is also a part of general 
hygiene. 

3. Perfect sewerage and ventilation of any station would probably in 
great measure preserve from yellow fever, but, in addition, in the yellow 
fever zone, elevation is said to have a very great effect, though the con- 
fusion between malarious fevers and the vomito renders the evidence on 
this point less certain, and its introduction into Newcastle, in Jamaica (4200 
feet), and its frequent occurrence at Xalapa (4330 feet), as well as its pre- 
valence on high points of the Andes (9000 feet) (A. Smith), show that the 
effect of mere elevation has been overrated. Still, as a matter of precau- 
tion, stations in all yellow fever districts should be on elevations above 
2000, and if possible 3000 feet. 

_ 4. If an outbreak of yellow fever occur in a barrack, it is impossible 
then to attempt any cleansing of sewers ; the only plan is to evacuate the 
barracks. This has been done many times in the West Indies with the 
best effects. As a preventive measure, also, evacuation of the barracks, 
and encampment at some little distance, is a most useful plan. Before the 
barrack is reoccupied, every possible means should be taken to cleanse it ; 
sewers should be thoroughly flushed ; walls scraped, limewashed, and fumi- 
gated with nitrous acid. If a barrack cannot be altogether abandoned, the 


1 See Aitken’s Medicine, and Report on Hygiene in the Army Medical Report for 1862. 

2 Dr Perry (op. cit.) considers quarantine useless, and advises a most rigorous system of 
lisinfection. He cites eight instances of the introduction of yellow fever through a strict 
juarantine,—seven to New Orleans and one to Pensacola. 

8 See the case of the city of Mempbis, in the valley of the Mississippi; see Col. Waring’s 
yaper in Trans. Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 291. 


452 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


ground floors should be disused. There are several instances in which persons 
living in the lowest story have been attacked, while those above have 
escaped. 

5. Where fumigation is employed, nitrous acid seems to be, as far as we 
know, the best disinfectant for this disease. 

6. If it appears on board ship, take the same precautions with regard to 
evacuations, bedding, &c. Treat all patients in the open air on deck, if the 
.,Weather permit; run the ship for a colder latitude; land all the sick as 
soon as possible, and cleanse and fumigate the ship. 

Internal Cause.—Recent arrival in a hot country has been usually 
assigned as a cause, but the confusion between true yellow fever, severe 
febricula (ardent fever or cauvsus) and malarious fevers renders it uncertain 
how far this cause operates. Still, as a matter of precaution, the present 
plan of three or four years’ Mediterranean service before passing to the 
West Indies seems desirable, although this has been questioned by some 
experienced officers. Different races possess the peculiar habit which allows 
the external cause to act in very different degrees; this is marked in the 
cases of negroes and mulattoes as compared with white men, but even in 
the European nations it has been supposed that the northern are more 
subject than the southern nations. Of the sexes, women are said to be less 
liable than men. 

This predisposition is increased by fatigue,? and, it is said, especially 
when combined with exposure to the sun; by drinking, and by improper 
food of any kind which lowers the tone of the body. 

No prophylactic medicine is known; quinine is quite useless. 

Little, therefore, can be done to avert the internal causes, except care in 
not undergoing great fatigue, temperance, and proper food. 


Dengue. 


This disease, which has attracted much attention of late years, appears 
to bear some relation to yellow fever, not in its pathological characters, but 
in the time of its appearance and geographical distribution. It has, how- 
ever, prevailed in Asia, where yellow fever has hitherto been unknown. In 
Egypt (according to Vauvray) it is seen at the time of the date-harvest, 
and is known as “‘date-fever.” In other parts of the world it has been 
attributed to vegetable emanations. Although its symptoms are those of 
blood-poisoning, it may be doubted if this is due to vegetable emanations 
only. Dr J. Christie? thinks that the Dengue of the Eastern and the 
Dandy fever of the Western Hemispheres are varieties of the same disease, 
produced in the one case by the virus of yellow fever, and in the other by 
that of cholera, modified by local conditions of an insanitary kind, chiefly 
decomposition of bodies improperly interred. He suggests general hygieni¢ 
measures, and especially improved methods of burial, as the best preven- 
tives. 


1 JIn the old times in Jamaica it was, however, always noticed that the worst attacks 
occurred in regiments during the first twenty-four, and especially the first twelve months. 
In thirteen epidemics in different regiments, four occurred in less than six months after 
landing, seven in less than twelve months, and two in less than twenty-four months. But 
it has been stated that residence in one place, though it may secure against the yellow fever 
of that, does not protect against the disease in another locality. It is much to be wished 
that all these assertions which abound in books should be tested by figures. That is the 
only way of coming to a decision. 

2 Arnold, Bilious Remittent Fever, 1840, p. 32. 

® Transactions of the International Medical Congress, 1882, vol. iv. p. 636. 


CHOLERA. 453 


Cholera. 


External Cause-—We have no certain clue to the origin of cholera,? and 
in some respects the propagation of the disease is very enigmatical. The 
way, for example, in which the disease has spread over vast regions, and 
has then entirely disappeared,’ and the mode in which it seems to develop 
and decline in a locality, in a sort of regular order and at certain seasons, 
are facts which we can only imperfectly explain. 

But as far as preventive measures are concerned, the researches of late 
years seem to have given us indications on which we are bound to act, 
though they are based only on a partial knowledge of the laws of spread of 
this poison. 

These indications are— 

1. The portability of the disease, z.e., the carriage of cholera from one 
place to another by persons ill with the disease, both in the earliest stage 
(the so-called premonitory diarrhcea) and the later period, and in con- 
valescence.t The carriage by healthy persons coming from infected dis- 
tricts is not so certain; but there is some evidence.’ It is clear this last 
point is a most important one, in which it is desirable to have more com- 
plete evidence. The occasional carriage by soiled clothes, though not on 
the whole common, has also evidence in its favour. All these points were 
atirmed by the Vienna Conference of 1874. Even Pettenkofer admitted 
that man is the carrier of the disease germ, although the /ocality may be 
the means of rendering it potent. On the other hand, Dr J. M. Cuningham® 
makes a tabula rasa of everything, denies the transportability of the disease 
either by persons or by water, and says there is a mysterious factor still to 
be sought for. His evidence, however, cannot be considered as conclusive. 

Whatever may be the final opinion on all these points, we are bound to 
act as if they were perfectly ascertained. It is usually impossible to have 
rigid quarantines ; for nothing short of absolute non-communication would 
be useful, and this is impossible except in exceptional cases. For persons 
very slightly ill, or who have the disease in them but are not yet apparently 
ill, or possibly who are not and will not be ill at all, can give the disease, 
and therefore a selection of dangerous persons cannot be made.’ Then, as 
the incubative stage can certainly last for ten or twelve days, and there are 
some good cases on record where it has lasted for more than twenty, it is 
clear that quarantine, unless enforced for at least the last period of time, 


1 For Special Instructions, see Appendix 5, Medical Regulations, 1885. 

2 The researches of Lewis and D. D. Cunningham in India, and of Eberth,! of Ziirich, 
showed that no specific germ had then been discovered, and disproved the fungoid and other 
origins proposed by Hallier, &c. The more recent observations of Koch, &c., have been 
already referred to. 

3 There is, of course, no doubt that the common autumnal cholera, however much it may 
_ resemble superficially the Indian cholera, is quite a separate disease, although some recent 
observers appear inclined to hold a different opinion. 

4 With respect to convalescence, the only evidence is apparently that given by Volz, 
quoted by Hirsch, Jahresb. fur ges. Med., 1868, Band ii. p. 221. 

5 Especially in the Mauritius outbreaks, where parties of coolies coming from places where 
cholera prevailed, but being themselves healthy, gave cholera to other parties of coolies who 
had arrived from India, and had no disease among them. Dr Leith Adams (Army Medical 
| Report, vol. vi. p. 348), in his excellent Report on Cholera in Malta, states :—‘‘ There are 
| many pointed facts to show that cholera may be introduced and communicated to susceptible 
persons by healthy individuals from infected districts.” 

6 Ninth Annual Report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India. 

7 Pettenkofer believes that man is the carrier of the poison, whether he he sick or well, 
and that the sick man is not a danger because he is actually ill of cholera, but because he 
comes from the infected locality. 


1 Zur Kenntniss der Bacteritischen Mykosen, Von J, C. Eberth, 1873, 


454 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


may be useless. The constant evasions also of the most strict cordon render 
such plans always useless. An island, or an inland village, far removed 
from commerce, and capable for a time of doing without it, may, perhaps, 
practise quarantine and preserve itself; but, in other circumstances, both 
theory and actual experience show that quarantine fails.1  M. Fauvel? 
believed that the quarantine measures adopted in the Red Sea had been 
instrumental in preventing the spread of cholera to Europe on three 
separate occasions, namely, 1872, 1877, and 1881. The futility of quaran- 
tine was, however, distinctly affirmed by the Committee appointed by the 
Secretary of State for India to consider the Report of MM. Klein and 
Heneage Gibbes in 1885. 

This difficulty, however, of carrying out efficient isolation is no argument 
against taking every precaution against communication, and keeping a 
strict watch and control over every possible channel of introduction. — In 
this way, by isolation of the individual, or of bodies of men, as far as pos- 
sible, and by looking out for and dealing with the earliest case, an outbreak 
may perhaps be checked, especially by discovering the diarrhceal attacks, 
and by using disinfectants both to the discharges and to linen.? In the 
case of troops coming from infected districts they should be kept in separate 
buildings for twenty days, and ordered to use only the latrines attached to 
them, in which disinfectants should be freely used. 

2. The introduction of the disease into any place by persons is considered 
by most observers to be connected with the choleraic discharges, either 
when newly passed, or, according to some, when decomposing. The reasons 
for this are briefly these: the portability being certain, the thing carried is 
more likely to be in the discharges from the stomach and bowels than from 
the skin or breath (the urine is out of the question), and for these reasons :— 
Water can communicate the disease, and this could only be by contamina- 
tion with the discharges ; water contaminated by discharges has actually 
given the disease, as in Dr Macnamara’s cases ; in some cases a singularly 
local origin is proved, and this is nearly always a latrine, sewer, or recep- 
tacle of discharges, or a soil impregnated with choleraic evacuations ; soiled 
linen has sometimes given it, and this is far more likely to be from dis- 
charges than from the perspiration ; animals (white mice and rabbits) have 
had cholera produced in them from feeding on the dried discharges. 
Finally, in the history of the portability of cholera, there are many 
instances in which, while there has been decided introduction by a diseased 
person into a place, there has been no immediate relation between that 
person and the next case; in other words, the cause must be completely 
detachable from the first case, and must be able to act at a distance from 


1 When circumstances are favourable (as respects trade and intercourse), however, good 
quarantine may be successful even on the mainland. This was shown in Algeria in 1861. 
See Dr Dukerley’s Notice sur les Measures de Préservation prises a Batna (Algerie) pendant 
le Choléra de 1867, Paris, 1868, for a very interesting account of those successful measures of 
which strict isolation and constant hygienic measures were the principal. So also in 
America, Dr Woodward states (Circular on Cholera, No. 5 Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, 1867) that ‘“‘the general tenor of army experience is strongly in favour of 
quarantine.” Quarantine on land was condemned by the Vienna Conference, but recom- 
mended on the Red Sea and the Caspian. In Europe, however, only rigorous inspection 
was recommended, with various rules for preventing spread as much as possible. 

2 Revue d' Hygiene, vol. iv. 1882, p. 754. 

* The Indian Government are now cautiously attempting to limit the spread of cholera by 
superintending and controlling the pilgrimages, which are so common a cause of the spread 
of cholera in India. The Report of the Cholera Committee (Inspector-General Mackenzie, 
Colonel Silva, and Dr Ranking) to the Madras Government, published at Madras in 1868, 
gives a great deal of important evidence on this point, and in addition lays down excellent 
rules for the management of pilgrimages. 


CHOLERA. 455 


his body; it is therefore far more probable that the discharges are this 
carrying agency, than that any effluvia should pass off from the lungs and 
skin which could spread to a great distance. 

Enough has been said to show that the discharges must receive the most 
careful attention. Every discharge ought to be disinfected with strong 
substances liberally used; the best are carbolic acid (in large quantity), 
perchloride of iron, chloride of zinc, chloride of lime, corrosive sublimate 
(used very diluted and with caution), cupralum, or, if none of these are at 
hand, good quicklime. Although the results of disinfection of the dis- 
charges have not hitherto been encouraging, the plan has seldom been com- 
pletely tried. All latrines should be disinfected, sewers flushed, carbolic 
acid poured down them, and every means taken to keep them ventilated. 

What should be done with the disinfected discharges? Should they be 
allowed to pass into sewers, or buried in the ground? They must in some 
way be got rid of. Sewers certainly afford an easy mode of disposing of 
them ; and as the discharges are mixed with much water, and are rapidly 
swept away in them, and as the temperature of the sewers is low, and 
decomposition is delayed, it is quite possible that sewers may be a means of 
freeing a town from choleraic discharges more easily than any other plan. 
And it appears to be a fact that in the well-sewered towns in England the 
cholera of 1865 and 1866 never attained any wide spread. In Munich, in 
the cholera epidemic of 1873, the well-sewered parts of the town had only 
one-half the sickness and mortality of the others, which were either imper- 
fectly drained or not at all! In large towns, also, there are no other 
means of disposing of the discharges. But may not sewers be a means of 
dissemination,” and thus, as in some outbreaks of enteric fever, be a source 
of danger? And again, when sewerage is poured over land, as it will be 
soon throughout all England, are we quite sure that no choleraic effluvia 
will pass off, or that the choleraic particles passing into the ground may 
not develop there, as Pettenkofer supposes is the case? There are no facts 
to enable us to decide, but the possibility of mischief arising in this way 
should, at any rate, make us still more urgent in the use of disinfectants to 
all discharges. 

Again, as to disposal in the earth, if Pettenkofer is correct, that a loose 
moist earth is the place where the supposed germ of cholera acquires its 
power, the last place we should put a choleraic discharge would be the 
earth ; still, as there is much to be said against Pettenkofer’s views, and 
as in small towns and villages there is only the alternative of allowing the 
discharges to pass into cesspools or streams, or to be disposed of in the 
earth, it would seem to be the safest course to deeply bury all disinfected 
discharges, care being taken to place them at a distance from houses and 
from sources of water supply. Another excellent plan would be to mix 
them with sawdust and burn them. 

That linen and bedding should be carefully disinfected needs no argu- 
ment; compressed steam is to be preferred. In some English towns all 
cholera clothing has been burnt, but whether this measure is necessary or 
not is uncertain. But thorough steeping and boiling before washing is 
essential, as washerwomen have certainly suffered in many cases. 

3. The introduction of the agent by the medium of the air is generally 
admitted, on the plea that cases occur in which any other mode of entrance is 


1 Soyka, Deutsche Viertlj. f. off. Ges., Band xiv. Heft 1, p. 54, 1882. ‘ 
2 That these may be so, in a particular way, was shown to be probable in Dr Parkes’ 
Report on Cholera in Southampton (Sixth Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, 


| p. 251); but still there is very little evidence on this point. 


456 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


impossible. Itis also held by some that, existing in the air, it can be carried 
for great distances by winds ; and some observers indeed believe this to be its 
usual mode of transit, though this opinion appears opposed to all we know 
of its spread. 

Without attempting to decide the point or to state the limits of the trans- 
mission, it is a matter of prudence to act as if the winds did carry the poison. 
The Indian rule is to march at right angles to the wind, and never against it 
or with it if it can be avoided. The spreading by the winds in India has 
been usually ascribed to the custom of throwing all the cholera evacuations on 
the ground ; there they get dried, and then are lifted by the wind and driven 
to other parts. This seems probable, but no decided proof has been given ; 
and an argument against it may be raised on the difficulty of accounting for 
the immunity of adjacent places if such transmission were common. So also 
the use of aérial disinfectants in cholera is rendered imperative by the chance 
that the cause may be in the air. The use of sulphur fires has been advo- 
cated and tried in India, apparently with good effect (Crerar and Tuson). 
The Vienna Conference affirmed transmission by the air, but only to a short 
distance, and never faster than man travels. They also recognised the great 
safeguard afforded by deserts, as the disease has never been known to be 
imported into Egypt or Syria across the desert by caravans from Mecca.t 

4. The occasional, perhaps frequent, introduction by water seems certain. 
It was unanimously affirmed at the Vienna Conference, even by Pettenkofer, 
who has, however, since abandoned this view. It is a good plan always to 
change the source of supply, to use rain-water if no other fresh source is 
procurable ; and in every case to boil and filter, and to use also potassium 
permanganate.2 It remains yet uncertain whether a water which gives 
cholera is always chemically impure, or whether the choleraic matter may 
be in so small a quantity as to be absolutely indetectable. In the two cases 
examined by Dr Parkes, in which the water was the cause, it was highly 
impure. In India it is now ordered that all the water should be boiled.* 

5. The introduction by food has been noted in some cases (although the 
Vienna Conference decided, by 11 to 7, that present facts do not warrant a 
decision). Every article of food, solid and liquid, should therefore be passed 
in review, and the cooking arrangements gone over step by step.* 

6. The localisation of cholera is a marked feature in its history.° It is 
often as marked as in yellow fever, and may be confined to a very small area. 
At other times, in India, the “tainted district” may be of some extent. 
From this fact of localisation arises the important rule of always leaving the 


1 On this point the history of Chili is interesting, as cholera has never reached it. It is 
separated on the north from Peru by the desert of Attacama, and from the Argentine Con- 
federation on the east by the Andes range, to which circumstances its immunity hitherto from 
epidemic diseases has been ascribed by the inhabitants. More recently, however, it is stated 
to have appeared there. 

+ In the very able Report on Epidemic Cholera in the United States Army (Circular No. 5, 
War Department; Surgeon-General’s Office, Washington) is what appears to be a good in- 
stance of the effect of changing the supply. At New Orleans rain, and in some cases distilled, 
water was supplied instead of river water, with the apparent effect of checking the spread 
(p. xvii.); see also the cases of Utrecht and Rotterdam, as reported by Buys-Ballot. 

3G. O. GC. C., No. 192, clause 53. FGrster, of Breslau (Die Verbreitung der Cholera durch 
die Brunnen, 1873), urges two recommendations which he thinks will prevent cholera in the 
future—Ist, Lead to every town, even if at great cost, abundant and pure water, as indeed 
was done, he says, much better 2000 years ago than now. 2nd, Protect the ground from 
contamination in any way from excrement, and banish all cesspits. The ground must be 
absolutely pure, and this can only be if all faecal matter is removed to a distance. 

4 See Dr Fairweather’s Delhi case in the Sanitary Report of the Punjab for 1871; also 
given in Report on Hygiene. in the Army Medical Report, vol. xiii. (1873). 

5 Surgeon P. Cullen (Indian Medical Gazette, 1st July 1873) notices a very singular case of 
localisation at Etarsi. 


CHOLERA. 457 


locality when practicable, and in a large town of clearing out the house where 
cholera has happened. In India the present rule is to march the men out 
and encamp ina healthy spot at some little distance, changing the encamp- 
ing ground from time to time. On the whole, this has acted well, and 
should be adhered to, though occasionally it has failed, generally, however, 
it would seem, from error in choice of locality. 'The men should be tented ; 
the tents should be well ventilated, and often struck and repitched ; an 
elevated spot should be chosen, and damp and low soils and river banks 
avoided. Orders lay down with precision the exact steps to be taken by a 
regiment when cholera threatens.! The rule of marching out must, of 
course, be subject to some exceptions. It has been advised that it should 
not be done in the rainy season in India. This must depend on the locality. 
It appears sometimes to have answered well, even in heavy rains ; but in 
other cases the rains may be too heavy. No absolute rule can be laid 
down ; but the circumstances which are allowed to set aside the grand rule 
of evacuation of a tainted place should be unequivocal. 

In connection with change of locality, the opinions of Pettenkofer should 
be borne in mind. Pettenkofer believes that, of all conditions, the effect of 
soil is the most important. It is necessary, then, to consider particularly 
the nature of the soil where the fresh camps are to be placed, and to select 
perfectly dry, and, if possible, pure, impermeable, uncontaminated soils, and 
to prevent the cholera discharges from percolating through the ground. 

7. Men sick from cholera are also best treated in well-ventilated tents, 
whenever the season admits of it. Even in cold countries, up to the end of 
October or the middle of November tents can be used if properly warmed. 
In India it should be a rule to treat every cholera patient in a tent, as far 
as circumstances permit it. 

Internal Causes.—General feebleness of health gives no predisposition, nor 
is robust health a safeguard ; some even have thought that the strongest. 
men suffer most. Great fatigue, and especially if continued from day to 
day, greatly predisposes ; of this there seems no doubt.? No certain influ- 
ence has yet been traced to diet, although it has been supposed that a vege- 
table diet and alkalinity of the intestinal contents may predispose. It does 
not appear that insufficient diet has any great effect, though there is some 
slight evidence that scurvy increases the mortality, and perhaps the predis- 
position.’ The strictest temperance does not preserve from attacks; but 
every one agrees that spirits are no protection, and that debauchery increases 
iability. 
| Of pre-existing diseases, it has been supposed that cardiac affections and 
oulmonary emphysema predispose ; the evidence is very unsatisfactory. If 


1 The order in India is, if a single case occur in a barrack, to vacate that part of the bar- 
rack, and to encamp the men in the cantonment. If a second case occur among the body of 
men thus removed, they are again moved, and the building or tent is vacated and purified. 
(f a third case occur in this body of men within a week, they are removed to the preparatory 
vamp. 

Buildings are purified by seraping and washing walls with hot caustic limewash ; boiling 
yunkah fringes, ropes, curtains, &c., and using chloride of lime or other disinfectant. Tents 
we purified by being fumigated with either chlorine, nitrous acid, or sulphurous acid, and 
shen exposed to the weather for ten days. Railway carriages, after occupation by troops 
varrying cholera, are purified by washing with boiling water containing in each gallon a wine- 
slassful of carbolic acid, and burning sulphur in the closed carriages for two hours. If troops 
re moved by rail, they are not to use latrines, but trenches are to be dug for them 
IG. O. C. C., No. 193). 

_ 2 There are many instances of the effects of long marches. See Orton, Lorimer, and Thom, 
uoted in Brit. and For. Med. Chir. Rev., July 1848, pp. 85-87. 

| 8 For some evidence as to scurvy, see Pearce and Shaw, ‘‘ On the Cholera of the Jail at 
Jalicut,” Madras Medical Journal, Suly 1863. 


458 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


Beale’s observations be correct, post-mortem examinations often show pre- 
vious affection of the villi and mucous membranes of the intestines gene- 
rally ; but it is very desirable there should be more proof of this. 

Diarrhcea predisposes ; and any causes which lead to diarrhea, especially 
impure water, dietetic errors, &c., should be carefully looked after. 

With regard to prophylactic measures (except in respect to proper diet, 
free ventilation, and pure water) nothing has been yet made out. Quinine 
has been recommended, and should certainly be given, especially in malari- 
‘ous countries, as it is a fact that the choleraic poison and malaria may act 
together, and even give a slight periodical character to choleraic attacks, 
which is never seen in non-malarious districts, and is therefore merely 
grafted on cholera. Peppers, spices, &c., have been used, but there is no 
good evidence respecting them. All diarrhea should be immediately 
checked, and this is well known to be the most important point connected 
with the prevention of the internal causes. The universal order in India is, 
that any man going twice in one day to the latrine should report himself ; 
and non-commissioned officers are usually stationed at the latrines to watch 
the men. The reason of this rule should be fully explained to the men. 
In two attacks of cholera in India, Dr Parkes found it almost impossible to 

_get the men to report themselves properly; the slight diarrhoea of early 
cholera is so painless that they think nothing of it! In England and Ger- 
many house-to-house visitation has been found very useful.? 


Typhus Exanthematicus (Spotted Typhus). 


Lxternal Cause.—An animal poison, origin unknown, but communicable 
from person to person, probably through the excretions of the skin and lungs 
floating in the air. Not known to be communicated by water or food. Its 
spread and its fatality are evidently connected with overcrowding and de- 
bility of body from deficient food. That it can be produced by overcrowd- 
ing alone is yet uncertain.? The preventive measures may be thus shortly 


1 Several points have been taken from Mr Dickinson’s useful little pamphlet on the Hygiene 
of Indian Cholera, 1863. 

2 Great importance has been attached to the meteorological condition attending outbreaks 
of cholera ; they do not appear to be very important, except in two or three cases. 

1. Lemperature.—A high temperature favours the spread by increasing the putrefaction of 
the stools, and by augmenting generally the impurity of the air. When cholera has pre- 
vailed at a low temperature (it has been severe at a temperature below freezing), the drink- 
ing water has possibly been the cause. 

2. Pressure lias no effect. The old observation of Prout, that the air is heavier in cholera 
epidemics, has never been confirmed. 

3. Moisture in Air.—Combined with heat, this seems an accessory cause of importance, 
probably by aiding transmission. Moisture in the ground, combined with heat of the soil, has 
always been recognised as an aiding cause of great importance. 

4. Dryness of Air seems decidedly to check it. 

5. Rain sometimes augments, sometimes checks it. This, perhaps, depends on the amount 
of rain, and on whether it renders the drinking water more or less pure. A very heavy rain 
is a great purifier. 

6. Movement of Air.—It is certainly worst in the stagnant atmospheres, as in the cases of 
all the specific poisons. 

7. Electricity is not known to have any effect. This was particularly examined by Mr 
Lamont, in Munich, one of the most celebrated physical philosophers of our time, but with 
entirely negative results. 

8. Ozone has no effect, either in its presence or absence (Schultze, Voltotine, De Wethe, 
Lamont, Strambio, Wunderlich). 

® During the French war of 1870, although there was much crowding, wretchedness, and 
misery in Paris, and particularly in Metz, there was but little typhus ; it was nothing like the 
amount in the first Napoleon’s time (Grellois, Histoire Médicale du blocus de Mela, 
1872, Chauffard, Académie de Médicine). 


TYPHUS—PLAGUE—ENTERIC FEVER. 459 


summed up :—Adopt isolation ! of patients ; use the freest ventilation (5000 
to 6000 cubic feet per head per hour or more); evolve nitrous acid and 
chlorine fumes in places not in actual occupation ; thoroughly fumigate 
with sulphurous acid, heat (to 220° Fahr.), wash, and expose to air all bed- 
ding (including mattresses) and clothes. This last point is extremely im- 
portant. In fact, it may be said that, for the prevention as well as treat- 
ment of typhus, the cardinal measures are abundance of pure air and pure 
water. Whenever practicable, treat all typhus patients in tents, or wooden 
huts with badly-joined walls, not in hospitals. Fumigate tents and scrape 
and limewash huts, and remove earth from time to time from the floors. 
A number of typhus patients should never be aggregated ; they must be 
dispersed ; and if cases begin to spread in an hospital, clear the ward, and 
then, if the disease continues, the hospital itself; then wash with chloride of 
lime, and then limewash or scrape walls and floors, and thoroughly fumigate 
with nitrous acid. It has been often shown that even exposure to weather, 
bad diet, and insufficient attendance are less dangerous to the patients than 
the aggregation of cases of typhus. 

Internal Causes.—A special condition of body is necessary, as in the case 
of smallpox, and one attack protects to a great extent from another. The 
nature of the internal condition is unknown; but general feebleness from 
bad diet, overwork, exhaustion, and especially the scorbutic taint, greatly 
increase the intensity of the disease in the individual, and perhaps aid its 
spread. These conditions, then, must be avoided. But the strongest and 
best health is no guarantee against an attack of typhus. 


Bubo or Oriental Plague (Pali Plague in India).? 


The preventive measures should be the same as in typhus, to which this 
disease shows great analogy. The history of the plague at Cairo (from which 
it has now been banished for many years simply by improving the ventila- 
tion of the city),? and the disappearance, after sanitary improvements, of 
the Pali plague in India, and its recurrence on the cessation of preventive 
measures, show that, like typhus, the bubo plague is easily preventible. 
Elevation, as in so many other specific diseases, has a considerable effect : 
the village of Alum Dagh, near Constantinople (1640 feet above the sea), 
and freely ventilated, has never been attacked ; the elevated citadel of Cairo 
has generally been spared ; and when Barcelona was attacked the elevated 


citadel also escaped. 


Enteric or Typhoid Fever. 


External Cause.—A poison of animal origin; one mode of propagation is 
by the intestinal discharges of persons sick of the disease ; other modes of 


1 By the term isolation is meant the placing a patient in a separate building, not in another 
oom in the same building; in the case of smallpox, typhus, and scarlet fever this partial 
solation, though sometimes successful, cannot be depended upon. If a room must be chosen 
nthe same building, choose the top story, if a room can be there found. 

* The Pali plague (Maha Mari), which was most common in Rajpootana, was evidently pro- 
vagated by the filthy habits of the inhabitants (see Ranken and others), and was some years 
go almost entirely got rid of by sanitary measures. Subsequently, these were neglected, and 
he disease returned. It has now again greatly lessened. Hirsch has pointed out that the 
Pali plague differs from the Egyptian plague in having a marked lung disease, and in this it 
vesembles the black death in the fourteenth century, with which Hirsch, in fact, considers it 
\dentical. 

_ * Stamm, in Pappenheim’s Beitrdge, 1862-3, p. 80. The measures adopted in Cairo were 
vevelling some hillocks which stopped the air from blowing over the city, fillmg up some 
narshes, and adopting a better mode of burial. The peculiar sepulture customs of the Copt 


i : 5 aie 
jaye even indeed been assigned as the sole cause of the origin of plague. 


460 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


origin and transmission are not disproved. There is doubtless a frequent 
transmission of the disease by the diarrhoea of mild cases which are often 
not diagnosed. There is some evidence that persons considered convales- 
cent may carry the disease,! but it is possible that this may have been 
owing to badly washed clothes. The mode of entrance into the body is 
both by air and water. Entrance by food (milk) has been also proved in 
recent years. As means of arresting the disease, isolate the patients ; 
receive all evacuations (feeces and urine) into the vessels strictly kept for 
sone sick person; place mercuric or zinc chloride, or ferrous sulphate, or 
carbolic acid, &c., in the vessels; never empty any evacuation into a closet, 
sewer, or cesspool; bury it several feet deep, and mix it well with earth. 
Fumigate, and heat to 220° Fahr. (104°°5 C.), all clothes and bedding. As 
means of prevention attend especially to the purity of the drinking water, 
and to the disposal of sewage; although the origin of enteric fever merely 
from putrefying non-enteric sewage is not considered at present to be 
probable, it is not disproved, and it is certain that the disease may spread 
by the agency of sewers and fecal decomposition. A single case of enteric 
fever should at once be held to prove that something is wrong with the 
mode of getting rid of the excretions. If neither water nor sewers can be 
proved to be in fault, consider the milk and other food supply. 

Internal Causes.—As a first attack preserves in a great measure from a 
second, a peculiar condition of body is as essential as in smallpox; and 
looking to the special effect produced on Peyer's patches, and to the fact 
that at the period of life when these patches naturally degenerate, the 
susceptibility to typhoid fever materially lessens, or even ceases, it seems 
possible that the internal cause or necessary second condition is the exist- 
ence of these patches, the structures in which are brought into an abnormal 
state of activity by the direct or indirect action of the poison on them. 
The other internal causes are anything which causes gastro-intestinal dis- 
order, such as bad water, and general feebleness. 


Relapsing Fever. 


No preventive measures have been yet pointed out, but the occurrence of 
the disease in times of famine seems to indicate that feebleness and inanition 
are necessary internal causes. One attack seems to give no immunity from 
future attacks.? 


Bilious Remittent Fevers. 


Under this vague term a disease or diseases, which in many points are 
like relapsing fever, but yet are not identical (Marston), have been de- 
scribed as occurring especially in Egypt (Griesinger), and in the Levant 
generally. It has also been described by Drs Marston and Boileau? at 
Malta. The exact causes are not known; but in some of the writings of 
the older army surgeons the fevers which are produced by foul camps (in 
addition to enteric) appear to have a close resemblance to the bilious 
remittent fevers of the Mediterranean. They appear to be connected with 
bad sanitary conditions, but their exact causation is not clear. 


' Gietl., Die Ursachen der enterischen Typhus in Miinchen, 1865, pp. 74 and 94, — F 

* The late Sir Robert Christison considered that an attack of typhus gave immunity 
from the synocha of the older nosologists, a disease apparently identical with relapsing 
fever. , 

® Army Med. Reports, vols. iii. and viii. 


ERUPTIVE FEVERS—ERYSIPELAS. 461 


Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. 


This disease, which has occasionally been noticed in France, and especi- 
ally among soldiers, for the last half century, has within late years appeared 
in several parts of Germany, and a few cases among civilians have occurred 
in England. It seems to depend on a specific agent, but very little is yet 
known about it. It does not appear to be contagious. No preventive’ 
measures can be at present suggested. 


The Eruptive Fevers. 


Smallpox is guarded against in the army by repeating vaccination in the 
ease of recruits, and by occasional revaccination of all the men in a regi- 
ment. In the statistical reports, great attention is always paid to this 
important point, and the evidence from foreign armies proves the necessity 
of careful revaccination. 

If the disease does occur, isolation! (in separate buildings) is most 
important, but the aggregating of a large number of cases together ought 
to be avoided. 

In the case of scarlet fever and measles, nothing definite is known with 
regard to prevention, except that a good sanitary condition seems to lessen 
their intensity, and probably their spread. The evidence with regard to 
belladonna in scarlet fever is contradictory, but on the whole unfavourable. 
All the discharges should be disinfected, and the skin well rubbed over with 
camphorated oil and a little weak carbolic acid. 

The most difficult case is when either measles or scarlet fever appears on 
board ship, and especially if children are on board. If the weather permit, 
the best plan is then to treat all patients on the upper deck under an 
awning. If this cannot be done (and scarlet fever patients must not be 
exposed to cold), they must be isolated as much as possible. Both in scarlet 
fever and smallpox there is some evidence to show that the incubative 
period may be very long.” 

Perhaps, in the present state of evidence, it might be desirable to try the 
prophylactic effects of belladonna on board ship, directly the first case 
occurred. 

Erysipelas (Hospital or Epidemic). 


External Cause.—It is well known that in the surgical wards of hospitais 
erysipelas occasionally occurs, and then may be transmitted from patient to 
patient. The exact causes of its appearance have not been made out, but it 
is evidently connected with overcrowding and impure air. Moisture of the 
floors, causing constant great humidity of air, has also been supposed to aid 
it. It is much more common in fixed hospitals than in tents and huts, and 
indeed is exceedingly rare in the two latter cases. The agent or agencies 
can scarcely be supposed to be other than putrefying organic matter and 
pus cells passing into and accumulating in the air, or organisms developed 
in connection with them. It is remarkable that pus cells derived from 
purulent sputa do not cause erysipelas in medical wards, but this may be 
from a want of open wounds to give the necessary personal condition. 


1 Buchanan gives a good example of the advantages of isolation in the case of Cheltenham, 
where smallpox was introduced into the town six times, but, in consequence of proper 
hospital accommodation for a/l classes, never made good its footing. 

2 See a case by Bryson (Z'rans. Soc. Science Assoc., 1862, p. 677), for a case in which the 
incubative period of smallpox appeared to be thirty-one days. In scarlet fever it is said to 
be sometimes even longer, but this is very doubtful. 


462 _ PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


When hospital erysipelas has once appeared in a ward, nothing will avail | 
except complete clearance of the ward, scraping the floors, and often the > 
walls, washing with chloride of lime, and then with solution of caustic lime, | 
and thorough fumigation with chlorine and nitrous acid alternately. The 
erysipelatous cases should be placed in well-ventilated tents. | 

Considering the undoubted beneficial influence of tent life, it may be a | 
question whether, even in civil life, hospitals which possess gardens should 
not, during the summer, treat their surgical cases with suppurating wounds 
in the tents. In many continental towns the large hospitals have now | 
wooden huts attached to them, in which the surgical cases are treated. 

Of course, extreme care in conservancy of wards or tents, the immediate | 
removal of all dressings, great care in dressing wounds, so that neither by 
instruments, sponges, lint, or other appliances, pus cells or molecular organic 
matter shall be inoculated, are matters of familiar hospital hygiene. The 
use of carbolic acid and other antiseptics, as introduced by Professor Lister, | 
has greatly lessened the chances of spread in the case of erysipelas as well — 
as of hospital gangrene.? . | 

Internal Causes.—Nothing is known on this point, except that there must 
be some abrasion or wound of the surface or of the passages near the surface, 
as the vagina or throat. The erysipelas commences at the point of abrasion, — 
If there is no open wound, the atmospheric impurity seems to have no bad | 
effect on the persons who are exposed to it, but it would be interesting to | 
know if some forms of internal disease are not produced. Is it possible that | 
some forms of tonsillitis and diphtheritic-like inflammation of the throat | 
may be caused in this way, although there is no solution of continuity ? 


Hospital Gangrene. 


Almost the same remarks apply to hospital gangrene as to erysipelas. One 
of the most important facts which has been pointed out by many writers, | 
and which has been thoroughly proved by the American and the Italian wars, 
is that perfectly free ventilation prevents hospital gangrene. Hammond, | 
the late Surgeon-General of the United States Army, declares ° that only one | 
instance has come to his knowledge in which hospital gangrene has origi- | 
nated in a wooden pavilion hospital, and not one which has occurred in a | 
tent. Kraus also, from the experience of the Austrians in 1859, states that | 
it never could be discovered that gangrene originated ina tent. On the | 
contrary, cases of gangrene at once commence to improve when sent from | 
hospital wards into tents. On the other hand, the tenacity with which the — 
organic matters causing the gangrene adhere to walls.is well known. | 

The measures to be adopted in wards when hospital gangrene occurs, and | 
the ward cannot be at once evacuated, are the same as for erysipelas.4+ Itis | 
not necessary to do more than allude to the undoubted transference by dirty | 
sponges, &c., and one of the many beneficial effects of antiseptic (or aseptic) | 


1 See Harnmond’s Hygiene, 1863 ; Kraus’ Das Kranken und Zerstreuungs-System, 1861 ; and 
a Report on Hygiene, by Dr Parkes, in the Army Medical Report for 1862, for the effects of 
tents on erysipelas and hospital gangrene. 

2 T was informed, in Munich, that Lister’s system has completely banished hospital gan- 
grene from that city, and I believe the same result has been noticed in other German towns. 
—(F. de C.) | 

3 Hygiene, p. 397. ; an 

4 With regard to pyzemia, observations show that one of the external causes is foetid | 
organic emanations. Spencer Wells (Med. Times and Gazette, 1862), states that in 1859 the 
mortality from pyzmia was great in some wards over a dissecting room. On removing all | 
the cases after operation to the opposite side of the building, pyzemia almost disappeared. | 
Other similar cases are recorded. 


NON-SPECIFIC DISEASES. ~ 463 


dressings has been'a more complete recognition of the value of scrupulous 
cleanliness, so that operations can now be performed without fear of result, 
so far as the above diseases are concerned, even without the use of aseptic 
dressings. 


SECTION II. 
VARIOUS NON-SPECIFIC DISEASES. 


Dysentery and Diarrhea. 


At present there is no evidence that the dysentery arising from various 
causes has different anatomical characters, or runs a different course, except 
perhaps in the case of malarious dysentery. The chief causes are :— 

1. Impure Water.—Both Annesley and Twining have directed attention 
to this cause in their accounts of Indian dysentery. It is scarcely pos- 
sible that, with common attention, this cause should not be discovered and 
removed. 

2. Impure Avr.—The production of dysentery and diarrhoea from the 
effluvia of putrefying animal substances is an opinion as old as Cullen, and 
probably older, and there seems little doubt of its correctness. The gases 
and vapours from sewers also will, in some persons, cause diarrhcea; and 
also effluvia from the foul bilge-water of ships! On the other hand, very 
disagreeable effluvia from many animal substances, as in the case of bone- 
burners, fat-boilers, &c., do not seem to cause diarrhcea. In India there 
appears to be a decided relation between the prevalence of dysentery and 
overcrowding and want of ventilation in barracks ; massing a large number 
of men together is certainly an accessory cause of great weight.? 

The air from very foul latrines has caused dysentery in numerous cases. 
Pringle, and many other army surgeons, record cases.? In war this is one 
of the most common causes. ‘The occasional production of dysentery from 
sewage applied to land, seems to be proved by Clouston’s observations on 
the cause of the attack of dysentery in the Cumberland Asylum.‘ Still, 
sewage matter has been often applied in this way without bad effects. 
In Dr Clouston’s case the sewage was 300 yards from the ward where the 
dysentery occurred. Calm and nearly stagnant nights, or with a gentle 
movement of air from the sewage towards the ward, were the conditions 
which preceded most of the attacks. 

Of all the organic effluvia, those from the dysenteric stools appear to be 
the worst. Some evidence has been given to show that dysentery arising 
from a simple cause (as from exposure to cold and wet), when it takes on the 
gangrenous form, and the evacuations are very foetid, produces dysentery in 
those who use the latrines, or unclean closets, into which such gangrenous 
evacuations are passed. If correct, this is a most interesting point, as it 
seems to show the origin of a communicable poison de novo. Possibly, in 
all these cases, effluvia, or organic matters, or particles disengaged from the 


1 Fonssagrives (Traité d Hygiene Navale, p. 60) records a good ease of this kind. It com- 
menced after a gale at sea had stirred up the bilge, and on clearing it out the attack ceased. 

* Wood on the Health of European Soldiers in India, 1864, p. 45 et seq. 

® Sir James M‘Grigor, Vignes (who gives many cases from the French experience in the 
Peninsula), Chomel, Copland ; see also the Dict. des Sciences Méd., art. ‘‘ Dysentérie.” D’ Arcet 
(Ann. d@’ Hygiene, vol. xii. 390) records a good case, in which a whole regiment was affected, 
in the Hanoverian war, from having used too long the same trench as a latrine. The disease 
disappeared when another was dug. 

4 Medical Times and Gazette, June 1865. 


we 


464 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


putrefying evacuations, act at once on the anus, and thé disease then spreads 
up by continuity. 

There is some reason, also, to think that retaining dysenteric stools in 
hospital wards spreads the disease ; and, perhaps, in this case, the organic 
particles floating up may be swallowed, and then act on the mucous mem- 
brane of the colon. In the epidemic of dysentery in Sweden in 1859, there 
was good evidence to show that it spread by means of the diarrheal and 
dysenteric evacuations.! In all cases the stools must be mixed with dis- 
infectants, and immediately removed from the wards and buried. 

3. Improper Food.—Any excess in quantity, and many alterations in 
quality (especially commencing decomposition in the albuminoids, and, per- 
haps, the rancidity of the fatty substances) cause diarrhcea, which will pass 
into dysentery. But the most important point in this direction is the pro- 
duction of scorbutic dysentery. A scorbutic taint plays a far more import-— 
ant part in the production of dysentery than is usually imagined, and there 
is now no doubt that the fatal dysentery, which formerly was so prevalent 
in the West Indies, was of this kind. Much of the Indian dysentery is also 
often scorbutie. 

4. Exposure to Cold and Wet.—Exposure to cold, especially after exertion, 
and extreme variations of temperature, have been assigned as the chief 
causes of dysentery by numerous writers ;? great moisture has been assigned 
by some writers (Twining, Annesley, Griesinger) as a cause ; and great dry- 
ness of the air by others (Mouat); while a third class of observers have 
considered the amount of moisture as quite immaterial. 

Hirsch,’ after summing up the evidence with respect to the temperature 
with great care, decides that sudden cold after great heat is merely a “causa 
occasionalis””* which may aid the action of the more potent cause of dysen- 
tery. This, probably, is the true reading of the facts. The amount of 
moisture in the atmosphere would appear to be a matter of no moment. | 

Although we cannot assign its exact causative value, the occurrence of 
chill is, of course, as a matter of prudence, to be carefully guarded against, | 


and especially chills after exertion. It is when the body is profusely per- 
spiring, and is then exposed to cold, that dysentery is either produced, or 
that other causes are aided in their action. In almost all hot countries 
chilling of the abdomen is considered particularly hurtful, and shawls and 
waist-bands (kamarband of India) are usually worn.® 

5. Malaria has been assigned as another cause ; and it was noticed espe- 
cially by the older writers, that the dysentery was then often of the kind | 


1 British and Foragn Med. Chir. Rev., Jan. 1866, p. 140. ; 

2 A few only can be noted; Stoll, Zimmermann, Huxham, Durandeau, Willan, Irvine, 
James Johnson, Annesley, Bampfield, Morehead, Vignes, Fergusson, &c. Fergusson says: 
“True dysentery is the offspring of heat and moisture; of moist cold in any shape after ex- 
cessive heat. Nothing that a man can put into him would ever give him true dysentery.” 

® Handbuch der Historisch-Geograph. Pathol., Band ii. p. 234. 

4 The so-called “‘ hill diarrhcea,” which was formerly prevalent on some of the hill sanitaria 
in India, especially on the spurs of the Himalayas, has been attributed to the etfect of cold 
and moisture, and sudden changes of temperature. But, as remarked by Dr Alexander Grant, - 
many hill stations have these atmospheric conditions without having any hill diarrhea. 
There is great reason to suppose the hill diarrhoea to be entirely unconnected with either 
elevation or climate. In some cases it has been clearly caused by bad water, possibly by sus- 
pended scales of mica or by magnesian salts in the water; in other cases, its exact causes 
remained unexplained. Of late years it has lessened in amount at all stations, and will pro- 
bably disappear. 

5 It is a remarkable circumstance, that in temperate climates the most common months for 
dysenteric epidemics are the hot months—June to September. Taking North America and 
Northern and Western Europe, Hirsch has assembled 546 outbreaks. Of these, 176 occurred 
in summer ; 228 in summer and autumn; 107 in autumn; only 16 in spring ; and 19 in winter. 
This does not look as if cold had any effect. The heat of summer is far more influential. 


, 


LIVER DISEASES. 465 


termed “ Dysenteria Incruenta”—the stools being. copious, serous, and with 
little blood ; in fact, a state somewhat resembling cholera. 

Very great difference of opinion has prevailed in regard to this opinion.! 
Possibly the ‘‘malarious dysentery” is in part connected with the use of 
marsh water. More evidence is desirable, certainly, with regard to this 
point; but it seems probable, from the observations of Annesley and 
Twining, that marsh water has an effect in this direction. 


Liver Diseases (Indian). 


The production of diseases of the liver is so obscure, and so many states 
of hepatic disorder are put together under the term “hepatitis,” that it is 
impossible to treat this subject properly without entering fully into the 
question of causes. But, as this could not be done here, we must content 
ourselves with a short summary of the preventive measures which appear 
to be of the greatest importance. 

Dr Parkes had long been convinced that many cases of hyperzemia, bilious 
congestion, and enlargement of the liver, with increase of cell-growth and 
connective tissue (but without tendency to abscess), and enlargement and 
partial fatty degeneration of the liver cells, are caused simply by diet.* He 
had a good opportunity of observing this on landing in India in 1842 with 
an European regiment,’ and his later experience made him certain that the 
observation was correct. 

Very similar opinions have been expressed by Macnamara,* and Norman 
Chevers also pointedly alluded to this subject.? 

The supply of food for the soldier in India has erred in two ways: it is 
too much in quantity, especially when the amount of exercise is limited. 
Macnamara has calculated that each European soldier in Bengal consumed 
(at the time he wrote in 1855) 76 ounces of solid (7.e., water-containing) food 
daily, so that there must have been an excess of all the dietetic principles. 
Then, in every case, there was added to this a very large amount of condi- 
ments (spices and peppers), articles of diet which are fitted for the rice-and- 
vegetable diet of the Hindu, but are particularly objectionable for Europeans. 
In the West Indies, where the diet has never been so rich in condiments, 
liver diseases have always been comparatively infrequent. 

Some orders for improving the cooking in India were issued by Lord 
Strathnairn, and if these were carried out, and if medical officers would 
thoroughly investigate the quantity of food taken by the men, and compare 
it with their work, and examine into the cooking, it is quite certain that 
many cases of dyspepsia and hepatitis would be prevented. 

Tn cases not simply of hyperzemia and bilious congestion, but of abscess, 
it is probable that a certain number are consecutive to dysentery, and are 
caused by the absorption of putrid matters from the intestine,® which are 


1 The very varying opinions are given very fully by Hirsch. Morehead’s great authority 
was altogether against the presumed action of malaria; but possibly here, as in many other 
ee, we shall have to draw a complete distinction between malarious and non-malarious 

ysentery. 

_ * In the great and admirable works of Ranald Martin and Morehead, the influence of diet 
in producing liver affections, though alluded to, has been passed over much too lightly. 
Annesley, on the other hand, has fully recognised the immense influence of diet (vol. i. p. 192). 

® Remarks on the Dysentery and Hepatitis of India, by BE. A. Parkes, M.B., 1846, p. 228. 

4 Indian Annals, 1855. Dr Macnamara found a most extraordinary amount of fatty 
degeneration of the liver. 

° “ Health of European Troops in India,” Indian Annals, 1858, p. 109. It is particularly 
recommended that this chapter should be carefully perused. 

® It is, however, remarkable how many cases of dysentery occur without producing hepatic 
abscess ; still our general knowledge of the causation of disease makes it highly probable that 
dysentery acts in this way. Is it the sloughing dysentery which is followed by hepatic abscess ? 

2G 


466 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


arrested by the liver, and there set up suppuration. There is no true 
pyzmia or inflammation of the vena porte as a rule. When caused by 
phlebitis or special affection of the vena porte, the suppuration is in the 
course of the vena porte, or at any rate commences there. The reason 
why some cases of dysentery cause abscess and others do not is uncertain. 
The prevention of this form of abscess is involved in the prevention of — 
dysentery. 
In other cases of abscess, however, there is no antecedent dysentery, but 
there are collections of pus or foetid débris somewhere else, which act in the | 
same way by allowing absorption. There are, however, other cases in which 
no such causes have been pointed out, and the genesis of these cases 
of abscess remains quite obscure. Much effect has been attributed to the | 
influence of sudden changes of temperature ; to the rapid supervention of 
an exceedingly moist and comparatively cold air on a hot season, whereby 
the profuse action of the skin is suddenly checked ; and to the influence of 
malaria. But the extraordinary disproportion of cases of abscess in different | 
parts of the world seems to negative all these surmises. { 
One fact seems to come out ~ clearly from Dr Waring’s observations, viz., | 
that recent arrival in India is favourable to the occurrence of abscess, and | 
that (all kinds of abscesses being put together) 50 per cent. occur in men | 
under three years’ service. No length of residence, however, confers perfect | 
immunity. It would be very important to determine whether the effect of | 
recent arrival is marked, both in cases of abscess consecutive, and in those | 
anterior, to dysentery. 
It is possible, also, that some entozoic influence may be at work, especially 
in some parts of India, and hydatid disease of the liver or other diseases of, 
the same class may be more common than is supposed. } 
In the absence of perfect knowledge, great care in preserving from chills, 
and proper diet, are the only preventive measures which can be sugvested | 
for primary hepatic abscess. 


Insolation. 


Under this convenient term, a number of cases are put together which | 
seem to be produced by one or more of the following causes :— 

External Causes.—1. Direct rays of the sun on the head and spine. Adopt: 
light coverings, covered with white cotton; permit a good current of air! 
between the head and the covering, and use a light muslin or cotton rag, 
dipped in water, over the head under the cap. 2. Heat in the shade, com- 
bined especially with stagnant and impure air. In houses (and men have 
been attacked with insolation both in tents and barracks) means can always 
be taken to move the air, and thus keep it pure, even if it cannot be cooled. 
In tents the heat is often exceedingly great, simply from the fact that there 
is not sufficient movement of air; in the tropics a simple awning is much 
better than tents, and if the awning is sloped a little, the top of the slope 
being towards the north, the movement of air will be more rapid than if the 
canvas be quite flat. But in the dry season, in the tropics, the men should 
sleep in the open air in all non-malarious districts, when they are on the 
march or in campaigns. | 

The general prophylaxis has been thus summed up by Professor Maclean : 
—‘“ Men will bear a high temperature in the open air with comparative im 
punity, provided (a) it is not too long continued; (6) that the dress be 


1 Reynolds’ System of Medicine, vol. ii. p. 157, See also Diseases of Tropical Climates, by 
the same author, Macmillan & Co., 1886. 


PHTHISIS PULMONALIS, 467 


reasonably adapted to the temperature ; (c) that the free movement of the 
chest be not interfered with.” 

Internal Causes.—It is only known that spirit drinking, even in moder- 
ation, powerfully aids the external causes of insolation ; even wine and beer 
probably have this effect. Tea and coffee, on the other hand, probably 
lessen the susceptibility. 

A full habit of body, or any tendency to fatty heart or emphysematous 
lungs, have been supposed also to predispose. 

It seems certain that any embarrassment of the pulmonary circulation 
aids the action of the heat, and therefore the most perfect freedom from 
belts and tight clothes over the chest and neck is essential. 

Great exhaustion from fatigue aids the action, either from failure of the 
heart’s action or want of water. In this case diffusible stimuli, such as 
ammonia, tincture of red lavender, tincture of cardamoms, &c., with strong 
coffee, are the best preventives. Spirits should not be given, unless the 
exhaustion be extreme, and the diffusible stimuli cannot be obtained. A 
small quantity in hot water may then be tried. 

Cold baths, and especially cold douching to the head and spine, are most 
useful as preventive as well as curative measures. 


Phthisis Pulmonalis. 


In respect of causes, we must distinguish those usually rapid cases of 
tuberculosis which arise from hereditary constitutional causes, or from the 


influence of exanthemata (especially measles), or of enteric or other fevers, 


and which run their course with implication of several organs at an early 
stage, and the more chronic forms of phthisis, in which the lung in adults 
is the first seat of the disease, and other organs are secondarily affected. 
Several distinct diseases are confounded under the one term of phthisis, and 
it is therefore not possible at present to trace out their precise origin. 

Taking only the common cases of subacute or chronic phthisis, it has 
been already intimated that most European armies have been found to 
furnish an undue proportion of such cases.! 

Some years ago much influence was ascribed to food as a cause of phthisis ; 


_ the occurrence of a sort of dyspepsia as a forerunner (though this does not 
Seem very common), and the great effect of the treatment by diet (by cod- 


liver oil), seemed to show that the fault lay in some peculiar malnutrition, 


which affected the blood, and through this the lungs. 


Probably there is truth in this ; but of late years the effects of conditions 
which influence immediately the pulmonary circulation and the lungs them- 
selves have attracted much attention. The effect of want of exercise (no 


doubt a highly complex cause, acting on both digestion and circulation), and 


of impure air, have been found to be very potent agencies in causing phthisis, 
and, conversely, the conditions of prevention and treatment which have 
seemed most useful are nutritious food and proportionate great exercise in 
the free and open air. So important has the last condition proved to be, 
that it would appear that even considerable exposure to weather is better 
than keeping phthisical patients in close rooms, provided there be no 


bronchitis or tendency to pneumonia or pleurisy. 


1 There are two valuable pieces of evidence of phthisical and scrofulous disease being 
developed in a healthy population from impure air, viz., Mr Morgan’s essay on ‘‘ Phthisis on 
the West Coast of Scotland” (Brit. and Kor. Med.-Chir. Rev.), and the analogous case of 
Western Canada, given by Mr Mackeleave (Medical Times and Gazette, Aug. 1868). 


468 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


Three points, then, are within our control as regards phthisis—arrange- | 


ment of food, exercise, and pure air. 


That food should contain a good deal of the nitrogenous and fatty prin- 


ciples if phthisis is apprehended. Milk has been long celebrated, and lately 
the koumiss of Tartary has obtained a great reputation in Russia as an agent 
of cure, and is now a good deal used (made from cow’s milk) in this country. 


Exercise is of the greatest importance, and it would seem quite clear that | 


| 


, this must be in the openair. The best climates for phthisis are perhaps not 
necessarily the equable ones, but those which permit the greatest number of 
hours to be passed out of the house. 

In the house itself, attention to thorough ventilation, 7.e., to constant, 
though imperceptible movement of the air, is the point to be attended to. 

In the case of soldiers, it must also be seen that no weights or straps impede 
the circulation of blood through the lungs and heart. 

The effect of a wet subsoil in the causation of phthisis must not ‘be over: 
looked. Whatever may be the exact amount of truth, we are bound to act 
as if it were certain. 

That syphilitic disease of the lungs has sometimes a completely phthisical 
character is tolerably clear, but syphilis will not account for the amount of 


phthisis in the army. The influence of masturbation in producing phthisis 


is uncertain. 
The researches of Koch, and the discovery of Bacillus tuberculosis, have 


revived the notion of the communicability of the disease, an idea long held 


by Italian physicians. This would only be a still greater argument for the 
freest ventilation indoors, and for a large part of the patient’s time being 
spent out of doors. It would also indicate the inadvisability of allowing 
healthy individuals (especially children) to sleep with or occupy the same 
sleeping rooms as phthisical persons. It would also be an argument against 
massing phthisical patients together, although there does not seem to be any 
direct evidence of injury arising from consumption hospitals, which are, how- 
ever, always freely and carefully ventilated. 

As regards Army phthisis, Dr Lawson has called attention to some 


important points in a paper read before the Statistical Society. He points — 


out that 78 per cent. of the cases are inflammatory in origin, according to 
Welch, and shows that the variations in the amount of phthisis have been 
coincident with changes in the clothing, such as the adoption and abolition 
of white duck trousers, and the introduction of woollen underclothing. He 
argues, therefore, that chills have had even more to do with it than foul | 


air. But the itevavers was probably a powerful agent in rendering the soldier | 


susceptible to the former, 


Scurvy. 


The peculiar state of malnutrition we call scurvy is now known not to be 
the consequence of general starvation, though it is doubtless greatly aided | 


by this. Men have been fed with an amount of nitrogenous and fatty food | 
sufficient not only to keep them in condition, but to cause them to gain | 
weight, and yet have got scurvy. The starches also have been given in- 
quite sufficient amount without preventing it. It seems, indeed, clear that 
it is to the absence of some of the constituents of the fourth dietetic group, 
the salts, that we must look for the cause.” | 


1 Journal of the Statistical Society, January 1887. 
* For a good deal of evidence up to 1848, reference may be made to a Review on Scurvy, | 
contributed by Dr Parkes to the British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review in that year. | 


| 


SCURVY. 469 


Facts seem to show with certainty that in the diet which gives scurvy 
there is no deficiency of soda or of iron, lime, or magnesia, or of chloride of 
sodium. Nor is the evidence that salts of potash or phosphoric acid are 
deficient at all satisfactory. And when we think of the quantity of phos- 
phoric acid which must have been supplied in many diets of meat and 
cerealia, which yet did not prevent scurvy, it seems very unlikely that the 
absence of the phosphates can have anything to do with it.! 

The same may be said of sulphur. Considering the quantity of meat and 
of leguminosze which some scorbutic patients have taken, it is almost impos- 
sible. that deficiency in sulphur should have been the cause. 

By exclusion, we are led to the opinion that if the cause of scurvy is to 
be found in deficiency of salts, it must be in the salts whose acids form 
carbonates in the system. For, if we are right in looking to a deficiency 
in the fourth class of alimentary principles as the cause of scurvy, and if 
neither the absence of soda, potash, lime, magnesia, iron, sulphur, or phos- 
phoric acid can be the cause, then the only mineral ingredients which remain 
are the combinations of alkalies with those acids which form carbonates in 
the system, viz., lactic, citric, acetic, tartaric, and malic. That these acids 
are most important nutritional agents no one can doubt. The salts contain- 
ing them are at first neutral, afterwards alkaline, from their conversion into 
carbonates ; they thus play a double part, and, moreover, when free, and in 
the presence of albumen and chloride of sodium, these acids have peculiar 
powers of precipitating albumen, or perhaps of setting free hydrochloric acid. 
Whatever may be their precise action, their value and necessity cannot be 
doubted. Without them, in fact, one sees no reason why there should not 
be a continual excess of acid in the system, as during nutrition a continual 
excess of acids (phosphoric, sulphuric, uric, hippuric) is produced, sufficient, 
even when the salts with decomposable acid are supplied, to render all ex- 
cretions (urinary, cutaneous, intestinal) acid. The only mode of supplying 
alkali to the acids formed in the body is by the action of the phosphates, 
which is limited. The only manufacture of alkali in the body is the forma- 
tion of ammonia, so that these salts are most important as antacids. Yet it 
is not solely the absence of alkali which produces scurvy, else the disease 
would be prevented or cured by supply of pure or carbonated alkalies, which 
is not the case. 

When, in pursuing the argument, we then inquire whether there is any 
proof of the deficiency of these particular acids and salts from the diets which 
cause scurvy, we find the strongest evidence not only that this is the case, 
but that their addition to the diet cures scurvy, with great certainty.2_ They 


The evidence since that period has added little to our knowledge, except to show that the pre- 
servative and curative powers of fresh meat in large quantities, and especially raw meat 
(Kane’s Arctic Expedition), will not only prevent, but will cure scurvy. Kane found the raw 
meat of the walrus a certain cure. For the most recent evidence and much valuable infor- 
mation, see the Report of the Admiralty Committee on the Scurvy which occurred in the Arctic 
Expedition of 1875-76 (Blue-Book, 1877). 

1 Professor Galloway, of Dublin, and Mr Anderson, of Coventry, have both written pam- 
phlets urging the claims of potash and phosphoric acid to attention, but without bringing any 


fresh evidence of sufficient i importance to support their views. 


75-70). 


2 This was most clearly shown in the last Arctic Expedition (1875-76). The rations on 
board ship during winter were ample, containing dried potatoes and other vegetables, pre- 
served vegetables, pickles, bottled fruits, vinegar, and a daily ration of lime juice, besides 
raisins and currants. In the sledge expeditions all these were cut off except two ounces of 
preserved potatoes, an inadequate - ration under any circumstances. ‘The meat was pemmican 
and bacon, and there was, of course, no fresh bread. The result was that this imperfect diet, 
conjoined with most laborious work, produced a severe outbreak of scurvy, which nearly 
proved fatal to the whole party. The rapidity with which the sick recovered on being sup- 
plied with lime juice and more favourable diet, was noticeable (see Report, op. cit.). 

Cases are occasionally reported in which even fatal results are said to have taken place in 


470 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


will not, of course, cure coincident starvation arising from deficiency of food 
generally, or the low intercurrent inflammations which occur in scurvy, or 
the occasionally attendant purpura, but the true scorbutic condition is cured 
with certainty. 

Of the five acids, it would appear unlikely that the lactic should be the 
most efficacious. If so, how is it that in starch food, during the digestion of 
which lactic acid is probably formed in large quantities, scurvy should occur ? 
Is, in such a case, an alkali necessary to insure the change of the acid into a 
‘carbonate ? 

Vinegar is an old remedy for scurvy, and acetic acid is known to be both 
a preventive of (to some extent) and a cure for scurvy. But it has always 
been considered much inferior to both citric and tartaric acids. Possibly, 
as in the case of lactic acid, an alkali should be supplied at the same time, 
so as to enable the acid to be more rapidly transformed. 

Tartaric and (especially) citric acids, when combined with alkalies, have 
always been considered to be the antiscorbutic remedies par excellence, and 
the evidence on this poimt seems very complete. 

Of malic acid little is known as an antiscorbutic agent, but it is well 
worthy of extended trials. 

Deficiency of fresh vegetables implies deficiency in the salts of these 
acids, and scurvy ensues with certainty on their disuse. Its occurrence is, 
however, greatly aided by accessory causes, especially deficiency in food 
generally, by cold and wet, and mental and moral depression. 

The preventive measures of scurvy are, then, the supply of the salts of 
citric, tartaric, acetic, lactic, and malic acids, and of the acids themselves, 
and perhaps in the order here given, and by the avoidance, if it can be 
done, of the other occasional causes. 

Experience seems to show that the supply of these acids in the juices of 
the fresh succulent vegetables and fruits, especially the potato, the cabbage, 
orange, lime, and grape, is the best form. But fresh fruits, tubers, roots, 
and leaves are better than seeds. The leguminosz, and many other vege- 
tables, are useless; so also are the cereals. 

Fresh, and especially raw meat is also useful, and this is conjectured to 
be from its amount of lactic or paralactic acid ; but this is uncertain. 

The dried vegetables are also antiscorbutic, but far less so than the fresh ; 
and the experience of the American War was not so favourable to them as 
might have been anticipated. Do the citric and other acids in the dried 
vegetables decompose by heat or by keeping? It would be very desirable 
to have this question settled by a good chemist. We know that the citrie 


spite of sufficient vegetable diet (see Dr Guillemard’s Cruise of the Marchesa, vol. ii. p. 359). 
Unless such cases are recorded with much greater fullness of detail than is usually done, but 
little value can be attached to them. At the same time it is well not to lose sight of possible 
exceptions to the rule that vegetable diet of the proper kind is a pretty certain cure for, as 
well as prophylactic against, true scurvy. 

1 Jt is based on a very wide experience, and should not be set aside by the statements of 
men who have seen only three or four cases of scurvy, often complicated, which happen not 
to have been benefited by lemon juice. The process of preventive medicine is checked by 
assertions drawn from a very limited experience, yet made with great confidence. We must 
remember that many cases of scurvy are complicated—th at the true scorbutic condition, 
inanition, and low inflamiuation of various organs, lungs, spleen, liver, and muscles, may be 
all present at the same time. See paper by Dr Ralfe, of the Seamen’s Hospital (1877, 
reprinted from the Lancet). The Merchant Shipping Act of 1867 was soon followed by a 
great decrease of scurvy in our mercantile marine; but since 1875 there has been a steady 
increase, which has been attributed by Mr Thomas Gray (see Official Memorandum on Sew 
Scurvy and Food Scales, 1882) to want of more varied food scales. It may, however, have 
resulted from neglect of lime juice, or the use of a damaged article (see British Medical 
Journal, Sept. 1882). 


- MILITARY OPHTHALMIA. ATI 


acid in lemon juice gradually decomposes. It does not follow that it should 
be quite stable in the dried vegetables. 

The measures to be adopted in time of war, or in prolonged sojourn on 
board ship, or at stations where fresh vegetables are scarce, are— 

1. The supply of fresh vegetables and fruits by all the means in our 
power. Even unripe fruits are better than none, and we must risk a little 
diarrheea for the sake of their antiscorbutic properties. In time of war 
every vegetable should be used which it is safe to use, and, when made into 
soups, almost all are tolerably pleasant to eat. Even the skins of many 
fruits, bruised and made into a drink with water, are useful. 

2. The supply of the dried vegetables,! especially potato, cabbage, and 
cauliflowers ; turnips, parsnips, &c., are perhaps less useful ; dried peas and 
beans are useless. As a matter of precaution these dried vegetables should 
be issued early in a campaign, but should never supersede the fresh 
vegetables, 

3. Good lemon juice should be issued daily (1 0z.), and it should be seen 
that the men take it. 

4. Vinegar ($ oz. to 1 oz. daily) should be issued with the rations, and 
used in the cooking. 

5. Citrates, tartrates, lactates, and malates of potash should be issued in 
bulk, and used as drinks, or added to the food. Potash should be selected 
as the base, as there is seldom any chance of the supply of soda being 
lessened. The easiest mode of issuing these salts would be to have packets 
containing enough for one mess of twelve men, and to instruct the men how 
important it is to place them in the soups or stews. Possibly they might 
be mixed with the salt, and issued merely as salt. Lozenges made of citric 
acid or desiccated lime juice and sugar are well worth a trial. 


Military Ophthalmia. 


_ The term “military ophthalmia” is often applied particularly to that 
disease in which the peculiar grey granulations form on the palpebral con- 
junctiva. But any severe form of purulent ophthalmia spreading in a regi- 
ment is often classed under the same heading. Diseases of the eyes are a 
source of very considerable inefficiency in the army, and even a casual 
visitor to the Royal Victoria Hospital must be struck by the large number 
of men he will meet with who have some affection of the eyes. A reference 
to the Army Medical Reports will also show what great attention is being 
paid to this important subject by military surgeons, especially by Sir 
Thomas Longmore.? 
Epidemics of military ophthalmia (grey or vesicular granulations, and 
rapid purulent ophthalmia) seem to have been uncommon, or perhaps 
unknown, on the large scale in the wars of the eighteenth century. 


1 Probably dried fruits, such as raisins and currants (which contain some acid and vege- 
table salts) are useful as antiscorbutics. The American pemmican contains them, and men 
are said to live upon it for months together without suffering from scurvy. It appears to 
have been that kind of pemmican on which the crew of the ‘‘ Polaris” lived, who drifted 
on an iceberg for six months. Other dried fruits, such as apples, would probably also be 
efficacious. 

2 Ophthalmoscopes are now issued to the different stations, and an Ophthalmoscopic 
Manual has been drawn up by Sir Thomas Longmore for the use of army medical officers. 
As giving a good survey of military ophthalmia in the British army, the excellent papers of 
Dr Frank (Army Medical Report for 1860) and Dr Marston (Beale’s Archives) should be also 
referred to. A very interesting paper has also been published by Mr Welch (Medical Staff, 
formerly 22nd Regiment) (Army Medical Report, vol. v. p. 494, 1865), on the “ Causes aiding 
the Development of Granulations at Malta.” A warm, moist, impure atmosphere is shown 
to have a great influence. 


472 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


The disease, as we now see it, is one of the legacies which Napoleon left 
to the world. His system of making war with little intermission, rapid 
movements, abandonment of the old custom of winter quarters, and inter- 
mixture of regiments from several nations, seem to have given a great 
spread to the disease; and though the subsequent years of peace have 
greatly lessened it, it has prevailed more or less ever since in the French, 
Prussian, Austrian, Bavarian, Hanoverian, Italian, Spanish, Belgian, Swedish, 
and Russian armies, as well as in our own. It has also been evidently 

* propagated among the civil population by the armies, and is one more 
heritage with which glorious war has cursed the nations. Our last Egyptian 
campaign (1882), which was very short, does not appear to have produced 
much ophthalmia among the troops engaged, and no case of loss of vision 
occurred. 

In some cases, as in the Danish army, it has been absent till manifestly 
introduced (in 1851); in other instances it has been supposed to originate 
spontaneously from overcrowding and foul barrack atmosphere, and from 
defective arrangements for ablution.!_ Here, as in so many other cases, we 
find that the question of origin de novo, however important, need not be 
mixed up with that of the necessary preventive measures. What is im- 
portant for us is to know—/irst, that it is contagious, that is, transmissible ; 
and, secondly, that, if not produced, its transmissibility is singularly aided 
by bad barrack accommodation. 

The measures to be adopted if military ophthalmia prevails— 

1. Good Ventilation and Purity of the Avr.—In the Hanoverian army, 
Stromeyer reduced the number of cases in an extraordinary degree, simply 
by good ventilation. The only explanation of this must be, that the dried 
particles of pus and epithelium, instead of accumulating in the room, were 
carried away, and did not lodge on the eyelids of the healthy men. The 
evolution of ammonia from decomposing urine has also been assigned as a 
cause, and this would also be lessened by good ventilation. 

It would appear likely that bad barrack air predisposes to granular con- 
junctivitis by producing some peculiar state of the palpebral conjunctiva 
and glands (Stromeyer and Frank), and if a diseased person then introduces 
the specific disease, it spreads with great rapidity, or possibly, as Mr 
Welch’s facts seem to show, the impure atmosphere is the great cause, and 
contagion only secondary. : 

2. Careful Ablution Arrangements.—An insufficient quantity of water for 
cleansing basins, and the use of the same towels, are great means of spread- 
ing the disease if it has been introduced. Whenever men use the same 
basins, they should be taught to thoroughly cleanse them; and it would be 
well if, in every military ablution room, the men were taught not only to 
allow the dirty water to run away, but to refill the basin with water, which 


the next comer would let off before fillmg with fresh water for himself. If | 


some mechanism could be devised for this, it would be very useful. The 
same towel is a most common cause of propagation; or a diseased man 
using always the same towel may reinoculate himself. The towels should 
be very frequently washed (probably every day), and should be dried in the 
open air, never in the ablution room or barrack. z 

In some cases special ablution arrangements may cause a good deal of 
granular conjunctivitis. In 1842 and 1843 Dr Parkes witnessed, in a 
regiment newly landed in India from England, a very great number of 


1 See Frank’s papers (Army Medical Report for 1860, p. 406) for some remarks on its 
spontaneous origin. 


: 


i 


VENEREAL DISEASES IN THE ARMY. 473 


eases of this kind. The supply of water was very insufficient, many men 
used the same basins, which were very imperfectly cleaned; the same 
basins were used for washing, and also for dyeing clothes: at that time the 
men in the cold months wore trousers of a black drill, and when the dye 
came off they were accustomed to rudely replace it; they themselves 
ascribed the very prevalent ophthalmia to the irritating effect of the 
particles of the dye left in the basins, and getting into the eyes. There 
were enormous granulations on both upper and lower lids, and the disease 
was believed to be communicable, but whether the affection was strictly to 
be classed with the vesicular granulations is not known. 

3. In some cases the use of the bedding (pillows and pillow cases) which 
has been used by men with grey granulations has given the disease to 
others, and this has especially occurred on board transports. In time of 
war especially this should be looked to. If any cases of ophthalmia have 
occurred on board ship, all the pillows and mattresses should be washed, 
fumigated, and thoroughly aired and beaten. The transference has been 
in this case direct, particles of pus, &c., adhering to the pillow and mat- 
tresses, and then getting into the eyes of the next comers. 

4. Immediately the disease presents itself, the men should be completely 
isolated, and allowed to have no communication with their comrades. It 
has been a great question whether a Government is justified in sending 
soldiers home to their friends, as the disease has been thus carried into 
previously healthy villages. It would seem clear that the State should 
bear its own burdens and provide means of isolation and perfect cure, and 
not throw the risk on the friends and neighbours of the soldier. 

An important matter to remember in connection with grey granulations 
is, that relapses are very frequent; a man once affected has no safety 
(Warlomont); simple causes of catarrh and inflammation may then rein- 
duce the specific grey granulations with their contagious characters ; so 
that a man who has once had the disease is a source of danger, and should 
be watched. 


Venereal Diseases in the Army. 


It is convenient for our purpose to put together all diseases arising from 
impure sexual intercourse, whether it take the form of sore or of urethral 
discharge. 

In the army, men enter the hospital from these causes, and from the 
remoter effects of gonorrhoea or syphilis, orchitis, gleet, stricture, bladder 
and kidney affection ; or syphilitic diseases of the skin, bones, eyes, and 
internal organs. 

The gross amount of inefficiency in the army is tolerably well known, 
but the comparative amount of army and civil venereal diseases is not 
known, because we have no statistics of the civil amount. It is no doubt 
great. It is a question whether a large majority of the young men of the 
upper and middle classes do not suffer in youth from some form of venereal 
disease. In the lower classes it is perhaps equally common. 

The sequences are most serious; neglected gleet, stricture, secondary 
ané tertiary syphilis, are sad prices to pay for an unlawful (in some cases a 
momentary) gratification ; and in the army the State yearly suffers a large 
pecuniary loss from inefficiency and early invalidimg. In campaigns the 
inefficiency from this cause has sometimes been great enough to alarm the 
generals in command, and to increase considerably the labour and sufferings 
of the men who are not affected. 

The preventive measures against venereal diseases are :— 


474 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


1. Continence.—The sexual passion in most men is very strong—strong 
enough indeed to lead men to defy all dangers, and to risk all consequences. 
It has been supposed by some that, in early manhood, continence is im- 
possible, or, if practised, is so at the risk of other habits being formed which 
are more hurtful than sexual intercourse, with all its dangers. But this is 
surely an exaggeration ; the development of this passion can be accelerated 
or delayed, excited or lowered, by various measures, and continence becomes 
not only possible, but easy. 

For delaying the advent of sexual puberty and desire, two plans can be 
suggested—absence from exciting thoughts and temptation, and the sys- 
tematic employment of muscular and mental exercise. The minds of the 
young are often but too soon awakened to such matters, and obscene com- 
panions or books have lighted up in many a youthful breast the feu-d’enfer 
which is more dangerous to many a man than the sharpest fire of the 
battlefield would be. Among young soldiers this is especially the case ; 
while, in spite of the exciting literature of the day, and of the looseness of 
some of the older boys at the public schools, or at the universities, the 
moral tone of the young gentlemen of our day is better than it was some 
half century ago, the conversation of the classes from which the soldier is 
drawn is still coarse and lewd as in the middle ages. There is too close a 
mixture of the sexes in the English cottages for much decency, and the 
young recruit does not often require the tone of the barrack to destroy his 
modesty. In fact, it is possible that, in good regiments, he will find a 
higher moral tone than in the factory or the harvest field. 

We must trust to a higher cultivation and moral training to introduce 
among the male youth of this nation, in all its grades, a purer moral tone. 
In the army, the example of the officers, and their exertions in this way, 
would do great things, if we could hope that the high moral tone which 
happily exists in some cases could inspire all. 

It is not the less necessary to save the young from direct temptation. 
The youth of this nation are now sorely tempted, for in our streets prosti- 
tution is at every corner. Whatever may be the objection to police regula- 
tions, we have surely a right to demand that the present system of 
temptation shall be altered. It may not be easy to exclude all prostitutes, 
especially of the better class (whose calling is less easily brought home to 
them), from public thoroughfares, but, practically, open prostitution can be 
recognised and made to disappear from our streets. It has been said our police 
regulations are sufficient for this ; they have never yet proved so; and in no 
European country but England i is prostitution so open and so undisguised. i 

In the Acts passed in 1864,2 1866, and 1869, and in the Licensing Act 
of 1872, authority was taken to prevent prostitutes from assembling in the 
public-houses, and to a certain extent sources of temptation were removed. 
Unfortunately, the legislature, listening to the senseless outcry of a section 
of the population, has since repealed those important Acts. 

As aids to continence, great physical and mental exertion are most 
powerful. It would seem that, during great exercise, the nervous energy 


1 The effect of this upon the virtuous female popwation is very serious. Every servant in 
London sees the fine clothes and hears of the idle luxurious lives of the women of the town, 
and knows that occasionally respectable marriage ends a life of vice. What a temptation to 
abandon the hard work and the drudgery of service for such a career, of which she sees only 
the bright side! It is a temptation from which the State should save her. She should see 
pr ostitution as a degraded calling only, with its restrictions and its inconveniences. 

2 An Act for the Prevention of C ‘ontagious Diseases at Certain Naval and Military Stations, 
1864; an Act for the Better Prevention, &c., 1866 (cited as Contagious Diseases Act, 1866). All 
these are now repealed. 


VENEREAL DISEASES. 475 


is expended in that way, and erotic thoughts and propensities are less 
prominent ; so also with mental exercise, in perhaps a less degree. The 
establishment of athletic sports, gymnasia, and comfortable reading-rooms 
in the army may be expected to have some influence. 

Temperance is a great aid to continence. In the army the intemperate 
men give the greatest number of cases of syphilis; and when a man gets 
an attack, it is not infrequently found that he was drunk at the time. 

The measures which promote continence are then— 

(a) The cultivation of pure thought and conversation among the young 
soldiers, by every means in our power. 

(b) Removing temptation. 

(c) Constant and agreeable employment, bodily and mentally; as idle- 
ness is one great cause of debauchery. 

(7) Temperance. 

2. Marriage.—lt is very doubtful whether those who condemn early 
marriages among the working classes, on account of improvidence, are 
entirely right in their argument. The moral effect of prolonged celibacy 
has seldom been considered by them. Probably the early marriages are 
the salvation of the working youth of this country; and in the present 
condition of the labour market, the best thing a working man can do is as 
early as possible to make his home, and to secure himself both from the 
temptations and expenses of bachelorhood. In the case of the soldier the 
conditions were formerly different for different men; the private soldier 
who had enlisted for long service (twelve years, and prospect of renewal) 
could not marry for seven years, and then only 7 per cent. could marry 
with leave. It was difficult to avoid this, and the consequences were 
certainly most serious. Under the new system of seven years’ enlistment, 
and passage into the reserve, a soldier will not marry at all, and it is of 
course desirable he should not do so. If he enlists at nineteen, at twenty- 
six he will be free; and if kept in full occupation, and as far as possible 
shielded from temptation, the burden of celibacy will not weigh upon him. 
Continence would be desirable for his health, and for the welfare of his 
future offspring. The short service now introduced may indeed greatly 
influence this matter, and certainly has removed from pressing discussion 
the question of marriage in the infantry of the army. 

3. Precautions against the Disease.—Admitting that, in the case of a 
body of unmarried men, a certain amount of prostitution will go on, some- 
thing may be done to prevent disease by extreme cleanliness, instant ablu- 
tion, and by the use of zine, alum, and iron washes, or similar lotions after 
connection, and by the constant use by prostitutes of similar washes. It 
may seem an offence against morality to speak of such things; but we 
must deal with things as they are; and our object now is not to enforce 
morality, but to prevent disease. The use in brothels of these measures 
appears to be more efficacious than any other plan. In some of the French 
towns the use of lotions and washings is rigorously enforced, with the effect 
of lessening disease considerably. 

4. Detection and Cure of Diseased Men and Women.—In the case of the 
soldier who has medical advice at hand, it seems of the greatest importance 
to have instant medical aid at the first sien of disease. But, instead of 
this, the soldier conceals his ailment as long as possible, because he will be 
sent to hospital, put under stoppages, be. A late regulation made this 
even more stringent, but it is now happily rescinded. The soldier should 
be encouraged to make immediate application, and he should certainly not 
be punished for a fault which his superiors commit with impunity, and for 


- 


AT | : 
76 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


which the State is in part answerable by enforcing celibacy. Our object is | 
to preserve the man’s health and services for the State; we shall not | 
accomplish this by ignoring what is a common consequence of his conditions — 
of service. 

It has been proposed to detect and cure the disease in prostitutes. A 
great outcry has been raised against this proposal, which is yet a matter of 
precaution which the State is surely bound to take. A woman chooses to- 
follow a dangerous trade—as dangerous as if she stood at the corner of a_ 
street exploding gunpowder. By practising this trade she ought at once 
to bring herself under the law, and the State must take what precautions 
it can to prevent her doing mischief. The State cannot prevent prostitu- 
tion. We shall see no return to the stern old Scandinavian law which | 
punished the prostitute with stripes and death; but it is no more inter- 
ference with the liberty of the subject to prevent a woman from pro-— 
pagating syphilis than it would be to prevent her propagating smallpox. 

This interference with the propagation of venereal disease is now 
unhappily at an end, and all the Acts for the purpose are erased from the | 
Statute Book,! the compulsory examination having been previously abolished — 
in May 1883. 

After the passing of these Acts there was a most decided decrease in the | 
number of primary venereal sores at all the military stations under the | 
Acts, compared with non-protected stations.2 And this was the more satis- | 
factory because the frequent movement of the troops, and the number of | 
stations where there was no control of disease, rendered the working of the | 
Acts difficult.? | 

The following figures, from the A. 1. D. Report for 1882, the last year 
of complete operation of the Acts, are quite convincing. 

In’ 1882 there were fourteen stations under the Contagious Diseases Act, 
with a mean strength of 41,783 men; putting against these all other 
stations not under the Act, with an average strength of 45,064 men, we 
have the following ratio :— 


Admission per 1000 of Strength. 


Vv EXIMALy, . Gonorrhea. 
enereal Sore. 

Fourteen stations, under the Act, 1882, , 78 100 
All other stations, not under the Act, 1882,. 124 112 


1 Those persons who shut their eyes to the enormous prostitution of this country, as of all 
others, or think nothing can be done because it is impossible to deal with private or “sly ” 
prostitution, and with the higher grades of the calling, should remember that some move- 
inent in the interest of the unhappy girls themselves is necessary. In the low brothels in 
London the system is a most cruel one. A girlis at first well treated, and encouraged to fall 
into debt to her employer. As soon as she is fairly involved, she is a slave; there is no relief 
till she can make no more money, when she is cast out. Surely something should be done 
to save her. Possibly it might be well to try the plan of recognising no debts from a girl to 
the procuress or brothel-keeper, and to also devise means for at once giving her the means of 
release from her life if she desires it. Also, if such houses must exist—and who can venture 
to hope they will not ?—they may at least be made less indecent, quieter, and safer from 
theft and even murder. At present the system, as it exists, is a gigantic scandal to 
Christianity, and Jeannel’s singular work has shown how curious a parallel there is between 
modern prostitution and that which dimmed the splendour, and perhaps hastened the fall, 
of Imperial and Pagan Rome. Eighteen centuries after the death of Christ, are we still at 
such a point? 

2The military stations named in the Contagious Discases Act in 1866 were Portsmouth, 
Plymouth, and Devonport ; Woolwich, Chatham, and Sheerness ; Aldershot, Windsor, Col- 
chester, Shorncliffe, Curragh, Cork, and Queenstown. Others were afterwards added. 
Adjoining parishes were in many cases included. 

* For the statistics of this question, see Army Medical Report for 1880, vol. xxii. pp. 12-17 
and 368-371. 


VENEREAL DISEASES. Aan 7) 


It must be remembered that gonorrhoea was not touched by the Act, for 
want of hospital accommodation, so that the nearly equal amount of 
gonorrhoea of the two classes shows that the enormous lessening of primary 
venereal sore in the controlled stations was owing to a real diminution of 
syphilis, and not to lessened frequency of intercourse. This is proved again 
by the following figures given by Dr Balfour. 

In 1864, the year before the Act came into operation, the average admis- 
sions at all the stations from primary venereal sore were 108°6 per 1000. 
In et? at the uncontrolled stations, the number was still higher, being 
123-2, so that syphilis had not declined in the uncontrolled stations. But 
in the controlled stations in 1872 the admissions were only 53:3. _ Therefore, 
the gain to the State in the controlled stations was (108°9-53-3) 55 admis- 
sions less per 1000 of strength ; and in a mean strength of 50,000 men the 
State was saved the cost of 2750 cases of primary venereal sore in that year, 
and the men were saved the enormous injury to their health, which would 
otherwise have resulted. 

Let the facts be put in another form. Taking the first seven years that 
the Acts were in operation (before the introduction of the stoppage regu- 
lation in 1873), viz., 1865-72 (though in the early years the operation was 
partial and imperfect), we have the following figures :— 


Admission per 1000 of Strength 1865-72 inclusive. 


All d Th iN ( Primary Sores, Gonorrhea. 
stations not under the Act (mean : ; 
strength 32,528 men), . - 103-1 ey 
Stations under the Act (mean strength By 
30,765 men), 4 ; i 62°8 LILO 


There was therefore a practical identity in gonorrheal admissions, but the 
annual admissions for primary venereal sores were reduced in the con- 
trolled stations by 40°3 per 1000. In the eight years the State was there- 
fore saved very nearly 10,000 cases of syphilis; and supposing each de- 
manded twenty days of treatment (which is moderate), 200,000 days of 
sickness have been saved in eight years. 

Such, then, was the operation of the Act under many disadvantages, but 
this was not its only beneficial effect. 

The Act at the large stations did great good in some other directions, 
especially as regards “the women. Many women were reclaimed ; the 
horrible juvenile prostitution almost ceased, and comparative decency was 
taught in the hospitals. 

Taking the last three years of the Acts (1880-2) we have :— 


Primary Sores. Gonorrhea. 
All stations not under the Act (mean | 122 110 
Bimeneth 43,d02)yq 1) eet a 
Stations under the Act (mean streng th 76 100 
41,779), j 


Lastly, let us take the series of years during the operation of the Acts 
(19), viz., 1864-82 inclusive (for the operation of the stoppage order in 
1873-9 was the same for all). 


1 Data are not given in the A. M. D. Reports to enable all the stations not under the Act 
to be considered for the whole of these years. 


478 PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 


Primary Sores. Gonorrheea. 
14 stations not under the Acts (mean 116 106 
strength 18,486),1 : 
14 stations under the Acts (mean il 61 95 
strength 45,468), . : ; 
Difference, . : : 55 al 
or, : : : 90 per cent. 12 per cent. 


With these we may compare the years 1883 and 1884, in the former of 
which the Acts were practically abrogated :— 


Primary Sores. 


14 stations not under the Acts, . : : 1883 188 
55 i 1884 160 

14 stations formerly under the Act, — . : 1883 110 
; . 1884 138 


” 2) 9 bP) 


So that things are rapidly falling back into their old evil condition. 

One consequence of the Contagious Diseases Act was to make public the 
most frightful state of things among the women of our garrison towns. 
The vivid picture of the Chatham prostitute’s life drawn by Mr Berkeley 
Hill? was no exaggeration. Reports from the Lock hospitals at other 
places would, if published, have borne out all Mr Hill alleged. Shocking 
as these disclosures are, and mortifymg as they may be to our national 
pride, it is by far the best plan to have them made. An evil like this 
must not be treated in the shade ; it will never be overcome till the public 
know its proportions ; the deadly mists which cling round and poison the 
very basis of society can be dispersed only when the healing light of the 
sun falls on them. It was encouraging to learn that the effect of the Act 
had been greatly to improve the manners and habits of the women—to 
impose some restraint on them, and to restore to them something that, m 
comparison with their former life, may be called decency ; and the regret is 
proportionately great that all this good has been thrown away. 


1 British Medical Journal, 1867. 


(CUshe elds, DCIDSC. 
STATISTICS. 


Aw accurate basis of facts, derived from a sufficient amount of experience, 
and tabulated with the proper precision, lies at the very foundation of 
hygiene, as of all exact sciences. Army surgeons have already contributed 
much important statistical evidence as to the amount and prevalence of 
different diseases, and it is evident that no other body of medical practi- 
tioners possess such opportunities of collecting, with accuracy, facts of this 
kind, both among their own nations and others. As they have to make 
many statistical returns, it seems desirable to make a few brief remarks on 
some elementary points of statistics, which are necessary to secure the 
requisite accuracy in collecting and arranging facts. But it is, of course, 
impossible to enter into the mathematical consideration of this subject, for 
a separate treatise would be required to do justice to it.! 


SECTION I. 


A FEW ELEMENTARY POINTS CONNECTED WITH GENERAL 
STATISTICS. 


1. The elements of statistical inquiries are individual facts, or so-called 
numerical units, which, having to be put together or classed, must have pre- 
cise, definite, and constant characters. For example, if a number of cases of 
a certain disease are to be assembled in one group with a definite significa- 
tion, it is indispensable that each of these cases should be what it purports 
to be, an unit not only of a definite character, but of the same character as 
the other units. In other words, an accurate diagnosis of the disease is 
essential, or statistical analysis can only produce error. If the numerical 
units are not precise and comparable, it is better not to use them. A great 
responsibility rests on those who send in inaccurate statistical tables of dis- 
ease ; for it must be remembered that the statist does not attempt to deter- 
mine if his units are correct ; he simply accepts them, and it is only if the 
results he brings out are different from prior results that he begins to sus- 
pect inaccuracy.? 


1 It is much to be regretted that we have as yet no really good work on the principles and 
methods of Statistics in the English language ; such a work is a desideratum. The selected 
works of Dr Farr, edited for the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain by Mr Noel Humphreys 
(1885), may be referred to as giving many admirable examples of what statistics ought to be. 

* It is in vain to conceal the fact that many persons look at tables of diseases collected 
indiscriminately as worse than useless, from errors in diagnosis. Even in the army returns, 
which are all furnished by qualified practitioners, there is reason to doubt the correctness 
of the earlier tables especially. But it is believed that the army returns of diseases are 
how gaining in accuracy, and it cannot be too strongly urged on medical officers that per- 
fect accuracy in diagnosis is a duty of the highest kind. It is much better to have a large 
heading of undetermined diseases than, when in doubt, to put a case of disease under a head- 
ing to which it has no unequivocal pretensions. It is greatly to be regretted that, from the 
abridged form in which they are now published, much valuable information is now no longer 

_ obtainable from the Army Medical Reports, 


- 


480 STATISTICS, 


2. These items or numerical units being furnished to the calculator, are 
by him arranged into groups ; that is to say, he contemplates the apparently 
homogeneous units in another light, by selecting some characteristic which 
is not common to all of them, and so divides them into groups. To take 
the most simple case :—A certain number of children are born in a year to 
a given population. The children are the numerical units. They can then 
be separated into groups by the dividing character of sex, and then into! 
other groups by the dividing character of “born alive,” or “still born,” &e. 

Or, a number of cases of sickness being given, these numerical units (all 
agreeing in this one point, that health is lost) are divided into groups by 
diseases, &c.; these groups, again, are divided into others by the character - 
of age, &c.; and in this way the original large group is analysed, and sepa-_ 
rated into minor parts. | 

This group-building seems simple, but to group properly complex facts, so” 
as to analyse them, and to bring out all the possible inferences, can only be 
done by the most subtle and logical minds. The dividing character must 
be so definite as to leave no doubt into which group an unit shall fall; it 
must be precise enough to prevent the possibility of an unit being in two 
groups at the same time. This rule is of the utmost importance, and many 
examples could be pointed out of error from inattention to it. 

Having decided on the groups, their numerical relations are then expressed ' 
in figures ; for example :— 

3. In order to express the relation of the smaller groups to the gross 
number of individual facts or units, a constant numerical standard must be 
selected, else comparison between groups of unequal numbers cannot be 
made. The standard universally adopted in medical statistics is to state 
this relation as a percentage, or some multiple of a percentage. So much 
per cent., or per 1000, or per 10,000, is the standard. This is got simply 
by multiplying the number of units in the smaller groups by 100, and 
dividing by the total number of units. Thus, let us say there occur 362 
cases of pneumonia; this is divided into two groups of recovered or died, 
say 343 recoveries and 19 deaths; and their relation may be expressed in 
one of two ways, viz., either by the relation of the deaths to the total num- 
ber of cases, which will be— 


19 x 100 
eg = 5°25 per cent. 
of mortality ; or by the relation of the deaths to recoveries, viz.— 
19 x 100 
a = 5-D4 per cent. 


4, Having established that in a certain number of cases, divided into 
groups, the number in each group bears a certain proportion to the whole, 
how far are we justified in concluding that the same proportions will be 
repeated in future cases? This will chiefly depend on the number of the 
cases. If the number of cases from which one proportion has been taken 
is small, we can have no confidence that the same proportion will be re- 
peated in future cases. If the number is large, there is a greater proba- 
bility that the proportion in succeeding numbers of equal magnitude will 
be the same. The result obtained even from a very large number is, how- 
ever, only an approximation to the truth, and the degree in which it ap- 
proaches the truth can be obtained by calculation. The following rule is 
given by Poisson for calculating the limits of error, or, in other words, the 
degree of approximation to the truth :— 


CALCULATION OF AVERAGES—ERROR. 481 


Let » be the total number of cases recorded, 
m be the number in one group, 
n be the number in the other, 


So that m+n=p. 


The proportion of each group to the whole will be respectively * and @ 


but these proportions will vary within certain limits in succeeding instances. 
The extent of variation will be within the proportions represented by 


3 

m 2.m.n 

and 1 — = o/ — 
p ps 


Tt will be obvious that the larger the value of » the less will be the value of 


a ee 
| V =e te -” and consequently the less will be the limits of error in the simple 
i 
‘proportion ™. 
pe 


An example will show how this rule is worked. The following is given by 
Gavarret :?— 

Louis, in his work on Typhoid Fever, endeavours to determine the effect 
of remedies, and gives 140 cases, with 52 deaths and 88 recoveries. What 
is the mortality per cent., and how near is it to the true proportion ? 


m= 52=number of deaths, 
m= 88=number of recoveries, 
p= 140 = total number of cases, 


1.¢., 31 deaths in 100 cases, or more precisely 37,143 deaths in 100,000 cases. 
How near is this ratio to the truth? The possible error is as follows—the 
second half of the formula, viz.:— 


will be 
2 x 52 x 88 
a amis : 
AQ, (140)3 0°11550 to unity 


(Or 11,550 in 100,000.) 
The mortality being 37:143 per cent., or 37,143 deaths in 100,000 cases, 
in these cases, it may be in other 140 cases either 


37,143 + 11,550 = 48-693 per cent. 
or 37,143 —11,550=25:593 __s,, 


‘In other words, in successive 140 cases the mortality will range from 49 per 


1 This is sometimes stated thus :— 


Gi, 8p(q— Pp) 
q* e 


when g=total number of events, : 
and p=total number of events in any particular direction. 
* Statistique Médicale, 1840, p. 284. 
2H 


482 STATISTICS. 


cent. (nearly) to 26 per cent. (nearly), so that Louis’ numbers are far too few 
to give even an approximation to the true mean.! 

5. There being a number of facts, each of which can be expressed by a 
numerical value, an average or mean number is obtained by adding all the 
numerical values, and dividing by the number of facts.2 This gives the 
common or arithmetical mean, which can be shown mathematically to be the 
nearest to the truth in physical inquiries. Its degree of approximation may 
be determined by working out the probable error,’ the smaller the latitude 
of error the more trustworthy the series from which the mean number is 
drawn. To compare two or more similar groups together, the probable error 
of each must be ascertained, the relative values being as the reciprocals of the 


squares of the probable errors ; that is where (pe) is the probable 


(pe)? ’ 
error. Thus if we have two groups, A and B, A having a probable error of 
: 1 
10 per cent. and B one of 2 per cent., the value of A will be 02 Too? and 


the value of B will be 3-55 the reciprocals will be respectively 100 and 


4, or the group B will have a value 25 times as great as A. 

The relative values of two or more series are also as the square roots of 
the numbers of units of observation. So also, by increasing the number of 
observations in any inquiry, the value (or accuracy) increases as the square 
root of the number. 

Thus a group of 10 observations is to a group of 100 as V/10 to 100, 
or as 3°16 to 10. 

In many cases the method by successive means is very useful. This con- 
sists in taking the mean of the mean numbers successively derived from a 
constantly repeated series of events (say the mortality to a given population 
yearly). Supposing, for example, the annual mortality in England to be, in 
successive years, 22, 23, 21, 26, 23, 21, 22, 28, 22, 21, per 1000 living, the 
successive means would be— 

22 + 23 224234 21 22 +23 + 21 + 26 
2 3 + 


1 The latitude of error being so large with such a comparatively high number of observa- 
tions, it may be easily conceived what absurd results will be arrived at when only two or 
three cases are depended upon to support a hypothesis. Suppose three cases, two of which are 
fatal, the range will then be between + 145 per cent. and — 11 per cent., that is, the 
mortality may be 45 per cent. more than the cases, or 11 per cent. less than nothing ! 

2 The arithmetical mean is used in medical inquiries ; but there are, in addition, the geome- 
trical, harmonic, and quadratic means. For an account of these, and for many rules, 
reference may be made to Dr Bond’s translation of Professor Radicke’s Essay, Vew Sydenham 
Society Publ., vol. xi. 

3 To find the mean error :—1. Find the mean of the series of observations; then find the 
mean of all the observations above the mean, and subtract the mean from it, this gives the 
mean error in excess. 2. Find the mean of all the observations below the mean, and subtract 
it from the mean, this gives the mean error in deficiency. Add the two quantities, neglect- 
ing plus and minus signs, and take the half, this is the mean error. 

To find the error of mean square :—Square each of the observations and add them together, 
subtract from this sum the square of the mean, multiplied by the number of observations, 
then, calling this remainder (S), and the number of observations (7), we have :— 


( a 
| Of asingle measure, . eS 


Error of mean square,. . . ~ 


Ofthemesultjme cr Py Bs ie 
L m(n—1)- 


The probable error is obtained by taking two-thirds (nearly) of the mean error or error of 
mean square, the actual ratio being 1 : 0°6745, 


AVERAGES—LATITUDE OF ERROR. 483 


and so on, until the numbers are so great as to give every time the same 
result. Itis useful to calculate the successive means in both the direct and 
inverse order, viz., from first to last, and then from last to first, ¢.e., putting 
the two last together, then the three last, &., so as to see if the variation 
was greater at the end of a series than at the beginning. The degree of 
uncertainty is then the mean variation between the successive means. 

A plan almost the same as this has been used : a certain number of facts 
being recorded, the sum is divided into two, three, or more parts, and it is 
then seen whether the results drawn from the lesser groups agree with that 
drawn from the larger group and with each other. If there is any great 
difference of results, the numbers of the lesser groups are not sufficient. In 
the instance given above, the mean of the ten years is 22:9; the mean of the 
first three years is 22; of the second three years is 22°33; of the third three 
years is 24. The term of three years is therefore far too short to allow a 
safe conclusion to be drawn. The mean of five years again is 23, and of 
eight years is 22°8, numbers which are much nearer each other and to the 
mean of the whole ten years. 

The application of averages when obtained is of great importance, but 
there is one usual error. The results obtained from an average (that is, from 
the mean result obtained from a number of units, not one of which perhaps 
is the same as the mean result, but either above or below it) can never be 
applied to a particular case. On either side the average there is always, as 
before shown, a range the value of which may be obtained by Poisson’s rule, 
or by the determination of the mean error, and the particular case may be 
at either end of the range. The use of the average is to apply it to an 
ageregate of facts. Then, supposing it to be founded on a sufficient number 
of cases, it will approximate proportionately to exactitude. 

6. In addition to averages, it is always desirable to note extreme values, 
that is, the two ends of the scale of which the average is the middle. To 
use Dr Guy’s pointed expression, “averages are numerical expressions of pro- 
babilities ; extreme values are expressions of possibilities.”! In taking too 
great note of mean quantities, we may forget how great a range there may 
be above and below them, and it is by reminding us constantly of this that 
Poisson’s rule and the rule for mean error are so useful.” 

7. Statistical results are now frequently expressed by graphic representa- 
tions, a certain space drawn to scale representing a number. The most 
simple plan is that of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines. 

Two lines, one horizontal (axis of the abscisse) and the other vertical (axis 
of the ordinates), form two sides of a square, and are then divided into seg- 
ments, drawn to scale—vertical and horizontal lines are then let fall on the 
points marked ; the axis of the ordinates representing, for example, a certain 
time, and the axis of the abscissze representing the number of events occurring 
at any time. A line drawn through the points of intersection of these two 
quantities forms a graphic representation of their relation to each other, and 
the surface thus cut can be also measured and expressed in area if required, 
or the space can be plotted out in various ways, in columns, pyramids, &c. 
In the same way circles cutting radii at distances from the centre drawn to 
scale are very useful; the circles marking time (in the example chosen), and 


1 Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, art. “ Statistics.” 

2 In a good (that is a trustworthy) series, the extremes on the two sides of the mean will 
balance each other, the numbers being distributed according to the coefficients of a binomial, 
whose exponent is the number of possible events in the series (see Quetelet, On Probabilities; 
Airy, On the Theory of Errors of Observation ; Merriman, Theory of Least Squares ; F. de 
Chaumont, Lectures on State Medicine). See table in Appendix E. 


484. STATISTICS. 


the radii events, or the reverse. Such graphic representations are most use- 
ful, and allow the mind to seize more easily than by rows of figures the 
connection between two conditions and events. 

Generally speaking, it may be said that the amounts of sickness and mor- 
tality in different bodies of men, or in the same body of men at successive 
periods, show such wide variations, that the mean error is always very great, 
and it requires a very large number of cases, and an extended period, to 

deduce a probable true mean. For this reason it is necessary to be cautious 

in apportioning blame or credit to persons, or to special modes of treatment, 
unless the numbers are very large and accordant.! The circumstances in- 
fluencing the result are, in fact, very numerous, and the proper estimation 
of a numerical result is only possible when it is considered in reference to 
the circumstances under which it occurs. 

The most important statistical inquiries applied to health are— 

1. Births to Population.—To obtain all these elementary facts, an accurate 
census and proper registration are required. It is only within recent years 
that the most civilised nations have commenced these inquiries. 

2. Relative Number of Live and Still-Born, of Premature and Full-Grown, 
Children. 

3. Number of Children Dying in the First Year, with Sub-Groups of Sex 
and Months.—There are two great periods of mortality in the first year, viz., 
in the first week, and at the time of weaning, about the seventh month. 

4. Amount of Sickness to Population. 

(a) Number constantly sick, grouped according to sex, age, occupa- 
tion, and diseases. 
(b) Average duration of sickness, We. 

5. Amount of Yearly Mortality in a Population, or Deaths to Population. 
—The deaths are generally expressed as so many deaths to 1000 or 10,000 
living ; but the deaths can be calculated in relation not only to the number 
living ‘at the end of the time, but to that number plus a certain addition to 
be made on account of those persons who lived during part of the time, but 
died before its close. But the difference is not material. Grouped accord- 
ing to sex, age, &ec. 

6. Mean Age at Death of a Population is the Sum of the Ages at Death 
divided by the Deaths.—The mean age at death expresses, of course, the ex- 
pectation of life at birth, or the mean lifetime. It is no very good test of the — 
health of a people, as a great infant mortality may reduce the age, though 
the health of the adults may be extremely good. The mean age at death in 
England is about 40 years. Farr has shown that it is nearly equivalent to 
the reciprocal of the death-rate minus one-third of the difference between 
the reciprocal of the death-rate and that of the birth-rate ; or two-thirds the 
reciprocal of death-rate plus one-third that of the birth-rate.? 

7. Mean Duration of Life (vie moyenne).—This is the expectation of life ” 
at birth; at any other age than birth, it is the expectation of life at that 
age (as taken from a life- table) added tothe age. It is no good test of sani- 
tary condition or health. | 

8. Probable Duration of Life (vie probable ; probable lifetime) is the age at | 
which a given number of children born into the world at the same time will — 
be reduced one-half. 

3). Expectation of Life, or Mean Future or After Lifetime. —This is the 


1 See note on page 482. 
2 Suppose the death-rate to be 1 in 46, and the birth-rate 1 in 29 (about the existing rates 


46x2 
in England), we have —3 = 307 fier 


99 
3 ) 9: 7=40'4=mean age at death in England. 


EXPECTATION OF LIFE. 485 


true test of the health of a people. It is the average length of time a 
person of any age may be expected to live ; and in order to construct it, we 
must know the number of the living, their ages, the number of deaths and 
the ages at death, and the other changes in the population caused by births, 
emigration, immigration, &c. It does not, of course, follow that any par- 
ticular person will live the time given in such a table; he may die before 
or after the period, but taking a large number of cases, the average is then 
found to apply. Life-tables show at a glance the expectation of life at 
any age. 


England. * 


| | | | | 
Age. Males. Females. Age. | Males. | Females. | Age. Males. | Females. 
| } | 
} | | | | 
tO 39°91 | 41°85 10 | 47°05 47°67 | 70 8°45 | 9-02 
eet 16°05 | 473 AD eee toes: | 80 493 | 5:26 
2 48°83 | 49°40 || 30 32°76 | 33°81 || 90 2:84 | 3:01 
3 | 49°61 | 50-20 | 40 | 26°06 | 27:34 || 95 Dillan ae 229 
4 |} 49°81 | 50°43 50 | 19°54 20°75 || 100 1°68 | UST) 
5) 49°71 | 50°33 60 | 13°53 14°34 | 


After the first year the chances of living increase up to the fourth year ; 
the fifth year is nearly as good, and then the chances of life lessen, but at 
first slowly, and then more rapidly ; from 5 to 40 years of age the expecta- 
tion of life lessens in the ratio of from 25 to 33 or 32 years for each quin- 
quennial period. 

For Army Sratistics, see Boox II. 


1 Abridged from Dr Farr’s Life Tables. Some interesting information will be found in 
Statistics of Families, by C. Ansell, jun., 1874. 


BOO Keraae 


THE SERVICE OF THE SOLDIER 


Ir is now necessary to consider a little more particularly the nature of the — 
service of the soldier, and the influence it has on him. A recruit entering 
the army from civil life comes under new conditions, which will require to 
be shortly enumerated. 


CHAE ARE ae 
THE RECRUIT. 


In the English army, young men are now enlisted at nineteen years of 
age,” unless they are intended for drummers. They must be of a certain 
height, which is fixed by regulation from time to time, according to the par- 
ticular arm, and to the demands of the service. There must also be a 
special girth of the chest, which is in proportion to the age and height. 

In time of war the measurements are reduced according to the demand 
for men; and even in time of peace the necessary height of the infantry 
recruit is varied. At present it is 64 inches.? Before the enlistment is 
completed, the recruit is examined by a medical officer, and then by the 
surgeon-major of the recruiting district, according to a scheme laid down in- 
the Medical Regulations. The scheme is a very good one, and aims at 
investigating, as far as can be done, the mental condition ; the senses; the 
general formation of the body, and especially of the chest ; the condition of 
the joints ; the state of the feet ; the absence of hernia, varicocele, piles, We. ; 
and the condition or physical examination of the heart, lungs, and abdominal 
organs generally.° A certaim minimum girth of chest according to the 
height i is required. b 

After joining his regiment he is again examined, and may be rejected if 


1 Medical officers entering the army will find a great deal of useful sanitary information 
and details of duty bearing on health in Viscount Wolseley’s Soldiers’ Pocket Book for Ficld | 
Service, 5th edit., 1886. 

2 In reality, they sometimes enlist under this age. 

3 General Order, No. 81, July 1881. 

For a full account of the system of recruiting, the mode of examination, and much useful | 
information on disabilities, see a paper by Dr Crawford in the Army Medical Report for 
1862; Blue Book, 1864. See Medical Regulations (1885), part 5, section ii. 

> As the Medical Regulations are in the hands of all medical officers, it is unnecessary to 
go into more detail on this point. Sir Thomas Longmore uses in the Army Medical School | 
a set form of examination (Instructions on the Examination of Recruits, Southampton, 1882), 
which renders it almost impossible that any point should be overlooked. 

6 At present, 34 inches for 64 to 70 in height ; 35 inches if above 70 in height. 


THE RECRUIT. 487 


any defect is discovered. Rejections may take place, then, either at the 
primary or secondary inspection. 

The trades of the men furnishing the recruits vary greatly from year to 

ear. 
4 The total number of rejections, either at once or after re-examination by 
a second medical officer, on various grounds, of men brought by the recruit- 
ing sergeant to the medical officer, varies somewhat from year to year. In 
1884 the rejections were 27,888, or nearly 417 per 1000. 

About two-fifths of the rejections arise from causes connected with general 
bad health or feeble constitution, and one-fifth from causes affecting the 
marching powers of the men (Balfour). The remainder are rejected for 
being under height, weight, or chest measurement. 

In the French army the height was fixed in 1860 at 69 inches (1°76 metres) 
for the carabiniers, and 614 inches (1°56 metres) for the infantry of the line. 

In 1872 the minimum for the cuirassiers was reduced to 1:70 (67 inches) 
without any fixed maximum. 

In 1868 the minimum for the line was reduced to 1-55 (61 inches), and 
still further in 1872 to 1™-54 (603 inches). Now, however, there is prac- 
tically no minimum, for men who are below 1™°54 are directed to be enrolled 
in the Auxiliary Army.! 

The rejections in the French conscription include men rejected for insufti- 
cient height, as well as reasons of health.? 

After the recruit has been enlisted and approved, he joins his depdt or his 
regiment ; receives his kit, which he subsequently in part keeps up at his 
own cost ; and is put on the soldier’s rations. He enters at once on his drill, 
which occupies from 34 to 44 hours daily. Wherever gymnasia are esta- 
blished, he goes through a two months’ course of gymnastic training for one 
hour every day. He then goes to rifle drill, which lasts about six weeks, 
and then joins the ranks. After the rifle drill, he has another month’s 
gymnastic training, and is then supposed to be a finished soldier. 

Such being the system, it will be desirable to consider certain points. 

1. The Age of the Recrwt.—Strong opinions have been expressed by 
Ballingall (English army), Lévy (French army), Hammond (American army), 
and other army surgeons that the age of 17 or 18 is too low—that the 
youngest recruit should be 20 or 21 years of age. 

This opinion is based both on actual experience of the effect produced on 
boys of 17 to 20 when exposed to the hardships of war, or even to heavy duty 
in time of peace, and on a physiological consideration of the extreme imma- 
turity of the body at 18 years of age. 

With regard to the first point, there is no doubt that to send young lads 
of 18 to 20 into the field is not only a lamentable waste of material, but is 
positive cruelty. At that age such soldiers, as Napoleon said, merely strew 
the roadside and fill the hospitals. The most effective armies have been 
those in which the youngest soldiers have been 22 years of age. 

With regard to the second, it is also certain that at 18 the muscles and 
bones are very immature, and, in fact, it is not till 25 years of age, or even 
later, that the epiphyses of the bones have united, and that the muscles 
have attained their full growth.® 

The epiphyses of the transverse and spinous processes of the vertebrae 
hardly commence to ossify before 16 years of age, and it is not till after 20 


1 Morache, Traite @ Hygiene Militaire, 2nd ed., 1886. 

2 Sistach, Recueil de Mem. Mil., Nov. 1861, p. 353. 

3 See Growth of the Recruit and Youny Soldier, by Sir William Aitken, M.D., F.R.S., 
2nd ed., 1887. 


488 THE SERVICE OF THE SOLDIER. 


years that the two thin circular plates form on the body of the vertebre. 
The whole process is not completed till close on the 30th year. The con- 
solidation of the sacrum only commences at the 18th year, and is completed — 
from the 25th to the 30th year. The fourth and third bones of the sternum — 
are only united between the 20th and 25th years, and the second is not 
united to the third bone before the 35th year. The epiphyses of the ribs 
commence to grow between the 16th and the 20th years, and are completed 
by the 25th year. The epiphyses of the scapula join between the ages of — 

»22 and 25. The epiphysis of the clavicle begins to form between the 18th 
and 20th years. The internal condyle of the humerus unites at 18, but the 
upper epiphysis does not join till the 20th year. The epiphyses of the radius 
and ulna, the femur, the tibia, and fibula, are all unjoined at 18 years, and | 
are not completely joined till 25 years. The epiphyses of the pelvic bones 
(viz., crest of ilium, spine, and tuberosity of the ischium) begin to form at 
puberty, and are completed by the 25th year.! 

That the muscles are equally immature is just as certain; they grow in 
size and strength in proportion to the bones. 

These facts show how wrong it is to expect any great and long-continued — 
exercise of energy from men so young as 18 and 20, and what will be the 
inevitable consequences of taxing them beyond their strength. 

Are we, then, to conclude that the soldier should not be enlisted before © 
20% | 

If the State will recognise the immaturity of the recruit of 19 years of | 
age, and will proportion his training and his work to his growth, and will | 
abstain from considering him fit for the heavy duties of peace and for the 
emergencies of war till he is at least 20 years of age, then it would seem © 
that there is not only no loss, but a great gain, by enlisting men early. At 
that most critical period of life the recruits can be brought under judicious 
training, can have precisely the amount of exercise and the kind of diet — 
best fitted for them, and thus in two years be more fully developed, and be 
made more efficient, than if they had been left in civil life. 

2. The Height and Weight of the Recruit.—The desire of almost all mili- 
tary officers is to get tall men. The most favoured regiments, especially the 
cavalry, get the tallest men. It has been recommended both that shorter 
men should be generally taken, and that the infantry should have the 
tallest men. The last point is one for military men to determine, and must 
be decided by considerations of the respective modes of action of cavalry 
and infantry. 

The first point is entirely physiological, and opens a difficult question. 

What is the height, at 19 years of age, which is attended with the — 
greatest amount of health, strength, and endurance, or is it possible to fix — 
such a standard ? 

Tables of average height and weight have been compiled by Quetelet, 
and much used, and lately somewhat similar tables have been framed by 
Danson, Boyd, Liharzik,? and Roberts. j 

With regard to all of these it may be said that the observations (how- 
ever numerous) are yet too few for such a large question, and that the 
influence of race has been too little regarded. 

Boyd gives the height at 18 years at 60°4 inches, and at 25 years at 67 
inches, and Liharzik at the same ages gives 64:17 and 68-9 inches. The 


1 See Aitken’s Growth of the Recruit, 2nd ed., and Quain’s Anatomy, for still further 
details. 

2 Liharzik’s numbers profess to be based on a law induced from great numbers of measure- 
ments in different animals, 


THE RECRUIT. 489 


English Army Returns (1860-67) give the heights of the recruits, but it 
must be understood that we cannot deduce the mean height of the popula- 
tion from these figures, as the shorter men are not taken as recruits. 

Although the numbers are not very accordant, we may perhaps assume 
that at 19 the average height will be something near 65 inches, and the 
average weight 125 ib. 

The best rule to guide us is that given by Sir William Aitken, viz., to 
take into consideration the three points of age, height, and weight, and if 
either in weight or height, or both together, there is any great divergence 
from the mean, then something wrong will probably be found. But as long 
as weight and height are in accord, the taller and heavier the man the 
better, as a rule. The weight in pounds ought to be about twice the 
height in inches.t 

One point is, however, quite clear. When the height is much below the 
mean, the bodily development generally is bad. Hammond states that in 
the American War, men of less than 5 feet broke down by a few weeks’ 
campaigning, while men of 5 feet stood the work well. Probably 63 
inches at 19 years of age, and 120 ib weight, should be a minimum, even 
in times of the greatest pressure. So also a very great height at 19 years 
of age is objectionable, and anything over 68 inches at that age should be 
looked on with great suspicion. As a rule, also, adult men of middle size 
(67 to 69 inches) appear to bear hard work better than taller men.? 

3. The Physical Training of the Recrwt.—A great improvement has 
been introduced by the order that each recruit shall have three months’ 
gymnastic training. If properly done, this should have a most beneficial 
effect.- The medical officer has power to continue this if necessary, and care 
should be taken to use this power. 

4. The Mental Training.—Since the introduction of rifle practice, the 
trade of the soldier has become much more interesting to him; he is now 
taught scientifically how to manage his arm, and learns to take interest in 
his shooting. It would be most desirable to give him some knowledge of 
the Military Art and of the object of the manceuvres he goes through. <A 
military literature fitted for the private soldier is still wanting. It is also 
very important to train him for the field, and to teach him to perform for 
himself all the offices which in time of war he will have to do—not merely 
trench work, but hutting, cooking, washing and mending his clothes, as in 
time of war. It is too late, at the commencement of a campaign, to begin 
these necessary parts of a soldier’s education ; they should form part of his 
training as a recruit; and if he is excused guard and other duties during 
his first year there would be ample time. 

Great attention is now being directed to the importance of soldiers keep- 
ing up their trades, or learning some trade if they have none. Such a 
system occupies men, makes them contented, keeps them from dissipation, 
and opens a career for them when they leave the army. Instead of inter- 
fering with their military training, it can be made to subserve it, and 


1 Jn France the weight is reckoned at the rate of 700 to 725 grammes for each centimetre 
of chest-girth: this is equal to 4 tb for each inch in English measurement. If these two 
rules were combined we might state it thus: the weight should be one-third more (in 1b) 
than the sum of the height and chest-girth (in inches). Thus a man of 64 in. height and 
34 in. chest-girth should have 131 tb weight ; or if he is 70 inches in height and 35 round the 
chest, then he should weigh not less than 140 tb. In this latter case the same result exactly 
is obtained by doubling the height. 

? For some useful information on these points, see Morache, op. cit., Roth and Lex, op. 

cut., and Auguste Jansen, Hiudes sur la taille, le perimetre dela poitrine et le poids des recrues, 

_ extrait des Archives Médicales Belges, 1877 ; also Etude d@ Anthropométrie Médicale au point 
de vue del Aptitude au service Militaire, by the same author, Bruxelles, 1882. 


490 THE SERVICE OF THE SOLDIER. 


possibly might be found to be advantageous to the State, even in a pecuniary 
point of view. The recruit then would have to keep up or learn his trade. 

5. The Moral Training.—The recruit, on entering the army, is brought 
under moral influences of a strong kind. A discipline always rigorous, and 
sometimes severe, produces often a ready obedience and a submission of 
character, and, when not carried too far, greatly improves him. At the 
same time, independence is preserved by the knowledge which the soldier — 
has of his rights and privileges, and the result is a manly, conscientious, — 
and fine character. But occasionally, a too sensitive nature on the part of 
the recruit, or a discipline too harsh or capricious on the part of his officers, | 
produces very different results, and the soldier becomes cunning, artful, and 
false, or morose and malicious. The two characters used to be often seen — 
well marked in old soldiers, and no contrast could be greater than between 
the two. A heavy responsibility rests, then, with the officers of the army 
who have power thus to influence, for good or evil, natures like their own. 

The influence of companionship is also brought to bear on the recruit, and 
is fraught with both good and evil. The latter probably predominates, 
though there are many excellent, high-minded, and religious men in the 
army. Indeed, in scme regiments the proportion of steady religious men is 
perhaps beyond the number in the analogous class in civil life. But if the 
influences be for bad, the recruit soon learns some questionable habits and 
some vices. 

Thus he almost invariably learns to smoke, if he has not acquired this 
habit before. It is indeed remarkable what a habit smoking tobacco is in 
every army of Europe; it seems to have become a necessity with the men, 
and arises probably from the amount of spare time the soldier has, which 
he does not know what to do with. A recruit, on joining, finds all his 
comrades smoking, and is driven into the habit. 

The discussion on the effects of tobacco does not seem to have led to any 
clear conclusions. The immoderate use brings many evils to digestion and 
circulation especially. But no great evils appear to result from the moderate 
use, though no good can be traced to it. In moderation it has not been 
proved to lessen appetite, to encourage drinking, or to destroy procreative 
power. But, on the other hand, it probably lessens bodily, and perhaps 
even mental activity. It is certainly remarkable how uniformly the best 
trainers prohibit its use, and men of the highest physical vigour are seldom | 
great, and often are not even moderate, smokers. As it is of no use, and 
indeed injurious, by bringing men under the thraldom of a habit, it seems 
very desirable to discourage it. But in the army it seems useless to fight | 
against this custom, nor is it indeed one which is sufficiently injurious to” 
be seriously combated, except for one reason. In time of war the soldier 
often cannot obtain tobacco, and he then suffers seriously from the depriva- 
tion. The soldier should have no habits which he may be compelled to lay 
aside, and which it would pain him to omit. | 

A much more serious matter is the vice of drinking, which many recruits 
are almost forced into, in spite of themselves. The discipline of the army 
represses much open drunkenness, though there is enough of this, but it 
cannot prevent, it even aids, covert drinking up to the very edge of the law. 
Formerly, a most lamentable canteen custom made almost every man a 
drunkard, and a young boy just enlisted soon learned to take his morning 
dram, a habit which, in civil life, would mark only the matured drunkard. 
Now, happily, spirits are not sold in the canteens, and no regulation thrusts 
raw spirits down a man’s throat. Drinking is, however, still the worst vice 
in the army, and that which strikes most of all at the efficiency of the 


——— see ee ee 


| 


THE RECRUIT. 491 


soldier. Great efforts have been, however, made by the military authorities 
to check this vice, and there is little doubt that the army is gradually be- 
coming more temperate. 

Another vice is almost as certainly contracted as smoking by the recruit. 
Probably before enlistment he has led no very pure life, but when he enters 
the army he is almost sure to find his moral tone higher than that of some 
of his new associates. A regiment, in fact, is composed of young men with 
few scruples and small restraints. Prevented from marriage, and often 
tempted by low prostitutes, it is no wonder if, to the extent of his means, 
the soldier indulges in promiscuous sexual intercourse. He does this, in 
fact, to excess, and the young recruit is led at once into similar habits. 
That many recruits are most seriously injured by this habit, even if they 
neither contract syphilis nor gonorrhea, is certain. 

It has also been supposed that solitary vice is particularly rife in armies. 
There does not seem to be any evidence on this point. 

6. The Amount of Sickness and Mortality suffered by the Recruit during 
the First Six Months and Year of Service.—This is an extremely important 
matter, but at present we are not able to answer the question for the 
English army. 

In the French army! the amount of sickness among soldiers under one 
year of service is more than one-third greater than among the army gene- 
rally; this is partly caused by slight injuries, though not solely, for the 
admissions to hospital are nearly one-fourth more among them than in the 
army at large. 


1 Statistique Médicale del Armée. 


CEL ACP Pay ae 


THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE 
SOLDIER IS PLACED. 


THESE conditions are extremely various, as the soldier serves in so many 
stations, but the chief points common to all can be passed in review. 

The water and air supplies have been already sufiiciently noticed, and the 
conditions now to be noticed under which the soldier is placed are barracks, 
huts, tents, and encampments; the food, clothing, and work. 


SECTION L 
BARRACKS, 


Barracks have been in our army, and in many armies of Europe still are, 
a fertile source of illness and loss of service. At all times the greatest care 
is necessary to counteract the injurious effects of compressing a number of 
persons into a restricted space. In the case of soldiers the compression has 
been extreme; but the counteracting care has been wanting. It is not 
much more than sixty years since, in the West Indies, the men slept in 
hammocks touching each other, only 23 inches of lateral space being allowed 
for each man. At the same time, in England, the men slept in beds with 
two tiers, like the berths in a ship; and not infrequently, each bed held 
four men. When it is added, that neither in the West Indies nor in the 
home service was such a thing as an opening for ventilation ever thought 
of, the state of the air can be imagined. 

The means of removal of excreta were, even in our own days, of the rudest — 
description, both at home and in many colonies ; and from this cause alone 
there is no doubt that the great military nations have suffered a loss of men 
which, if expressed in money, would have been sufficient to rebuild and 
purify every barrack they possess. To these two causes must be attributed 
the great loss suffered by our troops in former years from phthisis and 
enteric fever. 


SuB-SEcTION [.—Barracks ON Home SeErvice.! 


The imperfection of the English barracks was owing to two causes—first, 
a great disregard or ignorance of the laws of health ; and, secondly, an indis- 
position on the part of Parliament to vote sums of money for a standing 
army. At the close of the last, and at the commencement of the present 
century, the Whig party especially opposed every grant which Mr Pitt 


1 Army medical officers are referred to an admirable paper by Surgeon-General Dr 
Massy, C.B., on the Construction and Ventilation of Barracks and Hospitals (Army Med. 
Dep. Reports, vol. vi. p. 229). 


BARRACKS. 493 


brought forward for this purpose.t After the great war, the exhaustion of 
the nation prevented anything being done, and in spite of the representa- 
tions of many military men, comparatively little change occurred till the 
Crimean war. In 1855 a committee,? of which Lord Monck was chairman, 
was appointed by the War Office to consider this subject, and presented a 
most excellent Report on Barracks, the suggestions of which have been since 
eradually carried out. Immediately after this a Barrack Improvement 
Commission * was organised, and in 1861 this Commission published a Blue 
Book, which not only contained plans and descriptions of the existing 
barracks and hospitals, but laid down rules for their construction, ventila- 
tion, and sewerage, for future guidance. It is difficult to speak too strongly 
of the excellence of this Report ; and where its rules have been attended to 
there can be no doubt the British army is, so far as habitations are con- 
cerned, lodged in healthier dwellings than almost any class of the com- 
munity.* Reference must be made to this report for a fuller account of 
the older barracks and hospitals than can be given here.® 


Infantry Barracks. 


Block Plan.—¥ormerly a number of men, even a whole regiment, were 
ageregated in one large house, and this was often built in the form of a 
square (a plan originated by Vauban), the quarters for the officers forming 
one side, on account of the ease of surveillance. Many officers still prefer 
this form. But it is always objectionable to have an inclosed mass of air, 
and if it is adopted the angles should be left open, as recommended by 
Robert Jackson. The Barrack Improvement Commissioners very justly 
recommended that there should be division of the men among numerous 
detached buildings ; and, instead of the square, that the separate buildings 
should be arranged in lines, each building being so placed as to impede as 
little as possible the movement of air on the other buildings and the inci- 
dence of the sun’s rays. 

In arranging the lines, the axis of the buildings should be if possible 
north and south, so as to allow the sun’s rays to fall on both sides. One 
building should in no case obstruct air and light from another, and each 
building must be at a sufficient distance from the adjoining house, and 
this distance should not be less than its own height, and if possible more. 

Parts of a Barrack.—1. The barrack room, with non-commissioned 
officers’ rooms screened off. 2. Quarters of the married privates—seven to 
each company. (With the short service system this will probably be modi- 
fied.) 3. Quarters of the staffsergeants and sergeants’ mess. 4. Quarters 
of the officers. 5. Kitchens. 6. Ablution rooms. 7. Latrines and urinals. 
8. Orderly-room ; guard-room. 9. Cells. 10. Tailors’ shop and armoury ; 


1 On looking through the Annual Register, it will be found that Fox, as well as his fol- 
lowers, spoke strongly against the grant of sums of money for improving barracks. Their 
motives were good, and their jealousy of a standing army justified by what had gone before, 
but the result has been most unfortunate for the soldier. 

2 Report of the Official Committee on Barrack Accommodation for the Army, Blue Book, 

865 


5. 

® Mr Sydney Herbert, Drs Sutherland and Burrell, and Captain Galton, were the first 
Barrack and Hospital Improvement Commissioners. Lord Herbert did not sign the first 
Report, as he became Minister of War. Dr Burrell retired. The remaining Commissioners 
_ (Dr Sutherland and Captain, now Sir Douglas, Galton) subsequently published the Report on 

the Mediterranean and other Barracks. 
4 General Report of the Commission appointed for Improving the Sanitary Condition of 
| Barracks and Hospitals, 1861. 

> For the duties of medical officers with respect to barracks, see Queen’s Regulations, 1885, 
section 15; and the Army Medical Regulations, 1885. 


w 


494 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


commissariat stores; canteen. 11. Reading-room (in many barracks) ; 
schools ; magazine. 

It is unnecessary to describe all these buildings. 
The old barracks are of all conceivable forms and kinds of construction, 
for details of which see the Commissioners’ Report. 

When new barracks are built, the plans of the Commission are to Be 
followed. 

(a2) Barrack Rooms.—The size and shape of the barrack room will decid 
the kind of buildings. The Barrack Committee of 1855 recommended that 
each room should accommodate 12 men, or one squad, as this is most 
comfortable for the men; but small rooms of this size are more difficult to 
arrange, and it is now considered best to put 24, or one section, in each 
room. 

The Barrack Improvement Commissioners’ recommendations may be con- 
densed as follows :— 

The rooms are directed to be narrow, with only two rows of beds, and 
with opposite windows—one window to every two beds. As each man is 
allowed 600 cubic feet of space, and as it is strongly recommended that no 
room shall be lower than 12 feet, the size of a room for 24 men will be— 
length 60 feet, breadth 20 feet, height 12 feet. This size of room will give 
14,400 cubic feet, or (600 x 24) enough for 24 men; but as the men’s bodies 
and furniture take up space, an additional 2 feet has been allowed to the 
length in some of the new barracks. Assuming the length to be 62 feet, the 
superficial area for each man will be nearly 52 feet, a little more than 5 feet 
in the length and 10 in the width of the room. At oneend of the room is 
the door, and a room for the sergeant of the section, whichis about 14 feet 
long, 10 wide, and 12 high. At the other end is a narrow passage leading 
to an ablution room, one basin being provided for 4 men, and a urinal. 

Such is the present arrangement of a single barrack room, and it is 
difficult to conceive a better plan, unless it might be suggested that an _ 
open verandah, never to be made into a corridor, should be placed on the 
south or west side. It would be a lounging-place for the men. So also a 
cleaning-room for arms and accoutrements would be a very useful addition. 

The room thus formed may constitute a single hut, but if space is a 
consideration, two such rooms are directed to be placed in a line, the” 
lavatories being at the free ends. A house of this kind will accommodate 
half a company. The several houses are separated by an interval of not 
less than 25 feet. For the sake of economy, however, the houses will in 
future be frequently made two-storied, so that one house will contain a 
company in four rooms, and ten will suffice for a regiment. 

The three following plans of recently erected barracks show the arrange- | 
ments which are adopted :— 

lst, When there is a single story, as at Colchester, and no staircase is 
required. . 

2nd, When there are two storys, and a staircase must be introduced, as 
in the new cavalry barracks at York. 
3rd, When there are not only staircases, but the barracks must be - 
extended in one long line, including many rooms, and when, therefore, the 
ablution rooms cannot be put at the ends of the rooms, but must be placed _ 
on the landings, as at Chelsea. i 
If ten houses are thus formed, and arranged so as to insure for each the — 


1 In the French army the amount allotted is 14 cubic metres (495 cubic feet) for cavalry, i 
and 12 cubic metres (424 cubic feet) for infantry, per head, the air to be changed at least once — 
an hour. { 


BARRACKS. 495 


ereatest amount of light and air, the following area will be occupied by 
these houses alone. Each house (with walls) would measure about 140 
feet long and 22 broad, and the space between 
the houses may be taken at 64 feet, or twice the 
height of the house. The external houses would, I 63 il 
of course, have clear spaces on both sides like : 
the others. The area of occupied and unoccupied = . 
space would be very nearly 12 square yards toa ee : 
man. 

But this amount of compression, which would 
be injurious in a large city, will do no harm eecone ae 
in these well-planned and ventilated barracks. ; 

(6) Day-Rooms.—The soldier lives and sleeps in _—_*If| 
his barrack room ; it has long been a desideratum = 
to introduce day-rooms,! but at present the ex- 
pense is too heavy. Still it is very important 
that the men should take their meals elsewhere 
than in their barrack room, and in some barracks 
a room is provided close to the kitchen. The 
addition of a few verandahs to the rooms would 
be less expensive ; and, if reading-rooms were pro-  \4—gaw-sit 
vided, some of the purposes of day-rooms would 
be obtained. 

(ce) Non-Commissioned Officers’ Rooms. — The OEE 
Sergeant-major and Quartermaster-sergeant are ff] 
‘entitled to two rooms and a kitchen; the Pay- 
master-sergeant, Schoolmaster-sergeant, and some _ || 
others, are entitled to two rooms. The company  .)| 
sergeants have one room each. The rooms are \sxs Ss 
about 14 feet by 12, and 10 high, and contain N 
about 1680 cubic feet when empty. The amount : S . 
of space is small, and as many of these non-com- | 
missioned officers are married, and as it is a cane > 
matter of justice no less than of policy to make i 
them as comfortable as possible, it is to be hoped “4 
that two rooms may be allowed to every married i: Te Sa 

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man, and three in the case of all the senior non- 
commissioned officers. The non-commissioned ‘ 
officers should be looked on in the light of the fpaBesssesscoa : 
overlookers of a factory; they are even more 
essential to the good working of the army than . : 
the overlookers are in a mill; but no married ' ae K 
osverlookers would ever conceive the possibility of iid eases ||| 
living in two rooms, in one of which cooking 
must be done. ; 
(d) Married Soldiers’ (Quarters. — Seven pri- BS ice 
vates in a company of 100 men are allowed to be si 2eert il 
married. Formerly they were placed in the men’s ol : 
barracks, a space being screened off, but now they i “le | 


ABLUTION 


are entitled to separate quarters, each family TRA 
receiving one room 14 feet by 12, or 168 super- Fis: Bie Wolchester Camp 
ficial and 1680 cubic space. ouses. 


1 See Report of Committee (1855), p.iv. The objections to day-rooms are—Ist, more labour 


496 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


There is no doubt that this allowance of space will be increased in accord- 
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i a eS SE eee 
to keep clean ; 2nd, chance of men being debarred from their barrack room during day; 3rd, 


chance of day-room being appropriated on emergencies. The Committee, therefore, recom- 
mend only dining-rooms for the men, to be arranged near the kitchen, if possible. 


WARMING OF BARRACK ROOMS—ABLUTION ROOMS. 497 


up adults.and children of all ages in the same room. The amount of space 
also is really much too small. Certainly two such rooms ought to be given 
to each married private. 

As no private is allowed to marry until he has completed seven years’ 
service, the number of married privates must become fewer and fewer with 
the short-service system. 

Warming of Barrack Rooms.—The rooms are warmed by Galton grates in 
two ways—radiant heat from an open fire, and warm air, which is obtained 
from an air-chamber behind, heated by the fire. The external air is led 
by a pipe to this chamber, and then ascending enters the room by a louvre. 
The grates are of various sizes, according to the size of the room. Smallest 
—1 foot 3 inches of fire opening for rooms of 3600 cubic feet. Middle—1 
foot 5 inches for rooms of 3600 and 9800 cubic feet. Largest—I1 foot 9 
inches up to 12,000 cubic feet. Large rooms have two grates. One grate 
is usually provided for twelve men. 

The radiating power of the small barrack grate is aided by a well-arranged 
angle, and by a fireclay back; as the fire is small, however, the radiating 
power is not great. 

In the wards of Fort Pitt, with the largest size of grates, the mean rapidity 
of movement of warm air ATONE the upper slits of the louvre, with a good 
fire, was found to be about 2 1 feet per second, and the total cubic amount of 
warm air entering per hour dirousl the whole louvre was (approximately) 
4600 cubic feet per hour, with a mean temperature of 19° in excess of the 
external air temperature. No unusual dryness of the air is produced by the 
admission of this quantity of warm air, the relative humidity of the air being 
about 70. 

The movement of air through the hot-air louvres is not regular; open 
doors and windows, which increase the pressure of the air of the room on the 
louvre, will sometimes delay the movement, and, if the air-chamber is not 
very hot, will even reverse it and drive the air down, as the rapidity of move- 
ment in these hot-air chambers is never very great; but in cold weather, 
when the doors and windows are shut, the action is tolerably regular. 

Ventilation of Barrack Rooms.—See under VENTILATION. 

Ablution Rooms.—Formerly the means for washing were of a very rude 
kind, but now in the new barracks regular basins with clean water and dis- 
charge dirty-water pipes are provided close to every room, in the proportion 
of one basin to four men. The basins are of slate or iron. In several cases 
basins on the floor have been provided for feet-washing, and in some instances 
there are also baths for each regiment. The Barrack Improvement Com- 
missioners recommend one bath to every 100 men. It is understood to be 
the desire of the Government to provide plunge-baths wherever practicable, 
and this would not only aid cleanliness, but might be made the means of 
teaching the men swimming, as suggested by Mr M‘Laren. 

If water be scarce, the most economical kind of bath is a shower-bath, so 
arranged as to permit 80 to 100 men to have a bath at once. 

Inspections for cleanliness are made in many regiments. They should be 
systematically carried on under the direction of good non-commissioned 
officers ; but, if means are provided, soldiers will generally be cleanly. 

Kitchens.—Great improvements have been made in cooking by the employ- 
ment of better ovens and boilers, and especially by making use of steam, 
as in Warren’s cooking stoves. The cost of fuel per head has been greatly 
reduced. 

The opinion of the medical officer will seldom be asked on the question of 
construction, at any rate on home service. He may, however, be referred to 


7 Tk 


498 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


on the question of consumption of fuel, and then he can take as the standard. 
for an ordinary good apparatus 4} tb of fuel per man per diem. 

More often, however, he will have to examine the cooking, to which | 
reference is made under the different sections in the chapter on Foon. 
The chief points to which attention should be paid are the temperature, 
the rapidity of its application, and the ventilation of roasting ovens. 
Faulty cooking will generally be found to be owing to one or other of these 
_ conditions. 

' Formerly the regimental cooking establishment was badly arranged ; men 
cooked by turns, and for short periods only. Now, cooks are regularly 
trained at Aldershot. 

The other parts of a barrack are—officers’ quarters; laundry (in some — 
cases); workshops for tailor, shoemaker, and armourer ; orderly-room; guard- _ 
room ; cells ; reading-room (in some cases); chapel and school, which are — 
often in one; magazine; barrack-master’s and quartermaster’s stores for — 
regimental purposes, bread, and meat. 

Guard-Room.—The guard-room for a regiment of 1000 strong has a size of 
about 24 feet by 18 ; two rooms open into it—one a lock-up for prisoners, the — 
other a room where prisoners are placed who are not put in the lock-up. In | 
many barracks, however, the lock-up is placed near the cells. The guard- | 
room is ventilated like the other rooms, with Sheringham valves, shafts, &e. 
M‘Kinnell’s ventilator is well adapted for it. It should be fitted with a — 
drying closet by the side of the fire, to dry the men’s clothes when they | 
come in wet off sentry. 

Cells.—The cells are ranged on one or both sides of a corridor.. They are 10 
feet long, 64 wide, and 9 high (= 605 cubic feet), with one window, 2 feet — 
9 inches wide by 1 foot 3 inches high, placed at the top of the wall, and 
guarded by iron bars. A movable iron shutter is sometimes added for — 
security, and to make the cell a dark one if needed. Fresh air is admitted | 
through a grating opening from the corridor, which is warmed. ‘The air — 
enters below, or in some cases above ; but the former arrangement is the best. _ 
A foul-air shaft runs from the top of the room. ‘Two cells are provided for 
every 100 men. A medical officer inspects the cells every day. 

Latrines and Urinals.—¥ormerly, urine tubs were brought into barrack | 
rooms every night ; and indeed this is still done in some barracks. The tubs | 
are charred inside, and emptied every morning and filled with water during — 
the day. Inall new barracks urinals are introduced; they are placed at the © 
end of the passage beyond the ablution room. It is found by the men that | 
this is inconvenient ; the passage is often wet and cold. If the urinal is full © 
of water, it splashes ; it might be well to put the overflow-pipe a little lower — 
down. It has been recommended to put a small pipe and stopcock a few — 
inches above the urinal, so that the men may cleanse themselves, and in this | 
way possibly lessen the chances of syphilitic affection. ) 

Cesspits are now discontinued in most barracks, and water latrines are | 
used. The latrines are placed at some little distance from the rooms, and | 
are usually connected with them by a covered way ; in almost all barracks - 
they are Jennings’ or Macfarlane’s patents. These are metal or earthenware 
troughs, which are one-third full of water. Twice a day a trap-door is lifted, | 
the latrine is flushed, and the soil flows into a sewer or tank at a distance. 
A hydrant is now frequently placed close to the latrine; an india-rubber pipe | 
can be connected with it, and the seats and floor of the latrine are thoroughly | 
washed in this way twice daily. Automatic flush tanks might also be used. 
Probably it would be difficult to suggest anything better than this, although 
soldiers can be taught to use water-closets like other people, and do not > 


| 
1 
if 


i 


| 


CAVALRY BARRACKS. 499 


damage them. If water-closets are used, a plan suggested by Mr Williams, 
C.E., clerk of the works at Gravesend, seems a very good one. It is to have 
the water-closets at the top of a two-storied building, to the central part 
of which they form a small third story. In this way the following advan- 
tages are secured :—vicinity to the men—under the same roof, yet with 
perfect ventilation ; impossibility of effluvia passing down ; proximity to the 
cistern ; and a good fall. At present, however, it seems better to keep to 
the water latrines outside the barracks. 


Cavalry Barracks. 


In many cases the men’s rooms are placed over the stables, and there has 
been much discussion as to whether this arrangement is a good one. On 
the one hand, the men get more room, as the horses cannot be crowded, 
and they are near their horses. On the other hand, there is strong evidence 
that the effluvia from the stables pass into the men’s rooms overhead ;! and 
although no statistical proof has been furnished that this has produced 
sickness among the men, we may safely a priory conclude that it is objec- 
tionable. The evidence of mews in London is not in point, as they are 
often close, ill-ventilated courts, independent of the stables in them. Be- 
sides, this evidence is as yet rather contradictory. 

The question has, however, been solved by a Report on the Ventilation of 
Cavalry Stables (1863),? by the Barrack Improvement Commissioners, who 
have shown that the ventilation and lighting of stables can only be satis- 
factorily carried out in one-storied buildings, and who, therefore, recom- 
mend that the men’s rooms shall not be placed over stables. 

Stables.—The medical officer has no duties connected with stables, except 
to see that they are in no way injurious to the health of the men; but it 
may be well to give the suggestions made by the Barrack Improvement 
Commissioners. 

In all the old stables, if it is not already done, ventilating shafts are to 
be carried up, air-bricks introduced, and more window space to be given. 

Whenever stables are to be built in future, it is recommended that the 
building should be one-storied ; that the breadth should be 33 feet; the 
height of the side walls to the spring, 12; and of the roof, 84 feet more. 
The breadth of each stall is to be 54 feet, and there are to be only two 
rows of horses in each stable. Each horse is to have 100 superficial feet, 
and 1605 cubic feet; the ventilation is by the roof, and is formed by a 
louvre 16 inches wide carried from end to end, and giving 4 square feet of 
ventilating outlet for each horse. A course of air-bricks is carried round at 
the eaves, giving | square foot of inlet to each horse ; an air-brick is intro- 
duced about 6 inches from the ground in every two stalls. There is a 
Swing window for every stall, and spaces are left below the doors. In this 
way, and by attention to surface drainage and roof lighting, it is antici- 
pated that stables will become perfectly healthy. Some experiments were 
made some years ago by Dr de Chaumont on the air of some artillery stables 
at Hilsea. In one stable, with 32 ventilators, and with 655 cubic feet per 
horse, the total CO, was 1-053 volumes per 1000; in another, with 1000 
cubic feet per horse, and with 420 air-bricks, 25 windows, and a ridge 


1 See especially the evidence of Mr Wilkinson, Principal Veterinary Surgeon to the Army; 
Report of Barrack Committee (1855), p. 156, question 2262; also the Report on the Ventila- 
tion of Cavalry Stables (1863). Smith’s Veterinary Hygiene, 1887, may also be consulted. 

2 Report of Barrack and Hospital Improvement Commission, signed by Sir Richard Airey; 
Captain Galton, Dr Sutherland, Dr Logan, and Captain Belfield. 


500 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


opening, it was 0°573 volumes per 1000. The last experiment shows great 
apparent purity of the air, but Mr F. Smith (Army Veterinary Depart- 
ment) has shown that such experiments are greatly affected by the presence 
of ammonia from the urine, and special precautions must be taken to get a 
really trustworthy result.1 


Reports on Barracks. 


The Regulations order the form in which reports on barracks shall be 
sent in. The arrangements should be strictly followed; it comprehends 
site, construction, external ventilation, internal ventilation, basements, and 
administration. It is then certain that no point will be overlooked ; and, 
if nothing can be made out after going thoroughly through all the head- 
ings, it may be concluded that the cause of any prevailing sickness must 
be sought elsewhere. The site and basement should be especially looked 
at; every cellar should be entered, and the drainage thoroughly investi- 
gated. Little can be learned by merely walking through a barrack room, 
which is nearly sure to look clean, and may present nothing obviously 
wrong. With respect to ventilation, the statements of soldiers can seldom 
be trusted ; they are accustomed to vitiated air, and do not perceive its 
odour. The proper time to examine the air of a room is about 12 to 3 a.m, 
and the medical officer should, accordingly, visit barrack rooms between 
midnight and 3 a.m. every now and then. The cisterns should be regularly 
inspected. 

The walls and floors of the rooms should be carefully looked to. Walls 
are porous, and often become impregnated with organic matter. If there 
is any suspicion of this, they should be scraped and then well washed with 
quicklime. The medical officer should see that the lime is really caustic ; 
chalk and water does little good. Collections of dirt form under the floors 
sometimes, and a board might be taken up to see if this is the case. 


Sup-Secrion [J].—Barracks IN Forts AND CITADELS. 


In fortified places it is, of course, often impossible to follow the examples 
of good barracks just given. Citadels may have little ground space ; 
buildings must be compressed, guarded from shot, made with thick and 
bomb-proof walls, with few openings. Buildings are sometimes under- 
ground. Drainage is often difficult, or impossible; and if to all these 
causes of contamination of air we add a deficiency of water, which is 
common enough, it will not surprise us that the sickness and mortality in 
forts, in even healthy localities, are greater than should be the case. Both 
at Malta and Gibraltar there was for years too large a mortality from 


enteric fever, and from the destructive lung diseases, which appeared in the 


returns as phthisis. The special difficulties of casemates are as follows: 
dampness, which is very common in all casemates, so that the moisture 
often stands in drops on the walls; a low temperature ; a want of ventila- 
tion ; and a want of light. 


How these difficulties are to be met is one of the most difficult problems | 


the military engineer has before him. How, without weakening his de- 
fences, he is to get light and air into the buildings, and an efficient sewer- 
age, would test the ingenuity of a Brunel. It is possible that the best plan 
would be by the employment of thick movable iron doors and shutters. In 
time of peace these might be open; in time of war easily replaced. But, 


1 See Veterinary Hygiene, 1887. 


BARRACKS IN HOT CLIMATES. 501 


in addition, means of ventilation must be provided when such defences 
close the ysual openings; tubes must be carried up, and, if necessarily 
winding, an enlarged area might, perhaps, compensate for this. 

It must be said, also, that it is quite certain that in our fortified places 
many of the arrangements are much worse than they need be, and that the 
sanitary rules deducible from home experience should be applied in every 
case when the defensive properties are not interfered with. 


Sus-Section II].—Barracks 1n Hot Crimatss. 


The older barracks in both the East and West Indies were often merely 
copies of the English barrack square. In some cases, also, the exigencies 
of defence led to a cramped and irregular plan, and owing to the little 
attention which was paid either to the health or comfort of the soldier, 
overcrowding and deficient ventilation were as common in the tropics as at 
home. For several years there has been a gradual improvement, and in 
India especially vast and extensive palaces have been reared in many 
stations, which testify at any rate to the anxiety of the Government to 
house their soldiers properly.! 

It will be desirable to refer here chiefly to the Indian barracks, but the 
same principles apply to all hot countries. 

The Indian Sanitary Commission have recommended that each man in 
barracks shall have 100 superficial feet and 1500 cubic feet. The Govern- 
ment of India recommended in 1864 that there should be 90 superficial 
feet in the plains, and 77 in the hills, which, with a width of 24 and 22 
feet, and height of 20 and 18 feet, would give 1800 cubic feet in the plains 
and 1408 in the hills. Mr Webb,? who paid great attention to the subject 
of overcrowding in Indian barracks, and who believed that it was the grand 
cause of insalubrity in India, adduced good reasons for thinking that this 
amount was not nearly sufficient. It is suggested, indeed, that 3000 cubic 
feet of space is not too much. 

In 1857 and 1858 the Bengal Government ordered standard plans to be 
prepared, and some barracks have been built in accordance with them. 
A description and figures will be found in the former editions of this work. 
In 1863 the Governor-General of India in Council ordered a renewed 
inquiry into the matter, and Colonel Crommelin submitted altered designs 
for barracks, which were subsequently submitted to the Bengal, Madras, 
and Bombay Governments, and to the Army Sanitary Committee at home. 
The plan of these new barracks is essentially that proposed by the Indian 
Sanitary Commission; while the preparation of the detailed design is left 
to the local officers, certain general principles are strictly laid down, and 
standard plans suitable for different localities are furnished for guidance. 
The number of men to be placed under one roof is fixed at 40 or 50 (half 
company barracks), except under exceptional circumstances ;-the number 


1 Some of these great barracks, as at Allahabad, have not given satisfaction, and have 
been found as hot or even hotter than the old barracks. But this appears to have been from 
not attending to the rule never to let the sun’s rays fall on a main wall, but to shadow the 
wall by a verandah. The double roof also has apparently not been sufficiently double, 2.e., 
the openings above and below, to allow the air to circulate, have not been large enough ; 
ventilators have also not been put to the verandahs, so that the heated mass of air cannot 
ascend. Nothing tends to cause greater heat than stagnancy of the air, as may be seen by 
the ease with which water may be boiled in a close vessel by the rays of the sun, even in 
England. The objection to the palaces which have been built in India since the mutiny is 
not so much to the principle of the barracks, but to some faults in construction, and espe- 
cially to their localities, viz., in the plains instead of in the hills in many cases. 

2 Remarks on the Health of European Soldiers in India, by H. Webb, Bombay, 1864, 
p- 50. 


F 


502 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


of men in one room is to be 16 to 20, and not to exceed 24; the barracks 


are to be two-storied in the plains, and one or two-storied in the hills, 
both floors being used for dormitories ; single verandahs of 10 or 12 feet 
wide surround these rooms. There are to be only two rows of beds in the 
dormitories ; the beds are to be 9 inches from the wall, and only two beds 
are to be in the wall space between two contiguous doors (or windows) ; in 
the plains each bed is to have 74 feet of running wall space, in the hills 7. 
*The general arrangements of the building are based on the suggestions of 


the Royal Indian Sanitary Commission. “At each end of the dormitory are 


closets and night urinals ; and what appears to be the best plan places these 
at the extreme end of the verandah, leaving a space between them and the 
dormitory. 

The lower story in the plains was intended to be used as a day-room, 
but it appears that this has not been comfortable for the men, and both 
floors are now used as dormitories. 

The married people’s quarters are to be grouped in small one-storied 


blocks, each block holding the married people of a company or troop. Two — 


rooms (16 feet x 14 feet and 14 feet x 10 feet) are provided for each family ; 
verandahs, 12 and 10 feet wide, are provided. 

In all these arrangements it will be perceived that the essential prin- 
ciples of the home barracks are preserved; long, thin, narrow lines of 
buildings, with thorough cross ventilation, with the sleeping-rooms raised 
well off the ground, would certainly appear to be as good an arrangement 
as could be devised. A few more remarks on some of the points have to 
be made. 


1. Size of Houses.—If there be no strong military reasons to the contrary, 
it seems certain that it is even more important in India than in England to 
spread the men over the widest available area, and not to place more than 
fifty men in a single block, and twenty-five men in a single room; and 
therefore the proposed plan is most desirable. There has been an objection 
raised, that small detached houses in the hot plains of India, not having 
any large space in shadow, get everywhere heated by the sun’s rays, and 
become very hot. The objection is theoretical; it is the immense blocks 
of masonry used in the construction of large buildings which are to be 
avoided as much as possible, since, once heated, they take hours to cool. 

2. Arrangement of Houses.—Broadside on to the prevalent wind, and dis- 
position en échelon, as now adopted in India, is obviously the proper plan. 
The only exception will be when there are marsh or gully winds to be 
avoided, and then the houses should be placed end on to the deleterious 
wind ; and no windows should open on that side. But it is seldom such a 
site would be selected or kept. 

If a barrack is built on a slope, and the ground is terraced, the Army 
Sanitary Committee have recommended that the barrack should be placed 
end on to the side of the hill, and not nearer the slope than 20 to 30 feet. 
But terracing should be avoided as much as possible. 

3. Breadth of Houses.—As in England, it is important to have only two 
rows of beds in each house, and to keep the houses under 30 feet in width, 
so as to permit effective perflation. A single verandah is as good as a 
double one in keeping off the direct rays of the sun from the walls of a 
house, and two verandahs (one inner and one outer) add to the breadth to 
be ventilated. The width of the verandahs must be 10 to 12 feet; and on 
the southern and western sides wooden jalousies may have to be placed so 
as to occupy 3 or 4 feet at the upper part of the verandah. 


BARRACKS IN HOT CLIMATES, 503 


Verandahs should be ventilated by openings at the highest part, so as to 
have a free movement of air through them; this is very important. If there 
are two stories, the roof of the upper verandah should be double. 

Materials of Building.—On this point there is little choice, for the risk of 
fire renders the use of: wood undesirable for walls and roofs. And yet apart 
from this risk, loosely joined wood, or frames of bamboo, have the great 
advantage of allowing air to pass through the walls. Brick or stone has 
therefore to be used. In India, sun-dried brick (kacha), covered with cement, 
or faced with burnt brick, is often used; and the remains of Babylon or 
Nineveh show how imperishable a material this is if properly protected. It 
is said to be a cooler material than burnt brick (pakka@), but it absorbs a 
great deal of moisture. 

Iron barracks were sent out from England during the mutiny, but were 
said to be hot, and were not liked; but iron frames have been usefully 
employed, the intervals being filled up with unburnt bricks. There is, 
however, a very general feeling against unburnt brick, on account of the 
moisture it absorbs and retains. The concrete walls now coming so much 
into use in England would be particularly adapted for India; they are 
cheap, and are dry. 

Construction of the Building.—The three points to be aimed at are—avoid- 
ing the malaria and dampness of the ground, should there be any risk of 
this ; insuring coolness ; providing ventilation. 

(a) Employment of Open Arches for the Basement.—The extraordinary 
diminution in the risk of malaria by elevating the building only a few feet 
above the ground, and allowing a free current of air under the house, is illus- 
trated in various parts of the world: along the banks of the lower Danube, in 
the plains of Burmah and Siam, &e. But another great benefit is obtained: 
dryness and freedom from pent-up, stagnant, and often septic masses of air 
are insured, so that, even when the soil is not distinctly malarious, buildings 
should be raised. In a malarious country the height of the ground-floor 
above the ground should be 8 or 10 feet ; in non-malarious districts 3 or 4 
feet are sufficient, but it should always be high enough to allow cleaning. 

If high enough, these open spaces afford excellent spaces for exercise 
during the heat of sun. 

(b) Walls.—Very thick brick walls do not add to coolness (Chevers), but 
being thoroughly heated during the day, give out heat all night. The direct 
rays of the sun should not be allowed to fall on any part of the main wall. 
This will be found one of the most important rules for insuring coolness. 
Double main walls, with a wide space between, and free openings above and 
below, so as to admit a constant movement of air between, is the coolest plan 
known. Considering the excellent ventilation which goes on in bamboo and 
wooden houses, it may be a question whether, in the warm parts of India, 
the walls might not be made as far as possible permeable; at any rate, above 
the heads of the men. Whitening the outside walls reflects the heat, but is 
dazzling to the eyes; almost as good reflection, and much less dazzling, is 
obtained by using a slight amount of yellow or light-blue colour in the 
cement or lime-wash. 

(c) Floors.— The materials at present used are flagstones (in Bengal), slates 
(in some barracks in the Punjab), greenstone (in some Madras barracks), tiles, 
bricks placed on end and covered with concrete, pounded brick and lime 
beaten into a solid concrete and plastered with lime, broken nodulated lime- 
stone or kankar (in places where the masses of kankar are found, as in 
Bengal), asphalt, pitch and sand, wood (Chevers). Of these various materials, 
the asphalt gets soft and is objectionable; the cements and kankar wear into 


504 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


holes, produce dust, and have been supposed to cause ophthalmia (Chevers); | 
wood is liable to attacks of white ants, We. ! 
On the whole, it would seem that good wood (if there be a space below the 
barracks) with brick supports is the best, and after this tiles. 
(d) Roofs.—Double roofs are now usually employed, and are made slanting, 
and not terraced. The terraced roofs, if made single We, with battens on the 
joists covered with kankar), conduct heat too freely; but if made double, with — 
a good current of air, there is an advantage in giving a promenade to the men, 
and also, at some seasons of the year, the roof may be most advantageously | 
used as a sleeping-place. 
The sloping roofs are better adapted for ventilation. The coolest roof is” 
made of thatch, covered with tiles; it would be cooler still if the thatch were 
outside; but thatch is dangerous on account of fire, and harbours vermin 
and insects. If there is a good space between the two roofs (2 feet), and if 
there are sufficient openings to permit a good current of air, perhaps two 
tile roofs would be as cool as any. 
(e) Doors and Windows.—These are now always made very numerous, and | 
opposite each other, so as to permit perfect perflation. The official Sugges- | 
tions order one window for every two beds. Five doors are recommended 
for each room of twenty-five men ; and Norman Chevers gives a good rule: 
a light placed in the centre at night should be seen on all sides. Upper as. 
well as lower windows—a clerestory, in fact—are useful; the lower windows | 
should then open to the ground. In most of the stations in northern India 
the windows must be glazed. ; 
The Committee appointed to carry out the suggestions of the Indian’ 
Sanitary Commission have recommended that each window should consist: 
of two parts—the upper portion, about 2 feet in depth, being hinged on its 
lower edge to fall inwards, so as to direct the currents of air towards the ™ 
ceiling of the room. 


Ventilation of Tropical and Subtropical Barracks. 


If barracks are not made too broad, and are properly placed, the same 
principles of ventilation may be applied to them as to barracks at home, | 
The perflation of the wind should be obtained as freely as possible. The) 
numerous doors and windows, however, render it unnecessary to provide 
special inlets ; outlets should, as at home, be at the top of the room, either 
along the ridge, or, if of shafts, they should be carried up some distance ; if 
they are made of masonry, and painted black, the sun’s rays will cause a 
good up-current. The area of the shafts is ordered! to be 1 square inch to) 
every 15 or 20 cubic feet, with louvres above and inverted louvres below.’ 
In the lower rooms these shafts are to be built in the walls; in the upper, 
rooms to be in the centre. f 

In many parts of India, however, at particular times of the year, the air) 
is both hot and stagnant; in such stations artificial ventilation must be 
employed, and the forcing in of air offers greater advantages than the) 
method by aspiration. The wheel of Desaguliers was introduced into India 
many years ago by Dr Rankine, and, under the name of “ Thermantidote,”) 
is frequently used in private houses and hospitals. Wheels may be-used of 
a larger kind, and driyen by horses and bullocks, or steam or water power. 
The great advantages are that the air is put in motion and can be cooled! 
by evaporation. 


1 Suggestions, p. 22 


COOLING OF AIR IN TROPICAL BARRACKS. 505 


An Arnott’s pump, made as large as a man can easily work, will be 
found to be cheaper, and as good as the thermantidote. 

The common punkah is a ventilator, as it displaces masses of air; the 
waves pass far beyond the building, and are replaced by fresh air waves 
entering in. An improved punkah, worked by horse or bullock, and sup- 
plied with water for evaporation, was devised by the late Captain Moorsom 
of the 52nd Regiment; it is described and figured in the Report of the 
Indian Sanitary Commission, and would seem likely to be a very useful 
modification of the common punkah. 

Ventilation in most parts of India must be combined with plans for cool- 
‘ing, and often for moistening the air. 

Cooling of Air.—When the air is dry, ¢.e., when the relative humidity is 

low, there is no difficulty in cooling the air to almost any extent. If the 
air be moving, this is still easier. The evaporation of water is the great 
cooling agency. A drop of water in evaporating absorbs as much heat as 
would raise 967 equal drops 1° Fahr., or, in other words, the evaporation of 
a gallon of water absorbs as much heat from the air as would raise 43 
gallons of water from zero to the boiling-point. As the specific heat of an 
equal weight of air is } that of water, it follows that the evaporation of 1 
gallon or 10 tb of water will cool (10 x 4 x 967) 38,680 Ib of air, or 477,637 
cubic feet of air 1° Fahr.; or, to put it in another way, the evaporation of 
‘1 gallon of water will reduce 26,216 cubic feet of air from 80° to 60° Fahr. 
Tf thoroughly utilised, 14 gallon per head would be the allowance for 
twelve hours, but as the full work is never got out of any material, this 
quantity ought in practice to be doubled. In India, the temperature of a 
hot dry wind is often reduced 15° to 20° by blowing through a wet kuskus 
tattie; but merely sprinkling water on the floors will have a perceptible 
effect on the temperature. 
_ When the air is stagnant cooling is less easy. In India it is often 
attempted, in a still atmosphere, to insure coolness by creating currents of 
air either by the simple punkah or by thermantidotes; these act by in- 
‘creasing evaporation from the body, and they certainly do away with the 
oppressiveness of a still atmosphere. But evaporation of water must be 
also employed, as in Captain Moorsom’s punkah just referred to, or in some 
‘other way. 

In the case of a thermantidote, or Arnott pump, thin wet cloths 
suspended in a short discharge-tube, or ice suspended in it, or a bottle 
‘containing a freezing mixture, and with a wet surface, will answer equally 
well. 

When water is abundant, other contrivances may be employed. A stream 
of water issues from a small orifice with a high velocity, and, impinging on 
around iron plate about an inch or two from the orifice, is beautifully 
pulverised. Or the beautiful sheet-water fountains used to wash air for 
ventilation might be employed. In the old Roman, and some Italian 
houses, coolness was obtained by a fountain in the central court; and 
where it can be done, the more common employment of fountains in the 
houses in the hot parts of India may be suggested. 

Cooling is, then, easy when the air is dry, or is not moister than 70 per 
cent. of saturation; but when the air is very moist, and almost saturated, 
as is often the case, for example, in Lower Scinde, and is at the same time 
still, evaporation is very slow. What can be done? Of course, the air 
must be set in motion by mechanical means. But how is it to be cooled ? 
Two plans suggest themselves—taking the air through a deep tunnel, and 
the employment of ice. 


1 


506 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


The tunnel plan was tried some years ago at Agra, and was not well 
thought of. But everything depends on the mode of making the tunnel, 
It must be deep enough to get into a cold stratum of earth.+ 

The Chinese, in the north of China, suspend lumps of ice in their rooms. 
during the summer ; but this seems a wasteful plan. Ice in tunnels would 
have a much oreater effect. If the ice cannot be obtained, freezing mix- 
tures might possibly be used, if the expense were not a bar. : 

Ablution Rooms.—In India every private house, and almost every room| 
in a house belonging to a European, has its bath-room. And not only the 
luxury, but the benefit is so great, that bath-rooms should be considered 
essential to every barrack. For the usual purposes of ablution, the plan 
now used on home service is the best; but it should be supplemented by 
shower-baths. In order that these shall be efficiently given, the old plan 
of carrying water by hand must be given up; shower-baths for a regiment 
could never be provided in this way; water in large quantity must be laid 
on in pipes, and cisterns at the top of every barrack should feed the ablu- 
tion rooms and supply water for the urinals. At least from 12 to 18 
gallons daily should be allowed per head for shower-baths alone, and if 
possible, more than this, as general baths should be also provided. So 
essential must baths be considered for health, that a large supply of water 
should be considered a necessary condition in the choice of site. The 
disposal of the water after use is a question for the engineer; but it must 
not be permitted to soak into the ground near the barracks; it might seem 
superfluous to notice this, if the custom of allowing the ablution water to 
run under the houses did not prevail at some stations. 

Urinals.—Urine tubs are still used in many of the barracks in India, but 
their use should be discontinued as soon as possible. Evaporation is rapid, 
and decomposition soon sets in. Several army surgeons have pointed out 
that the atmosphere is greatly contaminated in this way, and some have 
considered that affections of the eyes are produced by the ammoniacal 
fumes. Earthenware or slate urinals should be used, with water running 
through them ; and if there are no drains to carry off the urine, a zinc pipe 
may be laid inside the building, and open into a tub below, which should 
be emptied daily. 

The War Office Committee? recommended Mr Jennings’ urinal, which 
consists of a basin, valve, and siphon-trap, supplied with water. It is 
cleaned and filled by raising the handle. As already noticed in the Home 
Barracks, the suggestion of a small water-tap above, to allow the means of 
ablution, seems an excellent one. 


Sus-Section 1VY.—Woopen Huts. 


Of late years the use of wooden huts, both in peace and war, has greatly 
extended in several of the European armies. In peace, their first cost is 
small, and they are very healthy. In war, they afford the means of 
housing an army expeditiously, and are better adapted for winter quarters 
than tents. | 

The healthiness of wooden huts doubtless depends on the free ventilation; 
when single-cased, the wind blows through them; and even when double- 
cased there is generally good roof and gable ventilation. | 


i The recent investigations into the composition of the ground air give additional reasons 
for objecting to the tunnel plan, unless the utmost care were taken to prevent the ground 
air being delivered into the dwellings. } 

2 Suggestions, p: 24 


WOODEN HUTS. 507 


Numerous patterns of huts have been used in our own and other armies, 
from small houses holding six men to the large houses designed by Mr 
Brunel for Renkioi Hospital, and which were 25 feet high in the centre, 12 
feet at the eaves, and held 50 men. In the Crimea the most common sizes 
were for 12, 18, and 24 men. Lord Wolseley thinks the most useful size 
is 32 feet long, 16 wide, 6 feet to eaves, and 16 to ridge, to hold 28 men ; 
two huts are put end to end, with one chimney between them. If protec- 
tion has to be obtained against wind, make a wall a foot away. 

In arranging lines of huts, as much external ventilation and sunlight must 
be secured as possible for every hut. According to circumstances, the 
arrangements in lines, or en échelon, &c., must be adopted. 

In time of peace huts are sure to be put up well; to be properly under- 
pinned ; on a drained site, and well warmed. 


War Huts. 


In the putting up of huts in the time of war, when everything is done 
more roughly, the following points should be attended to :— 

Do not excavate the ground, if possible ; and never pile earth against the 
sides.+ 

(a) Floor.—Whenever practicable, underpin the joints, so as to get a 
eurrent of air under the floor. Arrange for the drainage underneath, so that 
water may not lie, but may be carried by a surface drain at once to an outside 
drain. If the floor is entirely of wood, have it screwed, and not nailed down,? 
30 that the boards may be taken up, and the space below cleaned. If the 
sides are of planks, and the centre of earth, pave the centre with small stones, 
if they can be got, so that it may be swept. If this cannot be done, remove 
a little of the surface earth every now and then, and put clean sand or gravel 
down. 

(b) Stdes.—If the sides are double, leave out a plank at the bottom of 
the outside, and at the top of the inner lining. 

If the sides are single, make oblique openings UN 

for ventilation above the men’s heads, with 
wooden flaps fallig inwards, and capable of 
being pulled more or less up, and inclosing 
the opening. Place a plank obliquely along 
the bottom at the outside, to throw the drip 
from the roof outwards, so that the water may 
not sink under the houses. Whitewash both 
inside and outside of the planks. 

(c) Roof.—Arrange for ridge ventilation. 
If felt is used, let the strips run along the sides, and not over the ridge, 
and beginning at the bottom, so that each successive strip may imbricate 
over the one below it; use no nails, but place thin strips of board across 
the strips from the ridge downwards, to hold the felt down. Tarred calico 
is as good as felt. 

Warming.—In cold countries, if stoves are provided, place them at one 


Fig. 100. 


1 While it is desirable to have the walls as clear from accumulations outside as possible, 
it must be remembered that this rule, like others, has its exception. Thus, in a very cold 
country, like Canada, a sufficient degree of warmth could not be obtained in a wooden hut 
without piling snow up against the sides. 

2 If possible, the screws should be of copper, not iron; if of iron, each screw ought to be 
lipped in oil before being put in : this greatly increases the ease with which they can be with- 
drawn, and also saves the wood to some degree. 


508 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


end, and let the chimney run horizontally along above the tie-beams, to the 
other end, and open at the gable; in this way the heat is economised : or. 
put a casing of wood round the stove, except in front, and allow fresh air to 
pass between the stove and casing. If no stoves are provided, and a fire-_ 
place is made with stone, it should be put at one end, and a wooden trough | 
running out at the gable be used as a chimney. If a good broad slab of | 
stone can be obtained for a hearth-stone, dig a trench under the boards and | 
lead the air from outside under the hearth-stone, and provide an opening at 
the other side of the stone. In this way the entering air is warmed. 
Trenches should be carried round huts as in the case of tents. | 
Fig. 101 shows a plan much used by the Germans in 1870-71 for tem- 
porary sheds ; the crossing of the rafters permits thorough roof ventilation, — 
and the raising from the ground where practicable is very important. 


Causes of Unhealthiness of Wooden Huts. 


1. Dampness from Ground, Earth against Wall, &e.—Drain well. Cut | 
away ground from outside ; have good trenches round, with a good fall. 
2. Substances collecting under Floors.—Look well to this as a common 
cause of unhealthiness. 


WH TTMWN 


Fig. 101.—Plan of German Shed. 


3. Earth round Huts saturated with Refuse, Urine, d&e.—Every now and 
then clear away the surface earth, and replace it with clean dry earth. 

4. Ventilation bad from too few openings. 

5. Cold.—Issue extra clothes, if additional fuel cannot be obtained. See 
that the greatest effect is obtained from the fuel; but do not, if it can pos- 
sibly be helped, close the ventilators. 


SUB-SECTION V.—TENTS AND CAMPS. 


TENTS. 


A good tent should be light, so that it may be easily transported, readily 
and firmly pitched, and easily taken down. It should completely protect 
from weather, be well ventilated, and durable. 

It is perfectly easy to devise a tent with some of these characteristics, but 
not to combine them all. 

The tents used in our army are as follows :— 


TENTS. 509 


Home Service.+ 


The Circular or Bell Tent.—A round tent with sides straight to 1 foot 
high, and then slanting to a central pole. Angle at apex, 70°. Diameter 
| of. base, 12°5 feet ; height, 10 feet; area of base, 123 square feet; cubic 
sspace, 492 feet ; weight, vale dry,? about 65 to 70 Ib. The canvas of the 
‘new pattern is made of cotton or linen. The ropes extend about 1} feet all 
jaround. It holds from twelve to sixteen men; and in war time eighteen 
jand even twenty have been in one tent. The men lie with their feet 
‘towards the pole, their heads to the canvas. With eighteen men, the men’s 
‘shoulders touch. Formerly, there was no attempt at ventilation ; but after- 
wards a few holes were made in the canvas near the pole. Ventilation, how- 
ever, was most imperfect. Dr Fyffe (formerly of the Army Medical School), 
who carefully examined this point, found the holes so small that the move- 
ment of the air was almost imperceptible. There is little ventilation through 
‘the canvas, and none at all when it is wet with dew. The new circular tent 
‘ig somewhat improved as regards ventilation. 

The Hospital Marquee. —An improved hospital marquee was issued in 
(1866. It is in principle the same as the old marquee, but with improved 
ventilation. This tent is two-poled, with double canvas. It is made of a 
lower, almost quadrangular part, and an upper part, sloping from the top 
of the straight portion to the ridge. Length, 30 feet ; breadth, 15 ; height of 
sides, 5 ; height to ridge, 15; area about 385 square feet ; cubic space, 3336 
cubic feet. 

It is intended for sick, and can accommodate ten men well; sixteen is the 
reculation, and twenty-four men have been put in it; but this crowds it 
extremely. There are ventilators, and a large flap at the top can also be 
opened for ventilation, and the fly can be raised. Its weight (including the 
yalise) is about 512 tb dry and 660 tb wet. <A waterproof sheet is now 
supplied, to put on the ground, and this weighs 145 ib. 

It is a good tent when care is taken with ventilation ; but there should 
be a way of raising one whole side, so as to expose every part of the tent ; 
and if the height of the upright part were 6 feet, it’ would be more con- 
venient. 

Lord Wolseley* condemns the hospital marquee as cumbersome, excessively 
heavy, and difficult to pitch. 

Circular Tent.—A double circular tent, with higher walls and without 
lining, weighing about 100 tb, has been approved of for hospital purposes, 
into which four sick or wounded men are placed. This forms part of the 
new field equipment. Five such tents accommodate twenty men well, 
whereas the marquee of the same weight only serves for ten, unless unduly 
crowded. 

Shelter Tent.—There is no official shelter tent for the English army on 
home service, but one was formerly issued for service at the Cape, and one 
is still occasionally issued on campaign, weighing 11 tb, for two or three 
men. Each man at the Cape carried a canvas sheet, made up of a quad- 
rangular (5 feet 9 inches x 5 feet 3 inches) and of a triangular piece (2 
feet 8 inches height of triangle x 5 feet 3 inches base). Buttons and 
button-holes were sewn along three sides, and a stick (4 feet long, and 


1 For measurement of tents, see the Soldier’s Pocket-Book, by Lord Wolseley, 5th edition, 
1886. 
2 Complete wetting of a tent adds from 30 to 40 per cent. to the weight. 
° Barrack Inupr ovement Report, p. 107. 


74 


4 Op. cit., p. 103. 


510 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


divided in the middle) and three tent pegs and rope also were provided. 
Two or four of these sheets could be put together, the triangles forming 
the end flaps. A very roomy and comfortable shelter tent, 4 feet in height, | 
was formed, which would, with a little crowding, accommodate six men, so 
that two sheets could go on the ground. The objection to this tent was its | 
weight, viz., 6 Ib 14 ounces per man. If a thinner material could be ob- 
tained, and if the size could be a little lessened in all directions, it would 
be a very good tent. Dr Parkes attempted to arrange a cape and water- 
proof sheet in such a way as to form a tent when suspended on rifles.1 A 
plan for making a shelter tent with blankets is given in the Jnstructions for 
Encampments, 1877, p. 19, paragraph 14. 

Lord Wolseley? condemns the shelter tent as too heavy and not ful- — 
filling its purpose. 

Officers Tents.—Marquees are allowed, one for each field-officer; each 
captain, and every two subalterns, have one circular tent. The officers’ 
marquee weighs 176 ib. 


On Indian Service. 


The tents for Europeans are marquees, with two poles and ridge, double 
fly. Length, 22 feet; breadth, 16; height to inner fly, 10 feet 3 inches; 
and outer fly, 11 feet 9 inches; weight, 600 ib to 631 ib. Twenty-five 
infantry are accommodated with 85 cubic feet per man; or twenty cavalry, 
with saddles, with 100 cubic feet. 

The tents for natives have a single fly. The Sepoy double pal, new 
pattern, weighs 512 fb, and has the following dimensions :—length, 32 
feet ; breadth, 16; height of pole, 8:5 feet, tapering down to 1 foot at the 
sides ; to accommodate twenty-two? British, forty-four native soldiers, or 
fifty followers. The old pattern Lascar pal is exactly half the above size ; 
a useful tent everywhere (Wolseley) ; it weighs 248 tb. Officers in India pro- 
vide their own tents: limit of weight, 80 ib. 


French Tents.—I\n the French army two chief kinds of soldiers’ tents have 
been used. 

1. The tente-abri, or shelter tent of hempen canvas, which was intended 
for three or four men. This is now given up, except in campaigns beyond 
the confines of Europe. . 

2. Tente de Troupe, or Tente Taconnet.—This is a two-poled tent, with a 
connecting ridge-pole ; for sixteen men. It is considered cumbersome and 
unstable, and is now being abandoned. 

3. Two conical tents are now used, like the English bell tent ; one (tente 
conique, also tente turque, or a marabout) a cone, and the other having an 
upright wall 16 inches high, and then being conical above (tente conique et 
G murailles). This last tent is ventilated at the top; a galvanised iron ring, 
12 inches in diameter, receives the canvas, which is sewed round it. An 
opening is thus left of 113 square inches, which can be closed by a wooden 
top which rests on the top of the pole, and is buckled to the ring. Each 
tent holds twenty men. The tente conique is the one now chiefly used. 
Small tents, called tentes de marche, are now issued to officers, who formerly 
provided their own various forms. 

Prussian Tent.—This is a conical tent, with a single pole, like the bell 


1 Army Med. Depart. Report for 1870 ; 1872, p. 260. 

2 Op. cit., p. 254. 

3 Surgeon H. K. Mackay, 32nd Panjab Pioneers, says the usual number is twenty, and 
eighteen when the full guards are formed. 


TENTS—GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. Sit 


tent of the English army; it is nearly 15 feet in diameter, the pole is 12 
feet high: it holds fifteen men, and weighs 91 tb avoir. The floor space 
is 12 square feet and the cubic space 70 cubic feet per head. 

Prussian Hospital Tent.—The ground floor of the tent is a rectangle 62 
feet long and 24 broad; the tent is 16 feet high; there are six or eight 
poles; the area is 1488 square feet. It is divided into three parts: a 
central, 52 feet long and 24 broad (=1248 square feet), for the sick, and 
two rooms, each 5 feet long and 24 broad, for attendants, utensils, «ce. 
Some of the tents are made with hollow iron poles, and there is a good 
hood for ventilation. Each tent could contain 20 to 22 beds, but only 
twelve patients are placed in it. It stands on an area of 80 feet by 40. 
Since 1862 the Prussians have treated many of the worst cases under such 
tents during the summer. The same practice has been adopted in the 
Austrian army for many years. 

Russian Tent.—The infantry tent is quadrangular, 14 feet square and 7 
feet high to the slope; there is a centre pole and four corner poles; it is 
intended for fourteen men, but only twelve are usually placed init. Round 
the tent is a bench 14 foot broad, and covered with straw mattresses and 
sheets (in the summer camps) for sleeping. A wooden rack round the centre 
pillar receives the rifles. The canvas can be partly or entirely lifted up. 
The officers’ tents have double canvas. 

North American Tents.—At the commencement of the civil war the 
Sibley tent was much used. It is conical, 18 feet in diameter, and 13 feet 
high, with an opening for ventilation, and gives 1102 cubic feet; often 
twenty or twenty-two men were held by one tent. Bell and wedge-shaped 
tents were also used; the latter was 6 feet 10 inches long, 8 feet 4 inches 
broad, and 6 feet 10 inches high, with a cubic space of 194 feet. It held 
six men. 

These tents, however, did not answer—the ventilation was most imperfect ; 
and in the summer of 1862 ponchos and shelter tents were issued, which in 
the army of the Potomac superseded the old tents.?_ The poncho is a piece 
of oil-cloth with a slit in the centre, through which the head is put; two 
ponchos can form a shelter tent. The army of the Potomac spent the 
winter in improvised huts of logs or mud, with the shelter tent for the roof. 

The larger tents are, however, still used for stationary commands, and for 
hospital purposes. 


General Conclusions. 


Although it has been affirmed that it will be henceforth impossible to 
carry tents during war in Europe (Wolseley), yet the history of all wars in 
the temperate zone proves that men cannot war without protection from 
weather.? Both theory and experience show that the best arrangement for 
a soldier is that he should carry a portion of a shelter tent, which may at 
once serve him for a cloak on the march, and a cover at night, if he is 
obliged to lie out without pitching his tent, and which, joined to two or 
three other similar pieces, may make a tent to hold three or four. The 
French, however, have abandoned this system, believing that its advantages 
are more than counterbalanced by the extra weight the men have to carry. 


1 From Heyfelder’s Camp of Krasnoe-Selo, 1868. 

2 Woodward, Outlines of the Chief Camp Diseases of the United States Army, 1863, p. 46. 

3 The Franco-German war of 1870-71 does not negative the rule that shelter must be given 
in some way ; the Germans in their camps hutted themselves, and in their marches found 
shelter in houses in the greater number of cases. 


5 ylivts CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


For camps of position, where troops are kept for months, and where there 
is less trouble about transport, larger tents can be used. 

The French system, now adopted by the Americans, is in reality a ee 
old one. The Macedonians used small tents which held two men,? and 
Rhodes figures a little shelter tent of the same form as the French, and 
holding apparently five men, which was in use in the British army in 1750. 

At various times in late wars the English army have extemporised tents 
of this description, by suspending blankets over their firelocks. But it 
wwould be much better to have a good shelter tent, which would make the 
men independent of their bell tents, on emergency, and thus greatly lessen 
the baggage of the army, as well as protect the men. 

An army could then encamp and house itself as fast as it could take up 
its ground, and so short is the time necessary for pitching the tent that 
even in heavy rain the men would not get wet. The men lie much more 
comfortably than in the bell-tent,? and there is scarcely a | of its 
being blown down. 


CAMPS. 


Several regulations have been issued by the Quartermaster-General’s 
Department,’ and the Queen’s Regulations* contain several orders which will 
be noticed hereafter. The Barrack Improvement Commissioners? also lay 
down certain rules which must be attended to. 

Encampments are divided into two kinds—those of position, which are 
intended to stand for some time, and incidental camps. The camps are 
arranged in the same way in peace and war, as a means of training the men; 
but, of course, in peace the war arrangements need not be adhered to. 

In the Reg gulations and Instructions “issued in 1877 by the Quartermaster- 
General’s Department, the following rules are laid down :— 

1. That the means of passing freely through the camp should be main- 
tained. 

2. That the tents, bivouacs, or huts should be disposed with a view to 
the greatest amount of order, cleanness, ventilation, and salubrity. 

3. That the camp be as compactly arranged as possible, consistently with 
the above considerations. » 

Troops are ordered to be encamped in such a manner that they can be 
rapidly formed in a good position for action. This does not involve the 
necessity of encamping on the very position itself. Although purely strate- 
gical or tactical considerations are of the first importance before an enemy, 
yet sanitary advantages must always be allowed great weight, and will, in 
most cases, govern the choice of ground if military reasons permit. Cavalry 
and infantry camps are directed to be formed with such intervals between 
their troops or companies as circumstances may require, or the general com- 
manding may direct. Open column is usually the most extended order 
used.? 


1 Rhodes’ Vent Life, p. 13. 

2 In some of the last China expeditions waterproof sheets were issued, of which the men 
made tents as well as cloaks. Dr Parkes was told by a private soldier who carried one of 
these, that nothing more comfortable was ever issued to the men. His sheet was the last 
thing that a man would part with. 

% Regulations and Instructions for Encampments, *“ Horse Guards,” 1877. <A great deal of 
very important information is given in this little book. 

4 1885, section 8. ° Report, 1861, p. 168. 

6 Regulations and Instructions for Encampments, p. 1, section it. 

7 Measurements in infantry camps are usually made in paces: 6 paces=5 yards; other 
camps are measured in yards. 


ERECTION AND CONSERVANCY OF CAMPS. 513 


In front of the camp is the battalion parade, the quarter-guard being in 
front of all. Behind the men’s tents are the kitchens, and behind these the 
tents of the officers; then come the wagons, horses, drivers, and batmen ; 
next the ashpit and latrines, and on the boundary line the rear-guard. In 
fixed camps the latrines and kitchens may be pitched elsewhere, if found 
advisable. 

The distances between different corps are, as a rule, to be 30 paces. 

Cavalry are encamped in the same way, in columns of troops or squadrons ; 
4 feet of space is allowed to each horse, which is picketed. 

Artillery encamp with the guns in front, the waggons in two lines behind, 
and the horses and men on the flanks, the men being outside, the officers’ 
tents being in rear. A battery of artillery, with 192 of all ranks, and 154 
horses, occupies a space of 1754 yards by 133 in open order, and 85 by 71} 
in close order. Other arrangements are given in the Regulations.} 

An infantry camp for 1096 officers and men is 320 yards x 266, with an 
interval of 25 yards between corps. This gives 84 square yards per man, or 
36,802 men per square mile. According to Wolseley, a camp may be com- 
pressed to 120x 150: this gives (with the interval) 20 square yards per 
head, or 154,665 men per square mile. The actual ground covered by tents 
and intervals would give in open formation 12 square yards per man, and in 
close formation 8 per man ; this last is equal to a space of 120 square yards 
(nearly 11 yards square) per tent of 15 men, or 387,200 men per square 
mile. The smallest space tents could occupy would be back to back, a 
double line of 28 feet, with a yard gangway. This would give 24 square 
yards per tent, 5-2 x 3°6 yards. The space per man would be 1°6 square 
yards, or equal to 1,936,000 men per square mile. 

On considering these arrangements, it is evident that the compression of 
the men, even in open order, is considerable. As in war it is not always 
easy to give space, the importance, even in a military point of view, of 
thoroughly ventilating the tents is obvious. It is to be presumed that no 
military officer who regards the comfort or health of his men will ever 
compress his camp without an imperative military necessity. Yet it has 
been occasionally done, and tents have been placed almost as closely as 
they could be, even when ground was available, and no enemy was in front. 
Under these circumstances, an explanation of the reasons for not crowding 
the men together will undoubtedly satisfy the officer in command that he is 
sacrificing comfort, convenience, and efficiency to a false notion of order 
and neatness. 

In the Crimea many officers dug out the interior of their tents, leaving a 
small pillar of earth to support the pole; a ledge of about 9 inches in width 
was also left all round the outside to serve as a shelf; a great deal of comfort 
and shelter was thus given in cold winds, but it would be well to go to as 
little depth as possible unless the soil is dry. 


Points to be attended to in the Erection and Conservancy of Camps. 


Dig a trench round each tent, 4 inches deep, and the width of the spade, 
and carry it into a good surface drain running in front of the tents, with a 
proper fall. Place the tent on the ground and do not excavate, or only toa 
slight extent ; in a camp of position, the tents can sometimes be raised on a 


_1 For numerous plates of camps, tents, kitchens, &c., the reader is referred to the Instruc- 
tions and Regulations for Encampments, price 6d., which ought to be in the hands of every 
officer. Consult also the Soldier’s Pocket-Book, by Lord Wolseley, 5th edit., 1886. 


2K 


514 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


wall constructed of stones, or even earth, if this can be plastered over. When- 
ever possible, let the floor of the tent be boarded, the boards being loose, and 
able to beremoved. If there are materials, make a framework elevated a few 
inches from the ground to carry the boards. . If boards cannot be obtained, 
canvas or waterproof sheets should be used ; whatever is used, take care that 
nothing collects below, and move both boards and canvas frequently to see 
to this, and scrape the earth if it is at all impregnated. If straw is used for 
bedding, get the men to use it carefully ; to place pegs of wood or stones, and 
take ropes of straw running from peg to peg, so that each man may keep 
his own place neat ; or to make mats of straw of a triangular shape, and 3 
or 4 inches thick. Take care that the straw is kept dry, and never allow the 
men to use green foliage, or any damp substance. Have the sides of the 
tent thoroughly raised during the day, and even at night, to leeward. 
Whenever practicable (twice a week if it can be done), the tents should be 
struck, the boards taken up, the surface well cleaned, the worst part of the 
straw removed and burnt. 

In a camp of position dry paths should be constructed between the 
different roads; latrines should be dug in rear of the stables, and not too 
near the kitchen, and en échelon with the camp; for a standing camp each 
latrine should be a trench 20 to 50 feet long, according to the size of the 
camp, 10 deep and 3 wide at the top, and 2 at the bottom. The earth 
thrown out should be arranged on three sides. It should be screened by 
branches of trees, and several inches of earth should be thrown in every day.! 
When 4 feet from the surface, it should be filled in and another dug, the 
earth of the old one being raised like a mound to mark the spot. Close to 
it a urinal should be constructed, of a sloping channel paved as well as can 
be, and leading into the latrines, or of a tub which can be emptied into it, 
and, as far as possible, men should be prevented from passing urine round 
their tents. In camps for a few days a trench 12 paces long, 2 feet deep, 2 
feet wide at top and 1 foot at bottom, is sufficient. 

A corps of scavengers should be immediately organised to clean away all 
surface filth, and to attend to the latrines and urinals. All refuse must be 
completely removed ; it is a good plan to burn it. Both in peace and war, 
encamping ground should be often changed, and an old camp should never 
be re-occupied. 

In addition to tents, the men may be taught, if possible, to house them- 
selves. Huts of wattle should be run up, or wooden sheds of some kind. 
In war, men soon learn to house themselves. Luscombe gives the 
following account of the huts in the Peninsula :— 

“A cork tree or evergreen oak with wide-spreading branches was chosen, 
a lower branch was nearly cut through, so as to allow the extreme points to 
drop to the ground. Other branches were then cut from adjoining trees and 
fixed in a circle in the ground, through the branch, on which their upper 
branches rested. Smaller branches were then interwoven to thicken the 
walls, and the inside was lined with the broom-plant, which was thatched in. 
The door of the hut was put due east, so that the sun might pass over it 
before it reached the horizon.” 

This hut was very cool during the day, but very cold at night, and thus 
“very prejudicial to health.” 

Lord Wolseley states that many English officers, and the Sardinians 
generally, in the Crimea, made comfortable huts in the following way :—A 
space was dug out 23 feet deep, and the size of the hut; those made to 


1 The Regulations direct 2 or 3 inches of earth. 


THE FOOD OF THE SOLDIER. 515 


contain 6 Sardinian soldiers were 14 feet 3 inches long, and 7 feet 1 inch 
wide in the clear. Gables were then built of mud or stone, or made of boards 
or wattle and daub; the gables were 2 feet wider than the excavation, so as 
to form a shelf all round; a door was in one and a window in the other. 
The fireplace was made of brick or mud, or simply cut out of the face of the 
earth in one of the side walls, a flue being bored in a slanting direction, so 
as to come out clear of the roof, and being provided with a chimney 2 feet 
in height. The pitch of the roofs should be at an angle of 45°.1 

Underground huts are sometimes used in camps; they are, however, 
dangerous ; they are often damp, and are difficult of ventilation. In cold 
dry countries, however, they are warm, and the Turks have constantly 
used them in campaigns in winter on the Danube. They have, however, 
frequently suffered from typhus. If used, there should be two openings 
besides the chimney, so as to allow a current of air; and a spot should be 
chosen where it is least likely water will gravitate. But underground huts 
are always to be discouraged if any substitutes can be found. Sometimes 
the side of a hill is cut into, and the open top covered with boards and 
earth. This is as bad as an underground hut. 


Hospital Encampment. 


The arrangements for Field Hospitals are given in the Medical Regulations, 
1885. As before said, Circular Tents, one to four patients, are those now 
employed, although marquees may be used when available. For the late 
Surgeon-Major Moffitt’s plan of encampment, see previous edition of this 
work, 


SECTION II. 
THE FOOD OF THE SOLDIER—ARMY REGULATIONS. 


The Army Medical Regulations place the food both of the healthy and sick 
soldier under the control of the medical officer. He is directed to ascertain 
that the rations of the healthy men are good, and that the cooking is properly 
performed ; the amount of food for the sick is expressly fixed. On taking 
the field, the principal medical officer is ordered to advise on the subject of 
rations, as well as on all other points affecting the health of the troops. It 
will thus be seen that a great responsibility has been thrown on the Medical 
Staff, and that its members will be called upon to give opinions on the 
quantity of all kinds of food supplied to soldiers; on the composition of 
diet ; on the quality and adulteration of the different articles ; and on their 
cooking and preparation. 

In the case of soldiers and sailors, definite quantities or rations of food 
must be given. It is, of course, impossible to fix a ration which shall suit 
all persons. Some will eat more, some less, but certainly ore scale of 
rations should err on the side of excess rather than defect. 

The following are the rations of the chief European armies :— 


English Soldier on Home Service. 


The English soldier receives from Government 1 fb of bread, and ? tb of 
meat, and buys additional bread, vegetables, milk, and groceries. The 
following table shows his usual food :— 


1 Drawings of various kinds of huts and bivouaes are given in the Regulations, op. cit. 


516 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


Nutritive Value in Ounces (avoir.) and Tenths of Ounces. 


erayilice faiken GehikP Nitro- Total 
Articles. Pie on ia ane ; Water. eee Fat. foarte Salts. ee 
BO stances. Food, 
ae oz 
Meat: : 4 (of which rn 7:20 | 1°44 | 0°81 Ae 0°15 | 2°40 
ip is bone). 
Bread, . : 0 24 0Z. 9°60 | 1:92 | 0°36 | 11°81 | 0°31 | 14°40 
Potatoes, é 16 a 11°84 | 0°32 | 0:02 3:36 || 002) 3-722 
Other vegetables, 2 8 es 7-28 | 0:14 | 0°04 0-46 | 0:06 | 0-70! 
Milk, . . : 3°25 55 2°82} 0-13 | 0:12 0°16 | 0°02 | 0°43 
Sugar, : ; ; 1°33 5p O50 45 eeer ee 12) | OO | ae 
Salta : : 0°25 se ie ais 206 aes OP aOR 
Coffee, . . : 0°33 53 Rae den te sje Ase 
eataaniae : ‘ 0°16 5 
Total quantity, . 65°32 oz. S7s | BS | ss | IPOS | Orsi | 2Rle 


Calculating this by the table given at page 245, it would give— 


Grains. 
Nitrogen, : : é : : 6 ; 276 
Carbon in albuminoids, : : : ; 837 
Carbon in fats, . : : : 454 4588 
Carbon in carbo- hydr ates, 2 : : 3297 
Hydrogen in albuminoids, cae ; 32 97 
Hydrogen in fats, . : : : E 65 
Sulphur in albuminoids, ‘ : : 32 


The quantity of nitrogen is considerably below that of the standard diet, 
while the amount of carbon is nearly correct, only this is given chiefly in 
the form of carbo-hydrates, and not as fat. The diet would be improved 
by the addition of more meat or of cheese, and by the addition of butter or 
of oil. So also, while fresh succulent vegetables are sufficient, the use of 
peas and beans, as in the French army, would be very desirable.’ 

Using the table at p. 248, and taking the bread 1th crust and ths 
crumb and the “other vegetables” as cabbage, the total energy obtainable 
in the body from the soldier’s daily diet appears to be equal to lifting 3542 
tons one foot. The amount for the internal and external mechanical work 
of the body being taken at 600 tons lifted a foot, there remain 2942 tons 
for the animal heat and all the other processes. 

The accessory foods are rather deficient in the soldier’s food, and vinegar 
especially should be used. Robert Jackson very justly insisted on the 
importance of vinegar as a digestive agent and flavourer, as well, no doubt, 
as an auti-scorbutic. He remarks on the great use of vinegar made by the 
Romans, and possibly the comparative exemption which they had from 
scurvy was due to this. 


1 Some indigestible cellulose not reckoned. 2 Taken as cabbage. 

° That the food of the English soldier is deficient, especially for the younger men, is known 
also from evidence. The late Director-General (Sir James B. Gibson) strongly urged on the 
authorities the desirability of increasing the ration of meat, and in the report on the recruit- 
ing of the army the same point was brought forward. Inquiries among soldiers showed that 
the recruits and young soldiers could eat much more; though the old soldiers, many of whom 
had been long accustomed to take spirits, and who had injured their digestive powers by so 
doing, took less food. There is no doubt that, taking the army through, the ration, espe- 
cially of meat, is not enough. For further remarks, see “The Soldier’s s Ration,” by F. de 
Chaumont, Sanitar y Record, Feb. 5, 1876. 


THE FOOD OF THE SOLDIER IN THE FIELD. 51 


The diet of the soldier on foreign stations is stated under the several 
headings when it differs materially from that of home service, and the 
alterations in the diet which should be made under circumstances of great 
exertions are given in the proper chapter. 

In the time of Edward VI. the English soldier’s rations during war were— 
meat 2 tb, bread 1 tb, wine 1 pint (Froude). 

No scale of diet is laid down for war, and probably it would be fixed at 
the time, and in view of the possible character of the campaign. The war 
scale should be very liberal, and every article ought to be issued by the 
Supply Department. It would be probably a good plan to have the supply 
under two headings, the ‘‘usual” and the “extra” articles, the latter being 
intended for special occasions, such as forced marches, rapid movements far 
from the base of supplies, &c. The usual ration ought not to contain less 
than 375 to 400 erains of nitrogen. The following is suggested asa liberal 
and varied war ration, which could be easily supplied under ordinary cases: 
—Bread, 1} tb; fresh meat (without bone), 1 tb; peas or beans, 3 ounces ; 
potatoes and green vegetables, 1 ib; cheese, 2 ounces; bacon, 2 ounces ; 
sugar, 2 ounces; salt, } ounce ;! pepper, sy ounce ; ground coffee, 1 ounce ; 
tea, 4 ounce; red wine, 10 ounces, or beer, 20 ounces. No spirit ration to 
be given, except under order from the generals of divisions. The nutritive 
value of this diet is :—Albuminoids, 5-6 ounces ; fats, 3°43 ; carbo-hydrates, 
16°6; salts, 1°37, equal to 410 grains of nitrogen and 5000 of carbon.? 

Another ration proposed by Deputy Surgeon-General Marston, C.B., is as 
follows for one week :—Bread, 4 tb; biscuit, 2 tb; oatmeal, 1 tb; rice, 1 tb; 
meat, fresh (with bone), 4 Ib; meat, preserved, 2 Ib; bacon, 14 tb, or pea- 
sausage (erbswurst), 2 Ib; cheese, ? Ib; potatoes or fresh vegetable, 7 tb (or 
dried and preserved, 24 tb); sugar, 14 ounces ; salt, 34 ounces ; tea, 2 ounces ; 
coffee and cocoa, each 34 ounces; total weight per man per week, 25 ib 
gross, or, daily, 34 tb. The nutritive value daily would be :—Albuminoids, 
5-5 ounces ; fat, 4:6; carbo-hydrates, 16°5; salts, 1:5; total, 28-1 ounces. 
These would equal—nitrogen, 385 grains; carbon, 6000 grains ; carbon to 
nitrogen, 15°6 : 1; foot-tons of energy, 4865, available for 380 to 400 of 
visible work. There is some convenience in the field in arranging for a 
weekly ration instead of a daily one. . 

The “extra” articles would be kept in readiness by the Supply Depart- 
ment for occasional issue, viz., salt meat, Australian or New Zealand corned 
meat, Chicago corned meat, dried meat (such as Hassall’s, M‘Call’s, or 
Meinert’s, or the best market article of the kind), Liebig’s extract of 
meat, pea and beef sausages, biscuits, flour, meat biscuits, rice, lime juice, 
preserved vegetables, brandy or rum, and vinegar. 

This plan supposes that the “usual” scale of diet would be issued to the 
troops, and the “extra” articles under certain conditions, and under order 
of the General of the Division. 

Bread (which should be well-baked) should be issued as long as possible ;# 


1Tt may be suggested that chloride and phosphate of potassium, and perhaps a little 
citrate of iron, might be added to the common salt. 

2 For further remarks see “ Military Hygiene,” a lecture by F. de Chaumont, Journal of 
the United Service Institution, 1870. 

3 Steam baking ovens have been used in the Autumn Manceuvres, and have been found 
very good. Field ovens were also built by iron hoops fixed in the ground. Lord Wolseley 
gives the following plan :—Take a barrel (with iron hoops, if possible), knock out the head, 
lay it on its side, after scraping a bed for it ; cover it with a coating of 6 or 8 inches of thick 
mud, except at the open end; pile up sand or earth to a thickness of 6 inches over the mud ; 
arrange a flue at the end distant from the open part, through the mud and earth, of 3 inches 
diameter, to increase the draught when the fire is burning. Form an even surface of well- 
kneaded mud at the bottom of the barrel ; light a fire in the barrel, and keep it alight until 


518 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


and if biscuit is issued for more than a week, flour or rice should be 
added to it. When salt meat is issued for several days in succession, 
vinegar should be given with it. If no vegetables can be obtained, lime 
juice should be early had recourse to. 

The usual alcoholic ration of the troops should be beer or wine, instead 
of spirits. As all the continental armies issue wine rations in war, there 
can be no difficulty on the score of transport ; and even with beer, though 
twice as bulky as wine, it is believed that it could be in most cases supplied. 

But the issue of red wine instead of spirits is strongly urged. 

For rapid expeditions, when transport has to be reduced to the minimum, 
the use of concentrated and cooked foods is all-important. The men can 
carry enough for seven or eight days, and are then independent of all base 
of supply. 

Pea and flour sausages, meat biscuits, and dried meat are the best to 
use; and the issue of cheese and bacon fat, if it can be obtained with these, 
gives a diet which is fairly nutritious and not disagreeable. The following 
would be the weight of food which would last a man for a week, and render 
him independent of the Commissariat during that time :—Biscuit, 2 tb; pea or 
flour meat sausages, 4 Ib; dried meat, 2 tb; sugar, # Ib; tea, + Ib; cheese, 
1 tb ;—total, 10 tb. That is to say, a weight of 10 tb, which would be 
lessening day by day, would, if properly used by the men, carry them 
through a week’s labour, and although, of course, a meagre diet, would yet 
enable them to do their work. A special emergency ration has been long 
under consideration. 

The extract of meat, as an extra ration, is intended for another purpose. 
It has a great restorative power, and should be kept for special cases, such 
as the following :— 

1. It is expected the army, after a rapid march, will meet the enemy, 
and that there will be no time for preparing food. A small quantity of 
Liebig’s extract, merely mixed with 3 or 4 ounces of red wine, will restore 
strength in a wonderful way; no cooking is required, and ten minutes’ 
time will supply a whole regiment. 

2. The force meets heavy weather, and every man is drenched. The 
issue of Liebig’s extract, made into hot soup, and with wine added, will 
have a very great effect in preventing bad consequences. 

3. A forced march has to be made in a very short time, and no fires can 
be lighted for cooking. Liebig’s extract in small tins should be distributed 
to the men, who should spread it on their biscuits. 

4, After action it is invaluable for wounded men, and can be carried 
about the field and given to the men who cannot be brought into the 
hospital. 

It would be convenient to have the extract carried in cases holding small 
quantities, so that one pot may be issued to ten or twenty men. 

The strength and use will require to be explained. 

In war the supply of food is often difficult, but as an army “fights on its 
belly,” the importance of food at critical movements cannot be overrated. 
The uncertainty of the time of supply, and the difficulty of cooking, often 
cause the men to be without food for so many hours as to exhaust them 
greatly, and some actions have been lost, others have remained without good 
result, from this cause. This can only be avoided by regimental transport 


all the wood is burnt; there will then be a good oven of clay, supported by the iron hoops. 
When heated for baking, the mouth is closed with boards, or a piece of iron or tin. These 
ovens were used in the Red River Expedition, and answered admirably. 


THE FOOD OF THE SOLDIER—FRENCH—GERMAN. 519 


of condensed and ready-cooked food, which may be used on such emergencies, 
and given in addition to the usual rations issued by the Supply Departments. 
The colonel of a regiment would then always be sure that he had the means 
of keeping up the strength and vigour of his men. The Austrians have 
tried a plan of cooking, which is intended to obviate one difficulty on the 
march.! A Viennese engineer (Herr Beuerle) has altered Papin’s digester in 
such a way as to make it a convenient cooking utensil, and it is now in use in 
the Austrian ambulances. It is a doubly conic iron pot covered with a lid, 
and capable of standing the pressure of five atmospheres; the lid is fastened 
by screws, and a layer of felt or india-rubber is between it and the rim of the 
pot, so as to exclude air; in the lid is a ventilating opening, weighted to 2°5 Tb 
(Austrian = 3-1 tb English), so that it opens when the pressure exceeds one 
atmosphere. The meat, salt, vegetables, &c., are put into this digester, and 
it is filled up with water till about 3 fingers’ breadth from the top. The 
amount of water is 1 pint (English) to 1 Ib of meat (English). This makes 
so strong a soup that it has to be diluted. The pot with the lid screwed 
down is put on the fire (three iron supports from which the pot hangs, like a 
eipsy’s kettle, are provided for the field), and as soon as steam is developed, 
which is known by opening-the ventilator a little, the fire is moderated. In 
an hour and a half the soup is ready. Pots to cook from eight to twenty-five 
rations are made, and special arrangements are made for cooking potatoes, &e. 
The plan is, in fact, in principle similar to Warren’s compressed-steam boilers, 
now used in the army, but is simpler. 

One advantage in active service of this plan is, that if the troops are sur- 
prised, and have to move off their ground before the soup is ready, the pot 
is simply thrown into the waggon, and at the end of the march the soup is 
usually found to be ready. 


RaTIONS OF THE FRENCH SOLDIER.? 
In Time of Peace. 


Under the Regulations of 1873, the Government furnishes the meat for 
the soldiers’ rations at about 35 per cent. under market price. This has 
proved a great advantage for the soldier. The State also furnishes bread 
(pain de munition) and fuel; the white bread (pain de soupe), as well as 
other articles, are bought from the funds of the ordinaire, or common fund 
of the company, battery, or squadron. ‘To this the soldier pays 43 centimes 
a day, out of 48 that he receives, except in Paris, when his contribution 
is 51, out of a total of 58. The remaining 5 or 7 centimes he receives 
in cash. 


Infantry of the Line. 


If biscuit is issued, 550 grammes (or 19-4 ounces) are given in place of 
bread. If salt beef is used, 250 grammes (8°8 ounces) are issued, or 200 
(7 oz.) of salt pork. Haricot beans form the chief part of the dried vege- 
tables. The following is the authorised scale :— 


1 Der Beuerle’sche Dampfkochtopf, Deutsche Militairarztliche Zeitsch., 1872, Heft v. p. 215. 

2 In the Crimea, Soyer introduced various portable cooking stoves, but probably the com- 
pressed-steam cooking will supersede all others. Soyer also gave several receipts for field 
cooking, which were found to be very useful. A number of these receipts were printed in 1872 
at the Royal Artillery Institution at Woolwich. In case of a war, it would be useful to print 
some receipts of the same kind, adapted to the particular sort of cooking stove then in use. 

3 Code des Officiers de Santé, par Didiot, 1862, pp. 481 ef seg. Alterations have been made 
in the scale of diet since 1874; the new scale is given in the text. 


On 
i) 
= 


CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


Grammes, Ounces avoir. 
Munition bread, : : ; 750 26°4 
White bread for soup, : : 250 8°8 
Meat (uncooked), : : : 300 10°6 
Vegetables (green), . : : 100 3°D 
. (dried), . : E 30 Ife 
Salt, : : ; : : 15 0:5 

; 0-073 

2) 
Pepper, . : : é : 2 fe 2] eeioe 
Total . 1447 51-00 


Analysed by the table for calculating diets, and deducting 20 per cent. from 
the meat for bone, the water-free food of the French infantry soldier is, in 
ounces and tenths— 


| | P | Water- 
| Albumi- | Carbo- 
| Water. : Fats. | Salts free 
ds. | hydrates. | ‘ 
| noids | | ydrates | ami 
Meat, ; : a 6-30 1:96" || 70°70" || Fo 1 50S al orbs 
Bread, : 1415) 2) 2°82 | 10°53) A7-25 | 10-45 1620 
Vegetables(taken as cabbage), 3:19 0-01 | 0-00 0-21 | 0-02| 0-24 
Vegetables dried a pee): 0°16 0:24 | 0:02 0°58 | 0°02] 0°86 
Salt, : 0°50 | 0:50 
Totaly ‘el , .  |-23:80° || 4:33 =|). 1-25.) 18-04. | a-19)) e4e7a | 


In Algiers the ration of bread is also 750 grammes, or 26°5 ounces, and 8°8 
ounces for soup, or biscuit 643 grammes. The meat is the same; 60 grammes 
of rice and 15 of salt are issued, and, on the march, sugar, coffee, and 4 litre 
of wine. 

In time of war discretion is given to the Minister of War and the General 
Commanding, by the decree of 26th October 1883, to fix and modify the 
soldiers’ rations, so as to suit the circumstances and places where war may 
be carried on. By the decree of 16th December 1874, soldiers on board 
ship receive the same rations as the sailors of the navy, which are much 
more liberal than those allowed by the military regulations. 


GERMAN Souprier.! 


The soldier receives his pay every ten days, z.e., three times a month ; 
it amounts to three thalers (or 9 shillings English) per month,” or 3 silber- 
groschen (= 34 pence nearly) a day. Out of this he has to defray the cost 
of a warm dinner (menage) at the rate of 14 silbergroschen (=14 penny) ; 
and he also receives a mess contribution, varying according to the market 
prices of food.* 

The rations in time of peace are divided into the smaller and the larger 
victualling rations.* 


1 From information furnished by Dr Roth, of the Prussian Army (now Surgeon-General, 
Saxon Army). 

* Lance-corporals and privates who have engaged themselves to serve a longer term of 
years receive additional pay—1 thaler (3 shillings) per month. 

° In the new currency—1 thaler=3 marks; 1 mark=100 pfennings; 1 silbergroschen= 
10 pfennings, 

4 The Prussian weights are now assimilated to the French ; the Prussian pound is =$ kilo- 
gramme or 500 grammes ; the loth=16'66 grammes, or 0°5870 oz. avoir. 


THE FOOD OF THE SOLDIER—AUSTRIAN-——RUSSIAN. 521 


Larger Ration for Marches, &c., 
Smaller Ration, as supplied from the 


in ounces avoir. Military Stores, in ounces avoir. 
Bread, : ; : ; 26°50 ; 
Meat (raw), . ; ; : 6:00 8:82 
TRWG®, ; 3°20 4°23 
Or iaanalieatl Barley (groats), 4°31 5:28 
Or Peas and beans, F 8°22 10°60 
Or Potatoes,! , ' : 53:08 70°5 
Salita , ; ; : 0:87 0°87 
Coffee, . 2 , ; 3 0-468 0:468 


These would furnish in their best form about the following (oz. avoir.):— 


t | Total 
Albumi- Fat. Carbo- Salts. Water- 


Kind of Ration. arate hydrates. ae 
Smaller Ration, . F 4°8 ial 17-4 | 1s 24°8 
Larger Ration, . . : 57 1-4 18°6 | 16 27°3 


EECOpS, when travelling by railway or steamer, receive an additional 
pay of 24 silbergroschen (=3 pence) per man for refreshments. Should the 
travelling last longer than 16 hours, the additional pay is doubled. 

In Time of War.—The supply of rations for the Germans during the 
Franco-German war was thus conducted :— 

1. During the marches in Germany the men were billeted, and money was 
paid for their food. 

2. Supplies were drawn from the Magazines. 

3. Supplies were obtained by requisition when the troops entered France. 
This last plan was a bad one, as was especially shown in the march to Sedan, 
where the Germans passed over a country previously nearly exhausted by the 
French. The principal defect was the great uncertainty and irregularity of 
the supplies ; some corps received too much, others too little, and the hos- 
pitals especially, which had not men to send out to get supplies, were par- 
ticularly badly off. The quality of the food was also often bad ; so that, as 
far as the health of the troops is concerned, the system of supplies by requi- 
sition should be as little used as possible. It must be noted, however, here, 
that the Germans did not pay ready money, which might, perhaps, have 
attracted better supplies than the system of written vouchers. The maga- 
zine supplies were excellent, but occasionally failed in certain articles, such as 
fresh meat, as a substitute for which the celebrated pea-sausage was issued. 
But it was found that if the pea-sausage was used too exclusively the men 
disliked it. In fact, one of the greatest difficulties was the too great uni- 
formity of the food. To do away with this, bacon, preserved and smoked 
meat, peas and white beans, and potatoes, when possible, were issued as a 
change of diet. Independent of these extra issues, the daily German ration 
was as follows, in English weights :— 


Bread, . 264 ounces, or biscuit, 17 ounces. 
One (Fresh or salt meat, . : gpls s 
of Salted beef or mutton, : ; 9 ounces, or 
these | Bacon, ; : ; ‘ j 5# ounces. 
Rice, : ; t ; : 44, 


1 25 per cent. is lost in boiling and peeling ; besides, smaller potatoes than the English kind 
are served out, occasioning still more waste. 


522 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 
es Barley or groats, 5 : : 4-4 ounces. 
Peas or beans, ; é : Cron: 
ie | Flour, : ‘ : : ; SS oy 
Potatoes, : 3°3 Ib. 
Salt, 0-7 ounce. 
Coffee, ; f ; : é 0-7 ounce of unroasted, or 


1-0 ounce of roasted. 

The want of knowledge of cooking was very great, and the addition also 
of articles to give flavour, as vinegar and spices, would have been much 
prized. Roth strongly recommends the establishment of a school for cook- 
ing, like that at Aldershot. 

The bread, owing to the long time it was on transport, was sometimes 
mouldy. 

AUSTRIAN Sotp1ER.! 


In time of peace, receives—bread, 31 oz. avoir. ; meat (without bone), 6:6 ; 
suet, 0°6 ; flour (or vegetables in lieu), 2°5; salt, 0-6. To this are added a 
little garlic, onions, and vinegar. These give about— 


a 


| 7 = Water- 
Albumi- Carbo- d 

aide Be iparatee: Salts. sree 
In time of peace, 37 16 170 1:0 233 
In time of war 2 (mean), 4°5 3°2 22°8 1:0 31°5 


The amount of the peace ration is much the same as our own. ‘There is 
too great a preponderance of bread, and there is too great sameness; the 
fat is in too small a quantity ; the nitrogenous substances are too small. 

In time of War.—It is difficult to calculate the daily ration, as there is a 
weekly issue of many substances ; the above figures are a mean taken from 
those cited by Meinert. On four days fresh pork is issued ; the total amount , 
being 26 oz., or 64 oz. daily. On one day, 6 oz. of salt pork ; on one day, 
6 oz. of beef ; and on one day, 6 oz. of smoked bacon; altogether in the 
week, 44 oz. of meat are issued ; and in addition, 1 oz. of butter or fat, 

There are also issued per week :—244 oz. of biscuit, 147 oz. of flour for 
bread, 29$ oz. of flour for cooking, 54 oz. of pickled cabbage (sauer kraut), 
9 oz. of potatoes, 54 oz. of peas, and 5 oz. of barley. 

Wine, brandy, and beer are also given. 


Russtan SOLDIER.? 


There are 196 meat days and 169 fast days in the year. On the meat 
days meat is given with schtschi (cabbage soup) and buckwheat gruel; on 
the fast days the meat is replaced by peas and (occasionally) fish. 42 oz. 
avoir. of rye bread are issued daily. This is large, but it is probably watery. 
Meinert? calculates the nutrition value as follows, oz. avoir. :— 


teva | Carbo- Water-free 
Albuminoids. Fat. hydrates, Salts. food! 
5°8 1-0 | 25°0 2°5 34°3 


1 Kraus, quoted by Roth. ; 

2 Meinert, Armee- und Volks-Erndhrung, Berlin, 1880. 

3 For details of this diet, see Dr Oscar Heyfelder’s The Russian Camp at Krasnoe-Selo, 
German edition, 1868, or former editions of the present work, or Roth and Lex, op. cit. 

4 Op. cit. 


THE CLOTHING OF THE SOLDIER. 523 


On the march, 1? tb biscuit (244 English oz.) instead of bread. Brandy 
only on rare occasions, calculated at 135 fluid ounces per year (in 5 oz. 
rations). 

Sepoy Diet—Dr Goodwin has calculated the diet of a Hindu, such as a 
Sepoy servant, to consist of 4°387 oz. of albuminoids; 1:278 oz. of fat ; 
18°584 oz. of carbo-hydrates ; and 0°64 oz. of salts—total water-free food, 
25°113 oz. It is thus a really better diet than that of the European soldier. 
The principal articles were—24 oz. of attar (ground wheat), 4 oz. of dal 
(pea), and 1 oz. of ghee (butter). In other cases rice is more or less sub- 
stituted for wheat. The Hindu diet consists of wheat, or of some of 
the millets (cholum, ragi, cumbu—see Millets), rice, leguminosee (Cajanus 
indicus), with green vegetables, oil, and spices. If any kind of diet of this 
sort has to be calculated, it can be readily done by means of analysis of 
the usual foods previously given. For example, a Hindu prisoner at labour 
in Bengal receives, under Dr Mouat’s dietary,! the following diet during his 
working days :— 


Total. | Water.| Album.| Fat. | Starches. | Salt. | Water- 

Oz 0z OZ. OZ OZ 0z free 

Food 

Rice, : ; E ; . | 20:00 | 2:0 1:0 | 0:16 16°64 | 0°10 i) 
Dal (a pea, Cajanus indicus), .| 4°25} 06 0-9 | 0:08 275 || Ow? 3°3 
Vegetables (reckoned as cabbage), | 6:°00| 5°3 01 | 0:03 0°34 | 0°04 0°5 
Oil, j : ; F ol) OB coe soo || OFBS nite bad 0°3 
Salt, : Hah ieee P 5 || OBB I ccs ees es ser 0°33 0°3 

Spices, é 0 : ; 5 |) OBB) coc sie ee Pat 

iRotiallaaee : 6 5 | enlewel 5 7/2) 270 | 0°60 19°83 | 0°59 22°4 


In some Bengal prisons, 2 oz. of fish or flesh appear to be also given. 

In the Looshai expedition the Sepoys received—rice, 1 tb; flour, 1 tb; 
ghee, 2 oz.; salt, 1°5 oz.2 The nutritive value, if the ghee is calculated as 
butter, is 178 grains of nitrogen and 6080 of carbon, which, though 
deficient in nitrogen, would appear to be a good diet in respect of carbon. 
Probably some peas were added. 


SECTION III. 
THE CLOTHING OF THE SOLDIER. 


The structure and examination of fabrics have been already given. 

Regulations.—No specific instructions are laid down in the Medical 
Regulations respecting clothing, but the spirit of the general sanitary rules 
necessarily includes this subject also. When an army takes the field, the 
Director-General is directed to issue a code for the guidance of medical 
officers, in which clothing is specially mentioned ; and the sanitary officer 
with the force is ordered to give advice in writing to the commander of the 
forces, on the subject of clothing among other things. 

Formerly a certain sum, intended to pay for the clothing of the men, was 
allotted by Government to the colonels of regiments. This was a relic of 


1 See Mouat’s elaborate report, On the Diet of Bengal Prisoners, Government Return, 1860, 
p. 49. The chittack is reckoned as the bazaar chittack, viz. =*1283 Ib, or about 2 ounces 
avoir. Some useful information on prison and coolie diets will be found in a memorandum 
prepared by Surg.-Major I. B. Lyon, F.C.8., Chemical Examiner to the Government at 
Bombay, May 1877. 

2 Indian Med. Gazette, March 1, 1872. 


~ 


524. CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


the old system by which regiments were raised, viz., by permitting certain 
persons to enlist men, and assigning to them a sum of money for all expenses. 
The colonel employed a contractor to find the clothes, and received from him 
the surplus of the money after all payments had been made. A discretionary 
power rested with the service officers of the regiment, who could reject 
improper and insufficient clothing, and thus the interests of the soldier were 
in part protected.1 Thesystem was evidently radically bad in principle, and, 
since the Crimean war, the Government has gradually taken this depart- 
ment into its own hands, and a large establishment has been formed at 
Pimlico, where the clothing for the army is now prepared. This system 
has worked extremely well ; the materials have been both better and cheaper, 
and important improvements have been and are still being introduced into 
the make of the garments, which cannot fail to increase the comfort and 
efficiency of the soldier. 

At the Pimlico depét the greatest care is taken to test all the materials 
and the making up of the articles ; the viewers are skilled persons, who are 
believed to be in no way under the influence of contractors. 

In January 1865 a warrant was issued containing the regulations for the 
clothing of the army, and several other warrants and circulars have since 
been promulgated. They are now consolidated in the Regulations for the 
Supply of Clothing and Necessaries to the Regular Forces, 1881 (vol. i, 
Revised Army Regulations). 

When a soldier enters the army he is supplied with his kit ; some articles 
are subsequently supplied by Government, others he makes good himself. 
In the infantry of the line a careful soldier can keep his kit in good order at 
a cost of about £1 per annum. The following are the articles of the kit 
supplied to the infantry recruit :— 


Clothing. 

2 Frocks. 2 Pairs ankle boots (one each half- 
2 Pairs of trousers. year). 

1 Forage cap and badge. 

Necessaries. 

2 Flannel shirts.” 1 Sponge, pipeclay. 
3 Pairs socks (worsted). 1 Razor and case. 
1 Pair braces. 1 Hold-all. 
1 Pair mitts. 1 Tin of blacking. 
1 Hair comb. 1 Blacking brush. 
1 Knife (table). 1 Brass brush. 
1 Fork. 1 Cloth brush. 
1 Spoon. 1 Polishing brush. 
1 Mess tin and cover. 1 Shaving brush. 
2 Towels. 1 Button brass. 
1 Piece of Soap. 1 Kit bag. 


The kit is divided® into the surplus and the service kit. The former, 
consisting of 1 frock, 1 pair of socks, 1 shirt, 1 towel, 2 brushes, and such 


1 But this safeguard was not sufficient. Officers are not judges of excellence of cloth; for 
this it requires special training. As Robert Jackson said sixty years ago: “ Soldiers’ clothing 
is inspected and approved by less competent judges than those who purchase for themselves.” 

2 By a Circular, November 1865, flannel shirts only are ordered to be supplied to the recruit. 

% Queen’s Regulations, 1885, section 12, par. 50. 


THE CLOTHING OF THE SOLDIER. 525 


articles for the hold-all as are not wanted, is carried for the men. The service 
kit 1s supposed to be carried by the man, either on his person or in his 
knapsack. 

Certain articles are also issued free of expense at stated intervals. For the 
particulars of these, reference must be made to the Regulations, 1881, where 
they are stated in detail. The following are the articles issued to the Line 
infantry soldier at home :— 


1 helmet and bag, .. : : : : Quadrennially. 
1 tunic, .. ; : : : : Biennially. 
Tfrock, . . : ; 5 : Annually. 
1 pair tw eed trousers, : : : : Annually. 
1 pair tweed trousers, : Biennially. 
2 pairs of boots, one on Ist April and one on el ieee 
1st October, : y- 
1 forage cap, . : : : : Annually. 
1 silk sash for sergeants, : i : ; Biennially. 
1 worsted sash for serg geants, . : : Biennially. 
1 greatcoat, . 5 2 ; ; ; Every five years. 


In India and the West Indies, and other tropical stations, light clothing of 
different kinds is used—drill trousers and calico jackets, or in India complete 
suits of the khaki, a native grey or dust-coloured cloth, or tunics of red serge 
and very light cloth. The khaki is said not to wash well, and white drill 
is superseding it. The English dress is worn on certain occasions, or in cer- 
tain stations. Formerly the home equipment was worn even in the south 
of India; but now the dress is much better arranged, and differences of 
costume for different places and different times of the year are also being 
introduced. 

During campaigns extra clothing is issued according to circumstances. In 
the Crimea the extra clothing was as follows for each man :— 


2 Jersey frocks. 1 Cholera belt. 

2 Woollen drawers. 1 Fur cap. 

2 Pairs woollen socks. 1 Tweed lined coat. 
2 Pairs woollen mitts. 1 Comforter. 


To each regiment also a number of sheepskin coats was allowed for 
sentries. 

The Regulations for 1881 order the following articles of clothing to be 
issued to each man proceeding on active service in cold, temperate, or hot 
climates :-— 


1. In cold climates— 


Sheepskin coats (for 100 men), 8 | Drawers, flannel (per man) pairs, 2 
Fur caps (per man), 1 | Cholera belts, flannel, . eae” 
Woollen comforters, ,, 1 | Mittens, lined with erable 
Jerseys, blue, eee 1 | or So : ae 
Boots, knee, brown leather, pairs, 1 | Pilot coats, each mounted man, 1 
Stockings, woollen, - 2 


2. In temperate climates— 


Waterproof capes (for 100 men), 10 
2) 3 


Cholera belts, when not included 
in the voyage kit, . 


526 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


3. In tropical cluimates— 


White helmets (per man), ae 

Frock coats, of serge or tartan, when not supplied as ‘ordinary } 1 
clothing of these climates, . ; : 

Cholera belts, of flannel, w hen not part of the sea kit, ; . ee 

Capes, waterproof (for 100 men), ; 5 ; ; : 5 pee 


For India, a drill frock, drill trousers, and a white cap cover are issued. 


SECTION IV. 
ARTICLES OF CLOTHING. 


1. Underclothing, viz., vests, drawers, shirts, stockings, flannel belts, &e. 

The soldier, as a rule, wears as underclothing only a shirt and socks. He 
is obliged to have in his kit two shirts. There has been much discussion as 
to the respective merits of cotton and flannel shirts. Almost all medical 
officers prefer the latter, but their cost, weight, difficulty of cleaning, and 
shrinking in washing, have been objections to its general adoption. General 
Sir A. Herbert solved the difficulty by issuing a shirt which is partly wool, 
partly cotton ; it is lighter and cheaper than wool, as durable as cotton, and 
does not shrink in washing. It is of soft even texture, and weighs 19 ounces. 
Under the microscope, Dr Parkes counted from 45 to 47 per cent. of wool. 

In time of war, shirts may be partially cleaned in this way :—The soldier 
should wear one and carry one ; every night he should change ; hang up the 
one he takes off to dry, and in the morning beat it out and shake it thoroughly. 
In this way much dirt is got rid of. He should then carry this shirt in his 
pack during the day, and substitute it for the other at night. If in addition 
great care is taken to have washing parades as often as possible, the difficulty 
of cleaning would be avoided. 

For hot countries the common English flannels are much too thick and 
irritating ; flannel must be exceedingly fine, or what is perhaps better, merino 
hosiery, ‘which contains from 20 to 50 per cent. of cotton, could be used. 
The best writers on the hygiene of the tropics (Chevers, i effreys, Moore) 
have all recommended flannel. 

The soldier wears no drawers, but in reality it is just as important to 
cover the legs, thighs, and hips with flannel as the upper part of the body. 
Drawers folding well over the abdomen form, with the long shirt, a double 
fold of flannel over that important part, and the necessity of cholera belts 
or kamarbands is avoided. Cholera belts are made of flannel, and fold 
twice over the abdomen. 

The soldiers’ socks are of worsted ; they should be well shrunken before 
being fitted on. It has been proposed to divide the toes, but this seems an 
unnecessary refinement. It has been also proposed to do away with stock- 
ings altogether, but with the system of wearing shoes, it is difficult to keep 
the feet perfectly clean. The boots get impregnated with perspiration. 
Some of the German troops, instead of stockings, fold pieces of calico across 
the foot when marching ; when carefully done, this is comfortable, but not 
really better than a good sock kept clean. 

2. Outer Garments.—The clothes worn by the different arms of the service, 
and by different regiments in the same branch, are so numerous and diverse 
that it is impossible to describe them. In many cases taste, or parade, or — 
fantasy simply, has dictated the shape or the material. And diversities of 
this kind are especially noticeable in times of peace. When war comes with 


CLOTHING OF THE SOLDIER—ARTICLES OF CLOTHING. B27 


its rude touch, everything which is not useful disappears. What can be 
easiest borne, what gives the most comfort and the greatest protection, is 
soon found out. The arts of the tailor and the orders of the martinet are 
alike disregarded, and men instinctively return to what is at the same time 
most simple and most useful. It will be admitted that the soldier intended 
for war should be always dressed as if he were to be called upon the next 
moment to take the field. Everything should be as simple and effective 
as possible ; utility, comfort, durability, and facility of repair are the prin- 
ciples which should regulate all else. The dress should never be encum- 
bered by a single ornament, or embarrassed by a single contrivance which 
has not its use. Elegant it may be, and should be, for the useful does not 
exclude, indeed often implies, the beautiful, but to the eye of the soldier it 
can be beautiful only when it is effective.! 

Head-Dress—The head-dress is used for protection against cold, wet, 
heat, and light. It must be comfortable; as light as is consistent with 
durability ; not press on the head, and not to be too close to the hair ; it 
should permit some movement of air over the head, and therefore openings, 
not admitting rain, must be made; it should present as little surface as 
possible to the wind, so that in rapid movements it may meet the least 
amount of resistance. In some cases it must be rendered strong for defence; 
but the conditions of modern war are rendering this less necessary. 

As it is of great importance to reduce all the dress of the soldier to the 
smallest weight and bulk, it seems desirable to give only one head-dress, 
instead of two, as at present. Remembering the conditions of his life, his 
exposure, and his night-work, the soldier’s head-dress should be adapted for 
sleeping in as well as for common day-work. Another point was brought into 
notice by the Crimean War: in all articles of clothing it greatly facilitates 
production, lessens expense, and aids distribution if the different articles of 
clothing for an army are as much alike as possible; even for the infantry, 
it was found difficult to keep up the proper distribution of the different 
insignia of regiments. 

Head- Dress of the Infantry.—The present head-dresses are the bearskin 
caps for the Guards, a smaller and rather lower kind of seal-skin for 
Fusiliers, the Highland bonnets and shakoes for the Highland regiments, 
and helmets for the Artillery, Engineers, and Line, and forage caps for all. 
The bearskin weighs 37 ounces; the Infantry helmet, made of cork and 
cloth, 144 ounces. It is for the professional soldier to decide if the rapid 
movements and the necessity of cover in modern war are compatible with 
the retention of the bear-skin. If not, no one would wish to retain it on 
Sanitary grounds; it is heavy, hot, gives little shelter from rain, and 
opposes a large surface to the wind. 

The Glengarry Scotch cap, now adopted as the forage cap of the army, is 
very soft and comfortable, presses nowhere on the head, has sufficient height 
above the hair, and can be ventilated by openings if desired ; it cannot be 
blown off; it can be carried at the'top of the head when desired in hot 
weather, or pulled down completely over the forehead and ears in cold. 
Unfortunately, either to save cloth or from some idea of smartness, it is 
now being made so small that its advantages are imperilled, as it cannot be 
drawn down over the head. 

Head-Dress of the Cavalry.—The Horse Artillery and Cavalry sey 
helmets and caps of different kinds. 


1 La tenue, dans laquelle le militaire est pret @ marcher a Vennemt, est toujours belle.— 
Vaidy. 


528 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


The shape of the helmet in the Guards and heavy Dragoons is excellent. 
It is not top-heavy ; offers little surface to the wind ; and has sufiicient but 
not excessive height above the head. The material, however, is objection- 
able. The metal intended for defence makes the helmet very hot and 
heavy ; and the helmet of the Cavalry of the Guard (Life Guards and 
Horse Guards) weighs 55 ounces avoir.; that of the Dragoon Guards, 39 
ounces (in 1868). But as every ounce of unnecessary weight is additional 
unnecessary work thrown on the man and his horse, it is very questionable 
if more is not lost than is gained by the great weight caused by the metal. 
Leather is now often substituted in some armies, where the cavalry helmets 
are being made extremely light. 

The Lancer cap weighs 294 ounces ; the Hussar, 284 ounces.!_ Both are 
dresses of fantasy. The Lancer cap, except for its weight, is the better of 
the two; is more comfortable ; shades the eyes ; throws off the rain better ; 
and offers less resistance to moving air than the Hussar cap. 

In Canada a fur cap is used, with flaps for the ears and sides of the face 
and neck. 

In India many contrivances have been used. Up to the year 1842 little 
attention seems to have been paid to the head-dress of the infantry, and the 
men commonly wore their European forage caps. In 1842 Lord Hardinge 
issued an order that white cotton covers should be worn over all caps; 
subsequently a flap to fall down over the back of the neck was added. 
The effect of the cotton cover is to reduce the temperature of the air in the 
cap about 4° to 7° Fahr. Although a great improvement, it is not sufficient. 

Bamboo wicker helmets, covered with cotton and provided with puggeries, 
are now used ; they are light (13 oz.), durable, not easily put out of shape, 
and cheap. The rim is inclined, so as to protect from the level rays of the 
sun. The pith, or “Sola” hats, appear to be decidedly inferior to the 
wicker helmets ; and men have had sunstroke while wearing them. 

In the French infantry the shako is now made of leather and pasteboard, 
and is divested of all unnecessary ornament, so as to be as light as it can 
be. It comes well back on the head, being prolonged, as it were, over the 
occipital protuberance. 

In Algeria, the Zouaves, Spahis, and Tirailleurs wear the red fez, covered 
with a turban of cotton. In Cochin-China the French have adopted the 
bamboo wicker helmet of the English. 

The natural hair of the head is a very great protection against heat. 
Various customs prevail in the East. Some nations shave the head, and 


wear a large turban ; others, like the Burmese, wear the hair long, twist it © 


into a knot at the top of the head, and face the sun with scarcely any 
turban. The Chinaman’s tail is a mere mark of conquest. The European 
in India generally has the hair cut short, on account of cleanliness and dust. 
A small wet handkerchief, or piece of calico, carried in a cap with good 
ventilation, may be used with advantage, and, especially in a hot land-wind, 
cools the head greatly. 

Coat, Tunic, Shell-Jacket, &c.—The varieties of the coat are numerous in 
the aumy ; and there are undress and stable suits of different kinds. The 


infantry now wear the tunic, which is a great improvement over the old cut- 


away coatee. It is still, however, too tight, and made too scanty over the 
hips and across the abdomen. A good tunic should have a low collar, and 
be loose round the neck. The stock is now abolished, a tongue of leather 
being substituted where the collar of the tunic is hooked in front. The 


1 Soldier’s Pocket-Book, p. 17. 


CLOTHING OF THE SOLDIER—ARTICLES OF CLOTHING. 529 


tunic should also be loose over the shoulders (so as to allow the deltoid and 
latissimus the most unrestricted play)! and across the chest. It should 
come well across the abdomen, so as to guard it completely from cold and 
rain ; descending loosely over the hips, it should fall as low over the thighs 
as is consistent with kneeling in rifle practice, z.e., as low as it can fall 
without touching the ground. Looking not only to the comfort of the 
soldier, but to the work and force required of him, it is a great mistake to 
have the tunic otherwise than exceedingly loose. A loose tunic, a blouse in 
fact, is in reality a more soldier-like dress than the tight garment, which 
every one sees must press upon and hinder the rapid action of muscles. 
The tunic should be well provided with pockets, not only behind, but on the 
sides and in front ; the pockets being internal, and made of a very strong 
lining. In time of war, a soldier has many things to carry; food, extra 
ammunition sometimes, all sorts of little comforts, which pack away easily 
in pockets. If the appearance is objected to, they need not be used in time 
of peace ; but with a loose dress they would not be seen. 

A great improvement was made by General Herbert. The old skell- 
jacket was done away with, and a loose frock substituted. 

In India the tunic is made loose, and of thin material. 

Waistcoats—No waistcoats are worn in the British army, but they ought 
to be introduced.? A long waistcoat with arms is one of the most useful of 
garments ; it can be used without the tunic when the men are in barracks or 
on common drill. Put on under the tunic, it is one of the best protections 
against cold. At present the men are obliged to wear tight coats, and, 
having nothing under them, line them with flannel and wadding. In winter 
and summer they often wear the same dress, although the oppression in the 
summer is very great. If the tunic were made very loose, of some light 
material, and if a good short Jersey or Guernsey frock were allowed to be 
worn at the option of the men, the men would have cool dresses in summer, 
warm in winter, and the thin tunic would be more comfortable in the 
Mediterranean and subtropical stations. 

Trousers.—Formerly the army wore breeches and leggings ; but shortly 
before or during the Peninsular war trousers were introduced. The increased 
comfort to the soldier is said to have been remarkable ; the trousers, indeed, 
protecting the leg quite down to the ankle, seems to be as good a dress as 
can be devised, if it is made on proper principles, viz., very loose over the 
hips and knees, and gathered in at the ankle, so that merely sufficient 
opening is left to pass the foot through. The much-laughed-at pegtop 
trousers seem to be, in fact, the proper shape. In this way the whole leg 
is protected, and the increased weight given by the part of the trousers 
below the knee is a matter of no consequence. 

The trousers are supported either by braces or a belt. If the latter be 
used, it should be part of the trousers, should fit just over the hip, and not 
go round the waist. It must be tight, and has one disadvantage, which is 
that in great exertion the perspiration flowing down from above collects 
there, as the tight belt hinders its descent ; also, if heavy articles are carried 
in the pocket, the weight may be too great for the belt. Braces seem, on 
the whole, the best. 

Trousers should be made with large pockets, on the principle of giving 
the men as much convenience as possible of carrying articles in time of war. 


1 This cannot occur if epaulets are worn; and it is to be hoped nothing will ever occur to 
bring in again the use of the so-called ornaments. 
2A waistcoat was introduced some time ago, but has since been unfortunately withdrawn 


again. 
21 


530 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


In India, trousers are made in the same fashion as at home, but of drill or 
khaki cloth, or thin serge—an excellent material, especially for the northern 
stations. 

Leggings and Gaiters.—Formerly long leggings reaching over the knees, 
and made of half-tanned leather, were used. They appear not to have been 
considered comfortable, and were discarded about sixty years ago. Short 
gaiters were subsequently used for some time, but were finally given up, 
and for several years nothing of the kind was worn. After the Crimean war 
Lord Herbert introduced for the infantry short leather leggings, six inches 
in height, and buttoning on the outside. These were not of good length or 
shape, and have now been superseded by leggings which come more up to 
the knee, and are much more serviceable. 

In some of the French regiments a gaiter of half-dressed hide comes up to 
just below the knee ; short calico or linen gaiters are worn by other corps ; 
a flap comes forward over the instep. The calico gaiters have been much 
praised, but they soon get saturated with perspiration, thickened in ridges, 
and sometimes irritate the skin. On the other hand, leather gaiters, if not 
made of good leather, lose their suppleness, and press on the ankles and instep. 

A great advantage of gaiters and leggings is, that at the end of a march 
they can be at once removed and cleaned; but, on the whole, if suitable leather 
could be fixed at the bottom of trousers, they might perhaps be abandoned. 

Shoes and Boots.—In the action of walking the foot expands in length and 
breadth ; in length often as much as 5th, in breadth even more. In 
choosing shoes this must be attended to. The shoemaker measures when 
the person is sitting, and as a rule allows only 4th increase for walking. 
Ankle boots, weighing 40 to 42 ounces, are now worn by the infantry: the 
cavalry have Wellingtons and jackboots. The jackboots of the life guards 
weigh (with spurs) 100 ounces avoir. Shoes cannot be worn without gaiters. 
Ankle boots are preferable ; in the English army they are now made to lace, 
and are fitted with a good tongue. Great attention is now paid at Pimlico 
to the shape and make of the boot, and the principles laid down by Camper, 
Meyer, and others, are carefully attended to. There are eight sizes of length 
and four of breadth, making thirty-two sizes in all. The boots are made 
right and left. The heel is made very low and broad, so that the weight is 
not thrown on the toes, the gastrocnemii and solei can act, which they 
cannot do well with a high heel, and there is a good base for the column 
which forms the line from the centre of gravity, and the centre of gravity is 
kept low ; the inner line of the boot is made straight, so as not to push out- 
wards the great toe in the least degree, and there is a bulging over the root 
of the great toe to allow easy play for the large joint. Across the tread and 
toes the foot is made very broad, so that the lateral expansion may not be 
impeded ; the toes are broad. Great care is taken in the inspection of the 
boots, the order of inspection being—l1s¢, the proof of the size, which is done 
by standard measure ; 2nd, the excellence of the leather, which is judged of 
by inspection of each boot, and by selecting a certain number from each lot 
furnished by a contractor, and cutting them up ; if anything wrong is found, 
the whole lot is rejected ; 3rd, the goodness of the sewing ; there must be a 
certain number of stitches per inch (not less than eight for the upper 
leathers), a certain thickness of thread, and the thread must be well waxed. 
The giving up of boots is generally owing to the shoemaker using a large 
awl and thin unwaxed thread, with as few stitches as possible ; the work is 
thus easier to him, but the thread soon rots. 

The Germans are now introducing a long boot, with a slit down the 
centre; it can be worn under the trousers, or at pleasure outside, as the 


CLOTHING OF THE SOLDIER—SHOES AND BOOTS. 531 


slit opens, and can then be laced. A somewhat similar boot was invented 
by the late Major Sir W. Palliser. 

Considering the great injury inflicted on the foot by tight and ill-made 
boots, by which the toes are often distorted and made to override, and the 
great toe is even dislocated and ankylosed, it is plain that the increased 
attention lately excited on this point is not unnecessary. The compression 
of children’s feet by the tight leather shoes now made is extremely cruel 
and injurious. It may, indeed, be asserted that the child’s foot would be 
better if left altogether unclothed, and certainly we see no feet so well 
modelled as the children of the poor, who run about shoeless. In the case 
of the soldier, too, who has in many campaigns been left shoeless, and has 
greatly suffered therefrom, it is a question whether he should not be trained 
to go barefooted. The feet soon get hard and callous to blows, and cleanli- 
ness is really promoted by having the feet uncovered, and by the frequent 
washings the practice renders necessary. After being unworn for some 
time, shoes that previously fitted will be found too small, on account of the 
greater expansion of the foot, and this is itself an argument against the 
shoe as commonly worn. 

The sandal in all hot countries is much better than the shoe, and there is 
no reason why it should not be used in India for the English soldier as it is 
by the native; the foot is cooler, and will be more frequently washed. For all 
native troops, negroes, &c., the sandal should be used, and the boot altogether 
avoided. In campaigns it is most important to have large stores of boots at 
various points, so that fresh boots may be frequently issued, and worn ones 
sent back for repair. Soldiers ought to be trained to repair their own boots.! 

Greatcoat and Cloak.—In the cavalry, cloaks, with capes which can be 
detached, are carried. They are large, so as to cover a good deal of the 
horse, and are made of good cloth; the weight is about 5 ib to 6 tb for the 
cloak, and 2 ib to 3 ib for the cape. The infantry wear greatcoats weigh- 
ing from 5 tb to 6 tb.2 They are now made of extremely good cloth, are 
double-breasted, and are as long as can be managed. ‘They are not provided 
with pockets at the back, which is a serious omission, and they also should 
have loops, so that the flaps may be turned back if desired. They are too 
heavy, and absorb a great deal of wet, so that they dry slowly. General 
Eyre’s Committee on Equipments recommended a lighter greatcoat, and in 
addition a good waterproof cape. The suggestion seems to be a very good 
one. A hood might also be added with advantage. In countries with ‘cold 
winds they are a great comfort. Or the Russian bashlik might be introduced ; 
it is a most useful covering for cold and windy countries. 

The greatcoat is perhaps the most important article of dress for the soldier. 
With a good greatcoat, Robert Jackson thought.it might be possible to do 
away with the blanket in war, and if india-rubber sheets were used this is 
perhaps possible. In the Italian war of 1859 the French troops left their 


1 It may be worth while to give a receipt for making boots impermeable to wet. Dr Parkes 
tried the following and found it effectual :—Take half a pound of shoemaker’s dubbing, half a 
pint of linseed oil, half a pint of solution of india-rubber (price 3s. per gallon). Dissolve with 
gentle heat (it is very inflammable), and rub on the boots. This will last for five or six 
months; but it is well to renew it every three months. At a small expense the boots of a 
whole regiment could be thus made impermeable to wet. -Army Circular, clause 66, 1875, 
directs—(1) That boots are to be blackened with three coats of ordinary blacking, instead of 
other substances. (2) Boots or shoes in store are to be dubbed, or have neat’s-foot oil applied 
to EEE at least once in four months. 

2 The following are the exact weights of three—one large size, one medium, and one small ; 
the weights were 6 tb 3 ounces, 5 tb “9 ounces, and 5 ib 8 ounces. Lord Wolseley gives the 
weights as 4 tb 12 ounces for the coat, and 1 ‘th 5 ounces for the cape. 

® Para. 47, sect. viii. Regulations for Clothing, directs the issue of a waterproof coat, leg- 
gings, wrappers, sou’wester caps, &c., for certain duties. 


532 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


tunics at home, and campaigned in their greatcoats, which were worn open 
on the march.! 

In countries liable to great vicissitudes of temperature, and to sudden cold 
winds, as the hilly parts of Greece, Turkey, Affghanistan, &c., a loose, warm 
cloak, which can be worn open or folded, is used by the inhabitants, and 
should be imitated in campaigns. It is worthy of remark, that in most of 
these countries, though the sun may be extremely hot, the clothes are very 
warm. 

In very cold countries, sheepskin and buffalo-hide coats, especially the 
former, are very useful, No wind can blow through them; in the coldest 
night of their rigorous winter the Anatolian shepherds lie out in their sheep- 
skin coat and hood without injury, though unprotected men are frozen to 
death. In Bulgaria, the Crimea, and other countries exposed to the pitiless 
winds from Siberia and the steppes of Tartary, nothing can be better than 
coats like these.? 


SECTION V. 


WEIGHTS OF THE ARTICLES OF DRESS AND OF THE ACCOUTRE- 
MENTS, AND ON THE MODES OF CARRYING THE WEIGHTS. 


The following tables give the weights of all the articles used by a heavy 
cavalry regiment, an hussar regiment, and the infantry of the line. The 
weights carried by the artillery are much the same as those of the cavalry. 
The weights of the helmets and jackboots of the life and horse guards have 
been already mentioned. The cuirass weighs 10 tb 12 oz.; it rests a little on 
the sacrum and hip, and in that way is more easily borne by the man. With 
these exceptions, the weights may be considered nearly the same as those of 
the heavy dragoons. The uniform and equipment of the guards and cavalry 
are at present under consideration, and may be changed. 


CAVALRY. 


The weight of the accoutrements and equipment is in great part carried 
by the horse. The cloak, when not worn, is carried in a roll over the 
shoulder, or sometimes round the neck, or in front on the horse. 


Private in 6th Dragoon Guards.— Weights in Marching Order (Jan. 1872). 


Articles. DSO Ze Articles. Tb. 02, 

Carbine, . ; : 6 8 Brought forward, . 112 0 
Sword- belt and sw ord, : : 5 8 | Blanket, . ; : ‘ 4 t 
Pouch-belt and pouch, : : 1 8 | Heel Ropes, il 8 
oo and cape, : eee!) Suis. kegs: ‘ ; : C 2 2 
Valise completely packed, Br de 0 | Shackles, : . : : 0 10 
Saddle complete, .. ; 47 8 | Collar Shank, . i : Q 13 
Sheepskin, corn-sack, and nose- -bag, 8 8 | Wellington boots and spurs, . 2 10 
Man’s clothing (which includes) === 
a complete set of undercloth- | 123 eels 
ing, helmet without plume, + 17 0 | Average weight of man (naked), 161 0 
tunics, pants, haversack, gaunt- | = 
lets, knee-boots, and spurs), J Total, » 284 15 

cary) forward, 5 he 0 Or 20 stone and 5 ib (nearly). 


1 1 Cloth may be neds ee oof by the following simple plan :—Make a weak solution of 
glue, and while it is hot add alum in the proportion of one ounce to two quarts ; as soon as 
the alum is dissolved, and while the solution is hot, brush it well over the surface of the cloth, 
and then dry. It is said that the addition of two drachms of sulphate of copper is an im- 
EON 

2 Sheepskin bags, with the wool inside, were much used by the French troops during the 
defence of Paris, in the winter of 1870-71. 


WEIGHTS OF DRESS AND ACCOUTREMENTS. 533: 


Weights of Men’s Clothes, Necessaries, &c., 10th Royal Hussars (1869).1 


No. Articles. Tb. oz. | No. Articles. tb. 0Z. 
1 Tunic, 3 0 Brought forward, 32 54 
1 Busby, plume, and ‘lines, 1 132] 1 Hair-comb, : 0 05 
il Jee ieather overalls and straps, 3 6) || 2) Pairs drawers, each 13% 02., ey as 
1 Pair cloth do. do., 2 74 | 2 Pairs gloves, each 7+ 0z., @ ides 
1 Stable-jacket, i iU5% | Or 2 Pairs cotton socks, each ) 0 9 
1 Forage-cap, 0 5 sock 2402, . Bn oes 
Il Valise, j : og 7 4 Brass paste, 0 34 
1 Cloak, 5 Ib 8k OZ. ; cape, 2) 7 44h 1 Hold-all, 0) 4 
Ib 6 oz. : : ot oa 2 1 Horse-rubber, @ iil 
1 Pair boots, 0 8 Ot 1 Knife, fork, and spoon, 0 43 
Le weSDULES, 0 og 1 Pipeclay and ee 0 2 
1 ,, highlows, 3 8 1 Razor, 0 2s 
1 Stable bag, 0 6 3 Shirts, each 145 02., % ills 
1 Pair braces, 0 32 1 Button brass, 0 12 
1 Button- brush, 0 13 1 Stoek, 0 14 
1 Cloth 8 0 34 2 Towels, 7? oz. each, © ili 
1 Hair 3 0 23 1 Stable trousers, . 1 5 
1 Brass AF 0 we 2 Flannel jackets, each 11 oz. pall 6 
1 Lace a 0) 1 il Onl iim, ; 0 24 
1 Shaving ,, 0 14 1 Pair foot-straps, 0 04 
2 Shoe ve 0 1% 1 Mess-tin and strap, il 14 
iL Win blacking, 0 43 1 Account-book, . 0) 1g 
Carry forward, 32 5A 45 34 


Weights of Saddlery, 10th Royal Hussars. 


Articles. Z Articles. OZ. 

Saddle-tree, Brought fetwane 132 
pesca, Shabraque, a 
Pair flaps, . Numnah, 11t 


Corn-sack, 
Nose-bag, . 
Horse-brush, 
Curry-comb, 


,», pannels, 
Girth-tub, . 
Girth-leathers, 
Stirrup-irons, 


a 


HAY Dol Dol Lol Lol bol col Dol tol pole $ 


~ 
DPOHMOCSCCOHENE aE 
_ 
pn 


qb. 0 

6 & 

1 6 

2 8 

4 6 

0 6 

1 1 

1 1 

», leathers, il 34 | Sponge, 2 
Crupper, 0 144! Hoof-picker, 12 
Breastplate, 1 44 | Scissors, 35 
Surcingle, : F 0 15 | Horse-log, 3h 
Set of bageage-straps, 0 94 | Haversack, 9 
,, cloak-straps, 0 94 | Carbine, 9 

Pair wallets, : : 1 144 | Pouch-belt, HE OZ., | 
Pair shoe-cases and straps, 1 4 | Pouch, 124 OZ., . : : 3 84 
4 Horse shoes and nails, 4 9 | 20 rounds ammunition, 324 oz., \) 
New carbine bucket, . 2 184 | Wrist-belt, &c., 1 tb 1 oz., | 
Bridle-bit and head-stall, 2 2 | Sabretash and slings, 1 tb 5$0z., - 7 04 
Bridoon-bit and reins, 1 2 | Sword, 4 tb 10 oz., J) 
Curb-chain, 0 af 
Bit-reins, 0 104 76 Ve 
Head-collar, ala 
Collar-chain, il ae Weight of equipments, 121 114 

4 4 


Skeepskin, 


Total weight of Hussar? with ) 259 64 
Carry forward, 245 132 all his equipments, or 18% st.? 


1 Since this date, the only change is the substitution of long boots for booted overalls; but 
it Is uncertain if this change will be permanent. 
2 Average weight and height of the men in these two cavalr ‘y regiments— 


Heigt ite Weight (naked), 
ft. in. Tb. 0Z. 
5th Dragoon Guards, . : ; c . 6 5 94 161 0 
18th Hussars, 5 5 74 ley all 


° Lord Wolseley gives the total weight as 18 st. 5 tb 93 oz., or 257 Th 9% oz.; he allows, 
iowever, 10 st. 4 Ib for the man (=144 tb). The new pattern saddle will be about 4 ib 
lighter. The weights will still be much too great. 


534 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


INFANTRY. 


The articles of the infantry soldier’s kit have been already noted. The 
kit is divided into the service and the surplus kit, the latter being always 
carried for, and not by, the man. The service kit consists of the clothes he 
wears, and of some duplicate articles and other necessaries. 


The following weights are given by Lord Wolseley :1— 


When Valise When Valise 
is worn. ~ is not worn. 
ib. OZ. Ib. OZ. 

Clothes in wear, . - 5 : . ele: 4 1D 4 
Accoutrements (1882), 4 0 4 0 
Arms, : : 6 10 9 10 9 
Ammunition (70 rounds), 8 0 8 0 
Mess-tin, complete, 1 9 1 9 
Haversack, : 0 4 0 4 
Water- bottle, 1 1 il i 
Balance of day’ s rations, including tea i in water- bottle, 2 0 2 0 
Knife and lanyard, : 2 : 0 6 0 6 
Field-dressing, .- . : 0) 2 0 2 
Total, 40 3 40 3 
Valise (1882 pattern), . ¢ ‘ j 5 : 3 0 
In the Valise. 
Reserve rations (sausage), . , ; : say, 0 12 0 12 
Oil-bottle and grease-pot, full, 0 64 0 4 
Towel and soap, : 0 84 0 
Brush, clothes, . 0 5 
Hold- all, fitted (housewife, comb, fork, and spoon), 0 64 
Pocket ledger, ‘ 3 0 2 0 2 
Belt, flannel, : ¢ : ‘ é F 0 7 
Night-cap, woollen, : : ; : : x 0 3 0 3 
Flannel shirt, : ; : ‘ : : 1 1 
Socks (1 pair), : : : . : 0 5 0 5 
Shoes, canvas, . : : : : ; é 1 4 
Cape, . : : : : : c : 6 1 5 
Greatcoat, . : 2 : ; : 4. 12 4 12 
Small w aterproof sheet, c e Z 0 6 
11 #13 7 4 
Total weight carried by the soldier, 55 0 47 7 


In time of war it is most important to have the soldier as little weighted 
as possible. The long and rapid marches which have so often decided wars 
have never been made by heavily-laden men. The health also suffers. It 
is of national importance that the soldier should be as healthy and as 
efficient as possible, as the fate of a nation may be staked on the prowess of 
its army. 

The line which the weight of his necessaries should not exceed should be 
drawn with the utmost care; if his health suffers more by carrying some 
extra pounds of weight than it benefits by the comfort the articles give, 
why load him to his certain loss? The overdoing the necessaries of the 
soldier has always been a fault in our army; Robert Jackson noticed it 
seventy years ago. “It is a mistake,” he says, “to multiply the equipment 
of the soldier with a view of adding to his comfort.” 


1 Op: cit., p. 29. 


| 


WEIGHT OF INFANTRY KIT. 535 


The weight of the clothing, equipment, and kit of the Medical Staff 
Corps is as follows :— 


Ib. 02. 

Clothes on the person, including helmet and leggings, . : 1@ @ 
Greatcoat and cape, c . : ° 5 18 
Extra kit and small articles, Ss 2 
Valise with straps, belt, mess-tin, haversack, and black bag, Se 
Water-bottle (new pattern) with water, : a 
Field companion, complete, : ) is 
Water-bottle for ditto, with water, . I 
Nol, ¢ x0) all 


The valise equipment proposed by General Eyre’s Committee, and now 
adopted for the army, possesses great facilities for carrying these articles, as 
will be presently noticed. 

This committee also recommended that, instead of the squad-bag for 25 
men, each man shall have a separate canvas bag for his surplus kit, as is now 
provided on board ship. In time of peace this would be carried for him, 
as the squad-bag is at present ; in time of war it would be left at home. 

It is of great moment to give each man a bag for surplus kit to himself. 
It encourages the men to take care of their things, and enables them to 
pack them comfortably. Each man is now supplied with a kit-bag. 

It may be interesting to give the weights of the various articles carried 
by the infantry soldier of the French, Prussian, and Russian armies. 

Morache! gives the total weight of the French infantry soldier’s war 
outfit and equipment as something over 30 kilogrammes, or nearly 67 ib. 
This (1885) is rather less than it was formerly. 

The German infantry soldier carries the following weights :?— 


Clothing on the person (with gloves), not including helmet, 10 125 
Armament and equipment (including helmet, water- fag oy aR 
(full), coffee-mill, and trenching tools), . ; 2 
Pack, with extra kit, &e., and reserve ammunition, : : 19 13% 
Greatcoat and straps, ail 
Rations, 7 3 
Total, : 2 é ‘ j : 74 134 


Some of the articles are not always carried by the same man, such as the 
hatchet, spade, and coffee-mill, so that the weight may be lessened to 66 tb 
—average weight carried, 66 tb to 71 tb. The shako of the riflemen and 
sharpshooters is about 34 oz. lighter than the infantry helmet. The Mauser 
rifle weighs 10 tb and the bayonet 1 tb 84 oz. 

The Russian soldier carries 70} hb, the Austrian 60 Ib, and the Italian 
75 tb ; the mean of European armies being 66 tb. 

The mean weight of the rifles* carried by European infantry is 9 fb 6 oz.; 
of the bayonet, 1 tb 25 oz.; and of each cartridge, 14 oz. 


SECTION VI. 
CARRIAGE OF THE NECESSARIES AND ARMAMENT. 


The equipment of the cavalry soldier is in great part carried by the 
horse ; but apparently the mode in which the cavalr y valise is arranged is 
not comfor table to the men. ‘The total weight carried by the horse appears 


1 Op. cit. 2 Roth and Lex, op. cit., Bd. iii. (1877), p. 110. 
3 This will probably be altered by the introduction of magazine rifles. 


536 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


also to be large. A soldier has personal and horse equipments equal to 
nearly his own weight. Without pronouncing on the necessity of this, it is 
a fact that in light-cavalry regiments the horse now carries nearly 19 stone 
weight, although the rider is on an average under 10 stone. 

In the case of the infantry soldier, who carries the weights himself, the 
greatest care is necessary to place them in the manner least likely to 
detract from his efficiency or to injure his health. If it were possible to let 
a man, in European countries, carry nothing but his armament and water- 
bottle, as in India, much more work would be got out of him, longer marches 
would be made, and he would show greater endurance on the day of action. 
But such an arrangement is impossible, as transport could not be provided, 
and the alternative of leaving a man without his necessaries is not to be 
thought of. But it cannot be too strongly impressed on all commanding 
officers that every ounce of weight saved is a gain in efficiency. The 
Prussians, in the war of 1866, obtained wagons whenever they could to 
carry the knapsacks, and the comparison between the condition of the men 
thus relieved and those who could not be so, was striking! A change of 
opinion also must be brought about in the army on a very material point. 
Some officers believe that, as the men must carry weights in war, they 
ought to carry them on all occasions during peace, so that the men may be 
accustomed to them; and they attempt to strengthen their position by 
referring to the custom of the Romans, who exercised their men in peace 
with heavier weapons than those used in war. But this example is not 
applicable. A man should be exercised in the highest degree in any way 
which may develop his muscles and improve the circulation through his 
lungs and heart. Any amount of muscular exertion (within, of course, 
reasonable limits), any degree of practice with weapons, must be good as 
long as his body is unshackled; but if he is loaded with weights, and 
especially if the carriage of the weights at all impedes the action of the 
lungs and heart, then the very exertion which in other circumstances would 
benefit him must do him harm. ‘The soldier must carry weights sometimes, 
but it should be a rule not to carry them when he has no immediate need 
of the various articles. The aim should be the cultivation of the breathing 
power of his lungs and the power of his muscles to an extent which will 
enable him to bear his weights, at those times when he must carry them, 
more easily than if, on a false notion of accustoming him to them, he had 
been obliged to wear them on all possible occasions. 

Sufficient practice with the weights to enable a man to dispose them com- 
fortably, and to make him familiar with them, should of course be given ; 
but a very short teaching will suftice for this. 

The weights which an infantry soldier has to carry have already been 
stated ; the mode of disposing of them has now to be considered. 

Weights are most easily borne when the following points are attended 
to :— 

1. They must lie as near the centre of gravity as possible. In the upright 
position the centre of gravity is between the pelvis and the centre of the 
body, usually midway betw een the umbilicus and pubis, but varying of course 


1 See Mr Bostock’s able Report in the Army Medical Reports, vol. vii. p. 359. 

Dr Parkes quotes a letter from a Prussian officer, high in rank, and certain to know the 
fact, stating that the difference in the health of the Prussian soldiers who carried the knap- 
sacks in the Bohemian marches in 1866, and those who did not, was remarkable. The men 
who had not carried their packs, though they had not had the comfort of their necessaries, 
were fresh and vigorous and in high spirits; those who had carried them, on the other hand, 
were comparatively worn and exhausted. And this was with the best military knapsack 
then known. 


CARRIAGE OF THE NECESSARIES AND ARMAMENT. Davi 


with the position of the body ; a line prolonged to the ground passes through 
the astragalus just in front of the os calcis. Hence weights carried on the 
head or top of the shoulder, or which can be thrown towards the centre of 
the hip bones, are carried most easily, being directly over the line of the centre 
of gravity. When a weight is carried away from this line the centre of gravity 
is displaced, and, in proportion to the added weight, occupies a point more or 
less distant from the usual side, until, perhaps, it is so far removed from this 
that a line prolonged downwards falls beyond the feet ; the man then falls, 
unless, by bending his body and bringing the added weight nearer the centre, 
he keep the line well within the space which his feet cover. 

In the distribution of weights, then, the first rule is to keep the weight 
nearer to the centre ; hence the old mode of carrying the soldier’s greatcoat, 
viz., on the back of the knapsack, is a mistake, as it puts on weight at the 
greatest possible distance from the centre of gravity. 

2. The weights must in no case compress the lungs, or in any way interfere 
with the respiratory movements, or the elimination of carbonic acid, or hinder 
the transmission of blood through the lungs, or render difficult the action of 
the heart. 

3. No important muscles, vessels, or nerves should be pressed upon. This 
is self-evident ; an example may be taken from the old Regulation pack, the 
arm-straps of which so pressed on the axillary nerves and veins as to cause 
numbness, and often swelling of the hands, which has been known to last 
for twenty-five hours. 

4, The weights should be distributed as much as possible over several 
parts of the body. 

If we consider the means made use of by those who carry great weights, 
we find the following points selected for bearing them :— 

1. The top of the head. The cause of this is obvious; the weight is 
completely in the line of centre of gravity, and in movement is kept balanced 
over it. Of course, however, very great weights cannot be carried in this 
way. 

2. The tops of the scapulee, just over the supra-spinous fossa and ridge. 
At this pomt the weight is well over the centre of gravity, and it is also 
diffused over a large surface of the ribs by the pressure on the scapula. 

3. The hip bones and sacrum. Here, also, the weight is near the centre 
of gravity, and is borne by the strong bony arch of the hips, the strongest 
part of the body.! 

In addition, great use is always made by those who carry great weights of 
the system of balance. ‘The packman of England used to carry from 40 to 
even 60 ib easily thirty miles a day by taking the top of the scapula for the 
fixed point, and having half the weight in front of the chest and half behind. 
In this way he still brought the weight over the centre of gravity. The 
same point, and an analogous system of balance, is used by the milkmaid, 
who can carry more weight for a greater distance than the strongest guards- 
man equipped with the old military accoutrements and pack. 

These points must guide us in arranging the weights carried by the 
soldier. ‘The weight on the head is, of course, out of the question. We 
have, then, the scapulze, the hip, and the principle of balance to take into 
consideration. 


1 The girls engaged in some of the works in Cornwall carry immense bags or hampers of 
sand up steep hills by resting the lower part of the sack on the hip and sacrum, and the 
upper part on the scapula. It is the same position as that taken by the Turkish porters, who 
will carry 60 and 800 ib some distance; they also sometimes have a band round the fore- 
head fastened to the top of the weight. 


538 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


In our army the carriage of the kit and ammunition has always been felt 
to be a difficulty, and many have been the changes in the infantry knap- 
sacks since the close of the Peninsular war. The method of carriage which 
was formerly in use, though better than some of the older plans, had grave 
defects, and it has now been superseded by the new equipment. 

The new infantry equipment, proposed by a War Office Committee ap- 
pointed by Lord de Grey in 1864, and of which General Henry Eyre was 
the president, was devised for the purpose of enabling the infantry soldier 
to carry his weights with greater comfort (and, therefore, to enable him to 
march farther), and especially to do away with any chance of injuring his 
heart and lungs.?. This committee presented four reports to the War Office.? 

Considerable difficulty was found in fixing on the best equipment. In 
addition to all the points already noted, simplicity and durability, and as 
much freedom from accidental breakage as could be insured, were essential ; 
facility of removal and readjustment for emergencies, adaptation for various 
conditions of service, and suitableness for military exercises, had all to be 
considered. After passing in review all the known plans, and experiment- 
ing on a large scale, the committee at last recommended a plan which, after 
an extended trial in many regiments, and being submitted to the opinions 
of many officers, was finally authorised and issued in place of the old 
pattern. 

The new equipment is essentially based on the yoke valise plan of the late 
Colonel Sir Thomas Troubridge, C.B., who had been for many years experi- 
menting on this subject ;* but it is greatly altered in details in order to 
avoid the use of copper or iron rods. The two great principles are to use 
the scapule and the sacrum in about equal proportion as carriers of the 
weight, and to place the weights as near to the body as possible, and, as far 
as could be done, in front as well as behind, so as to avoid the displacement 
of the centre of gravity. The great advantage of using the sacrum as one 
of the points of support has been very apparent in the trials of the valise 
plan. In that way only can the chest be thoroughly relieved ; a very great 
weight can be carried without injury if it is necessary, and apart from that 
a mechanical advantage of no small moment has been obtained. For the 
effect of placing the kit and ammunition low down is to free the large 
rmouscles of the shoulder and back from the impediment which hinders their 
action when a knapsack of any kind is carried in its usual place; the 
bayonet exercise can therefore be much better performed ; but, more than 
this, the soldier engaged in a personal struggle is in far better position than 
with a knapsack on the upper part of the back ; for, in the latter case, the 
centre of gravity being displaced (raised and carried backwards), the man 
has already a tendency to fall back which tells seriously against him. In 


1 In the former editions descriptions were given of the obsolete Regulation equipment, and 
of various other plans. But it has been thought unnecessary to repeat these. 

2 In the chapter on Home SERVICE are given the facts about the amount of heart and vessel 
disease in the army. It used to be very large, and appeared to be attributable, in part at any 
rate, to exercise under unfavourable conditions. It was not confined to the infantry, but 
was common to all branches, and the disease of the vessels was even greater in degree in 
the cavalry and artillery. Professor Maclean, C.B., called the attention of the authorities 
to this matter in a striking lecture delivered at the Royal United Service Institution, and 
published in the Journal of the Institution, vol. viii., and from which extracts were given in 
former editions. The army is greatly indebted to Dr Maclean for his clear exposition on this 
point. The first Report of the Committee on Knapsacks contains the evidence to that date. 

3 Reports of the Committee appointed to inquire into the Effect on Health of the present 
Sustem of carrying the Accoutrements, Ammunition, and Kit of Infantry Soldiers: First 
Report, 1865 ; Second Report, 1867 ; Third and Fourth Reports, 1868. 

4 Sir T. Troubridge’s equipment will be found described and figured in the 2nd edition of 
this work. He had made experiments on this subject for more than fifteen years. 


CARRIAGE OF THE NECESSARIES AND ARMAMENT. 539 


the new equipment, on the contrary, the great weights being all below the 
centre of gravity, rather tend to keep a man steadier and firmer on his legs 
than otherwise. 

In order to gain these advantages, and also to lessen the weight of the 
equipment, the framed knapsack was abandoned, and a bag or valise 
substituted, which is large enough to carry the service kit and some 
provisions. The total weight of the whole equipment, as intended for active 
service is 5 tb 8 oz. 

In the peace equipment there is a single pouch in front, which can be 
shifted to one side so as to allow the waist-belt to be opened. The straps 
running up over the shoulder from the rings are made broad on the scapule, 
they cross on the back like a common pair of braces, and then catching 
the top of the valise on the other side by a buckle, run under the arm 
to the ring on the opposite side from which they started. From this ring 
a2 strap runs to the bottom of the valise, which is placed resting on the 
sacrum ; by this arrangement the weight of the valise is thrown partly on 
the shoulder, partly on the sacrum, and is also thrown forward in a line 
with the centre of gravity. From the ring another strap runs to the waist- 
belt and supports the ammunition, which thus balances in part the weight 
behind. 

In full service order two pouches are carried in front, each holding 20 
rounds ; there is also a ball-bag, intended to hold loose cartridges for rapid 
firing, in which, if there be necessity, 20 or even 30 cartridges can be put. 
There is provision in the valise for 20 more. 

The greatcoat is placed above the valise, and, being soft, gives no obstruc- 
ion to the action of the muscles of the shoulder. 

The canteen can be carried over‘the greatcoat ; but many officers prefer 
carrying it on the valise, where there are two loops intended for it. 

This equipment is very easy, and leaves the chest perfectly free; it is 
simple both in principle and construction, and affords many facilities for 
carriage of articles, such as the haversack, the water-bottle, blanket, &c., 
which prove useful on service. It is of more importance to note here, that 
it certainly answers all medical requirements; and, as it leaves the man 
very free and unencumbered in his movements, it does away entirely with 
the stiff unmilitary appearance produced by the old plan. 

There seems only one sanitary point which has been urged against this 
equipment, and that is, that a good deal of the back is covered, and that 
perspiration collects under the valise. Whatever equipment be used, there 
must be retention of perspiration under the covered parts ; this is inevitable, 
and is produced by any knapsack. The valise equipment is no exception 
to the rule, but it is singular how little perspiration really collects under 
the valise if the man knows how to manage it. By allowing the top of the 
valise to fall back half an inch, a space is left between the greater part of 
the valise and back, which allows evaporation, and the loins are kept 
cool. On the march also, when the waist-belt is unbuckled, both the 
valise and greatcoat hang loosely and away from the body, and evaporation 
oo0es on.” 

The principle of the valise equipment will probably always be maintained, 
although some details may be altered. The ‘“ magazine accoutrements,” 


1 Lord Wolseley gives the weight of the valise (1882 pattern) as 3 tb, and the accoutrements 


2 Reference may be made to the 2nd edition of this work for figures and descriptions of 
the contineutal plans, and to the Reports of the War Office Committee on Knapsacks and 
Accoutrements, for fuller details than can be given here. For the present system, see Valise 
Lquipment for Infantry Regiments, Instructions for Fitting the, 1878. 


540 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


invented by Brigade-Surgeon W. S. Oliver, A.M.D., have been under trial 
some time, and have been very favourably reported upon. They appear to 
be even easier than the valise equipment, and are less complicated in their 
fittings ; they provide for the carriage of more ammunition, and leave the 
back freer for transpiration. There is also a light waterproof cape, which — 
can be used as a sheet or portion of a shelter tent. 


SECTION VII. 
WORK OF THE SOLDIER. 


The kind and amount of work in the different arms of the service is so 
different that it is impossible to bring it under one general description. In 
the artillery, cleaning horses, guns, carriages, and accoutrements, and gun — 
drill; in the cavalry, cleaning of horses, accoutrements, and drill with the 
special arm ; in the infantry, drill, and barrack and fatigue duties, and the | 
cleaning of arms and accoutrements, are all kinds of work, the amount of — 
which is not easy to estimate. 

Much of the work of the artillery and cavalry is highly beneficial to 
them, and the fine well-developed muscles show that all parts of the body 
are properly exercised. Some of the work (such as gun drill or sword 
exercise) is hard, and even violent, and the great amount of aneurysm in 
both bodies of men, as well as in the infantry, has led to the idea that the 
exercise is either too severe, or is performed under unfavourable conditions, 
such as heavy equipments or too tight fitting clothes. Although violent 
while it lasts, it seems questionable whether the work is so severe as that 
which many mechanics undergo without injury; it may, however, be more 
sudden and rapid, and the heart may be brought into more violent action. 
The conditions under which the work is done are certainly less favourable 
than in the case of the mechanic, who is never embarrassed by weights or 
tight clothes. 

In the infantry, the amount of aneurysm is slightly below that of the 
other arms, but not much so. The hard work in the infantry is the 
running drill when the weights are carried, bayonet exercise, and long 
marches ; but, though severe, it is not so excessive as to lead us to think 
it would do injury to strong men if all circumstances were favourable. 

During war the amount of labour undergone is sometimes excessive, as 
will be clear from what is said in the next section, and in the rapid cam- 
paigns of modern times very young and weakly men are soon exhausted. 

A soldier requires to be trained for the ordeal of active service, and this 
is now done in our army by a series of gymnastic exercises and systematic 
marches, intended to develop every muscle, to make the artillery or the 
cavalry man able to vault on his horse, and the foot soldier to run and to 
escalade, and to march great distances without fatigue. 

Gymnastic Hxercises.—All military nations have used in their armies a 
system of athletic exercises. The Greeks commenced such exercises when 
the increase of cities had given rise to a certain amount of sedentary life. 
The Romans began to use athletic training in the early days of the Re- 
public, entirely with a view to military efficiency. The exercises were 
continuous, and were not alternated with periods of complete idleness. 

The officers exercised with the men. At a later day, we are told that 
Marius never missed a single day at the Campus Martius, and Pompey is 


WORK OF THE SOLDIER. 541 


said by Sallust to have been able at fifty-eight years of age to run, jump, 
and carry a load as well as the most robust soldier in his army. 

Swimming was especially taught by the Romans, and so essential were 
the gymnastic exercises deemed that, to express that a man was completely 
ignorant, it was said “he knew neither how to read nor swim.” The 
gymnastic exercises were the last of the old customs which disappeared 
before the increasing luxury of the later empire. 

In the feudal times the practice of the weapons was the best gymnastic 
exercise ; every peasant in England was obliged to practise with the bow; 
the noblemen underwent an enormous amount of exercise, both with and 
without arms, and on foot and horseback. 

After the invention of gunpowder, the qualities of strength and agility 
became of less importance for the soldier, and athletic training was discon- 
tinued everywhere. But within the last few years the changing conditions 
of modern warfare have again demanded from the soldier a degree of 
endurance and of rapidity of movement which the wars of the eighteenth 
century did not require. And the population generally of this country 
have of late years become alive to the necessity of compensating, by some 
artificial system of muscular exercise, the sedentary life which so many lead. 

In our own time the first regular gymnasium appears to have been 
established at Schwefental, in Saxony, by Saltzmann, with a view of giving 
health to the body, strengthening certain muscles, and remedying de- 
formities. About sixty years ago Ling also commenced in Sweden the 
system of movements which have made his name so celebrated. Switzer- 
land, Spain, and France followed, and of late years in Germany many 
gymnastic societies (Turner-Verein) have been founded in almost all the 
ereat cities, and the literature of gymnasticism is now a large one. In our 
own country the outdoor and vigorous life led by the richer classes and by 
many working men rendered this movement less necessary, but of late 
years societies have been formed, gymnasia established, and athletic sports 
encouraged in many places. 

Among armies, the Swedish and Prussian were the first to attempt the 
physical training of their soldiers. France followed in 1845, and ever since 
a complete system of gymnastic instruction has been carried on in the 
French army, and a military gymnastic school exists at Vincennes, where 
instructors for the army are taught. 

In the English army this matter attracted less attention until after the 
Crimean war, when the establishment of gymnasia as a means of training 
and recreation were among some of the many reforms projected by Lord 
Herbert. In 1859 General Hamilton and Sir G. Logan, lately Director- 
General of the Army Medical Department, were sent over to inspect the 
systems in use on the Continent, and presented a very interesting Report, 
which was subsequently published. A grant of money was immediately 
taken for a gymnasium at Aldershot, and this has now been in operation 
for many years, under the direction originally of Colonel Hammersley, 
with most satisfactory results. Gymnasia are now ordered to be built at 
all the large stations, and a complete code of instructions, drawn up by 
Mr Maclaren, of Oxford, is published by authority.+ 

The instructions have two great objects—lsf, to assist the physical 
development of the recruit; 2nd, to strengthen and render supple the 


1 Gymnastic Exercises, &c., 1877. Mr Maclaren has also published two other works of 
great utility; a System of Z'raining and Physical Education. This last work should be in 
the hands of every one. 


542 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


frame of the trained soldier. Every recruit is now ordered to have three | 
months’ gymnastic training during (or, if judged expedient by a medical 
officer, in lieu of part of) his ordinary drill. Two months are given before 
he commences rifle practice, and one month afterwards. This training is 
superintended by a medical officer, who will be responsible that it is done 
properly, and who will have the power to continue the exercises beyond 
the prescribed time if he deems it necessary. ‘The exercise for the recruit 
is to last only one hour a day, and in addition he will have from two to | 
three hours of ordinary drill. 

The trained infantry soldier is ordered to go through a gymnastic course 
of three months’ duration every year, one hour being given every other day. 
The cavalry soldier is to be taught fencing and sword exercise in lieu of — 
gymnastics. 

The Code of Instructions drawn up by Mr Maclaren consists of two parts, _ 
elementary and advanced exercises. The exercises have been arranged with — 
very great care, and present a progressive course of the most useful kind. | 
The early exercise commences with walking and running; leaping, with and — 
without the pole, follows; and then the exercises with apparatus commence, | 
the order being the horizontal beam, the vaulting bar, and the vaulting | 
horse. All these are called exercises of progression. The elementary | 
exercises follow, viz., with the parallel bars, the pair of rings, the row of | 
rings, the elastic ladder, the horizontal bar, the bridge ladder, and the | 
ladder plank. Then follow the advanced exercises of climbing on the — 
slanting and vertical pole, the slanting and vertical rope, and the knotted — 
rope. 

Finally, the most advanced exercises consist of escalading, first against a 
wall, and then against a prepared building. 

In the French army swimming and singing are also taught. Both are 
very useful; the singing is encouraged, not as a matter of amusement | 
(though it is very useful in this way), but as a means of improving the lungs. 

Swimming should be considered an essential part of the soldier’s education, _ 
and it is probable that it will be systematically taught in the English army. 

Robert Jackson very strongly recommended that dancing should be | 
taught and encouraged. There is sound sense in this; a spirited dance 
brings into play many muscles, and in a well-aired room is as good an | 
exercise as can be taken. It would also be an amusement for the men. 


Duties of the Officer in the Gymnasium. 


The Medical Regulations order the inspecting medical officer and surgeon 
to visit, and advise on the kind and amount of gymnastic exercises. The — 
Queen's Regulations (section 10, para. 8) order a strict medical examination — 
of each man before the instruction is commenced. During the course further | 
inspections are to be made—of the recruits once a fortnight, of trained 
soldiers monthly. The measurements of the recruit are also to be taken — 
under the direction of the medical officer. The following points should be | 
attended in regard to— 

1. Recruits.—The recruit is inspected from time to time, to see if the 
system agrees with him. 

(a) Weight.—The weight of the body should be ascertained at the begin- — 
ning and end of the course, and during it, if the recruit in any way complains. | 
With sufficient food recruits almost always gain in weight, therefore any loss | 
of weight should at once call for strict inquiry. It may be the recruit is 
being overdone, and more rest may be necessary. But in order to avoid the 


WORK OF THE SOLDIER-—TRAINING, 543 


greatest error, the weights must be carefully taken; if they are taken at all 
times of the day, without regard to food, exercise, &c., accuracy is impossible ; 
there may be 2 Ib or 3 tb variation. The physiological practice during 
experiments is to take the weight the first thing in the morning before 
breakfast, and after emptying the bladder. If it cannot be done at this 
time, scarcely any reliance can be placed on the result. Food alone may 
raise the weight 2 ib or 3 tb, and we cannot be sure that the same quantity 
of food is taken daily. The clothes, also, must be remembered; men should 
be weighed naked if possible, if not, in their trousers only, and always in 
the same dress. 

(6) Height.—This is usually taken in the erect position. Sir William 
Aitken! recommends it to be taken when the body is stretched on a 
horizontal plane. A series of experiments on both plans would be very 
desirable. 

(c) Girth of Chest.—The chest is measured to ascertain its absolute size 
and its amount of expansion. 

It is best measured when the man stands at attention, with the arms 
hanging ; and the tape should pass round the nipple line. The double tape 
(the junction being placed on the spine) is a great improvement over the 
single tape, as it measures the sides separately, and with practice can be 
done as quickly. 

The chest should be measured in the fullest expiration and fullest inspira- 
tion. If the chest is measured with the arms extended, or over the head, 
the scapule may throw out the tape from the side of the chest. 

(dq) The Inspiratory Power, as expressed by the spirometer, may also be 
tested. 

(ec) Growth of Muscles.-—This is known by feeling the muscles when 
relaxed and in action, and by measurements. The measurement of the 
upper arm should be taken either when the arm is bent over the most 
prominent part of the biceps, or over the thickest part when the arm is 
extended. 

(f) General Condition of Health.—Digestion, sleep, complexion, &c. The 
recruit should also be inspected during the time of exercise, to watch the 
effect on his heart, lungs, and muscles. In commencing training the great 
point is to educate, so to speak, the heart and lungs to perform suddenly, 
without injury, a great amount of work. To do this there is nothing better 
than practice in running and jumping. It is astonishing what effect this 
soon has. If possible, the increase in the number of respirations after 
running 200 or 300 yards should be noted on the first day, as this gives a 
standard by which to judge of the subsequent improvement. But as it 
would be impossible and a waste of time to do this with all the men, 
directly the run is ended the men should range in line, and the medical 
officer should pass rapidly down and pick out the men whose respiration 
is most hurried. In all the exercises the least difficulty of respiration 
should cause the exercise to be suspended for four or five minutes.2 The 
heart should be watched: the characters indicating the necessity for rest 


or easier work are excessive rapidity (130-160), smallness, inequality, and 
irregularity. 


1 On the Growth of the Recruit, 2nd edit., 1887. 

2 Tn the training of horses the points always attended to are—the very gradual increase of 
the exercise; gentle walking is persevered in for a long time, then slow gallops; then, as the 
horse gains wind and strength, quicker gallops; but the horse is never distressed, and a boy 
would be dismissed from a stable if it were known that the horse he was riding showed, by 
sighing, or in any other way, that the speed was too great for him. 


544 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


Soreness of muscles after the exercise, or great weariness, should be 
inquired into. It would be well every now and then to try the inguinal 
and femoral rings during exertion and coughing. 

One very important part in gymnastic training depends on the instructor. 
A good instructor varies the work constantly, and never urges a man to 
undue or repeated exertion. If the particular exercise cannot be done by 
any man it should be left for the time. Anything like urging or jeering by 
the rest of the men should be strictly discountenanced. The instructor 
should pass rapidly from exercise to exercise, so that a great variety of 
muscles may be brought into play for a short time each, and as the men 
work in classes, and all cannot be acting at once, there is necessarily a 
good deal of rest. 

The grand rule for an instructor is, then, change of work and sufficient rest. 

In the case of a recruit who has not been used to much physical exertion, 
the greatest care must be taken to give plenty of rest during exercises. 
There may even seem to be an undue proportion of rest for the first — 
fortnight, but it is really not lost time. The medical officer is only 
directed to visit the gymnasium once a fortnight, but during the first 
fortnight of the training of a batch of recruits he should visit it every day. 

With proper care men are very seldom injured in gymnasia. Dr Parkes 
was informed at Vincennes that, though they did not take men unless they 
were certified as fit by a medical officer, they occasionally got men with 
“delicate chests,” though not absolutely diseased. These men always im- 
proved marvellously during the six months they remained at Vincennes. 
In fact, a regulated course of gymnastics is well known to be an important 
remedial measure in threatened phthisis. Hernia is never caused at Vin- 
cennes. Nor does it appear that any age is too great to be benefited by 
gymnastics, though in old men the condition of the heart and vessels (as to 
rigidity) should be looked to. 

Trained Soldiers.—There is less occasion for care with these men; they 
should, however, be examined from time to time, and any great hurry of 
respiration noted. The man should be called out from the class, his heart 
examined, and some relaxation advised if necessary. 


Drills and Marches. 


In drill, and during marches, the movements of the soldiers are to a certain 
extent constrained. In the attitude of “attention” the heels are close to- 
gether, the toes turned out at an angle of 60°, the arms hang close by the 
sides, the thumbs close to the forefingers, and on a line with the seam of the 
trousers. The position is not a secure one, as the basis of support is small, 
and in the manual and platoon exercise the constant shifting of the weight 
changes the centre of gravity every moment, so that constant muscular action 
is necessary to maintain the equilibrium. Men are therefore seldom kept 
long under attention, but are told to “stand at ease” and “stand easy,” in 
which cases, and especially in the latter, the feet are farther apart and the 
muscles are less constrained. 

In marching the attitude is still stiff—it is the position of attention, as it 
were, put into motion. The slight lateral movement which the easy walker 
makes when he brings the centre of gravity alternately over each foot, and 
the slight rotatory motion which the trunk makes on the hip-joint, is re- 
strained as far as it can be, though it cannot be altogether avoided, as is 
proved by observing the light swaying motion of a line of even very steady 
men marching at quick time. Marching is certainly much more fatiguing 


DRILLS AND MARCHING. 545 


oy 
officers in our own, the men are allowed to walk easily and disconnectedly, 


except when closed up for any special purpose. This may not look so 
striking to the eye of a novice, but to the real soldier, whose object is at the 
end of a long march to have his men so fresh that, if necessary, they could 
go at once into action, such easy marching is seen to be really more soldier- 
like than the constrained attitudes which lead so much sooner to the loss of 
the soldier’s strength and activity. 

In walking, the heel touches the ground first, and then rapidly the rest 
of the foot, and the great toe leaves the ground last. The soldier, in some 
countries, is taught to place the foot almost flat on the ground, but this is a 
mistake, as the body loses in part the advantage of the buffer-like mechanism 
of the heel. The toes are turned out at an angle of about 30° to 45°, and at 
each step the leg advances forward and a little outward; the centre of 
gravity, which is between the navel and the pubis, about in a line with the 
promontory of the sacrum (Weber), is constantly shifting. It has been sup- 
posed that it would be of advantage to keep the foot quite straight, or to 
turn the toes a little in, and to let the feet advance almost in a line with 
each other. But the advantage of keeping the feet apart and the toes 
turned out is that, first, the feet can advance in a straight line, which is 
obviously the action of the great vast: muscles in front of the thigh ; and, 
second, when the body is brought over the foot, the turned-out toes give a 
much broader base of support than when the foot is straight. The spring 
from the great toe may perhaps be a little greater when the foot is straight 
(although this is doubtful, and there seems no reason why the gastrocnemii 
and solei should contract better in this position), but there is a loss of spring 
from the other toes. Besides this, it has been shown by Weber that when 
the leg is at its greatest length, 7.e., when it has just urged the body forward, 
and is lifted from the ground, it falls forward like a pendulum from its own 
weight, not from muscular action, and this advance is from within and behind 
to without and before, so that this action alone carries the leg outwards. 

The foot should be raised from the ground only so far as is necessary to 
clear obstacles. Formerly, in the Russian Imperial Guard, the men were 
taught to march with a peculiar high step, the knee being lifted almost to a 
level with the acetabulum. The effect was striking, but the waste of power 
was so great that long marches were impossible, and this kind of marching 
is now given up. The foot should never be advanced beyond the place 
where it is to be put down: to do so is a waste of labour. 

In the English army the order is as follows :— 


than free walking ; and in the French army, and by many commanding 


Length and Number of Steps in Marching. 


: + = Ground Traversed | GTOund Traversed 
Kind of Step. Length. | No. per Minute. per Minute. per ea 
Inches Feet. Miles. 
Slow time, 30 75 1874 271 
Quick time, . 30 116 290 3°3 
Stepping out, 33 110 3034 34 
Double, 33 165 4537 5157 
Stepping short, 21 | Ae ise a 
Side step, | 
Or when | 
Forming four deep, 24 | 
Stepping back, 30 


546 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


The “ double” is never continued very long ; it is stopped at the option 
of the commanding officer. In the French army it is ordered not to be con- 
tinued longer than twenty minutes. At the double (if without arms), the 
forearms are held horizontally, the elbows close to the side; if the rifle is 
carried, one arm is so held. There is an advantage in this attitude, as the 
arms are brought into the position of least resistance ; more fixed points are 
given for the muscles of respiration, and the movement of the arms and 
»shoulders facilitates the rapid shifting of the centre of gravity. 

Quick time is always used in drills and marching. The ground got over 
per hour is generally: reduced by halts to 2°8 miles. 

Running drill has been introduced of late years ; it is not carried beyond 
1000 yards, and the men are gradually brought up to this amount. ‘The 
pace is not to exceed 6 miles an hour. Weakly men (if considered unfit by 
the medical officers) are to be excused. 

In the French army the length of step is rather different. 


French Steps in English Measures (Morache, 1886). 


| Ground Traversed | 
| Length of Step Sage é = Ground Traversed 
| in inches. SIDS Tee AUT. PEE we is per Hour in Miles. 
Pas accéléré, : 29°5 120 to 135 295 to 332 3°35 to 3°80 
ES) TAIT oll a 170 446 5-10 
(gymnastique), 


The French step is therefore nearly the same as the English under the © 


new regulations. The Prussian and the Bavarian step is 314 inches long, 
and 112 steps are taken per minute. 


The exact length of the step, and the number per minute, are very im- — 
portant questions. The object of the soldier is to get the step as long, and | 
the number per minute as great, as possible, without undue fatigue, so as to © 


get over the greatest amount of ground. 


The quickest movement of the leg forward in walking has been shown by | 


Weber to correspond very closely with half a pendulum vibration of the leg, 
and to occupy on an average, 0°357 seconds; this would give 168 steps per 
minute, supposing the one foot left the ground when the other touched it. 


This is much quicker than the army walking step (the double is a run), and ~ 


no doubt much quicker than could long be borne, since, with a step of only | 


30 inches, it would give nearly five miles per hour; but it may be a question 
whether, with men in good condition, the pace might not be increased to 
130 per minute. Practical trials, however, with soldiers carrying arms and 
accoutrements, can alone decide this point. 


The length of the step of an average man has been fixed by the Brothers — 


Weber at about 28 inches. In individual cases it depends entirely on the 
length of the legs. - Robert Jackson considered 30 inches as too long a step 
for the average soldier, and suggested 27 inches. It is of great importance 
not to lessen the length too much, and it would be very desirable to have 


some well-conducted experiments on this point. The steps must be shorter | 
if weights are carried than without them ; a little consideration shows how” 


this is: When a man walks, he lifts his whole body and propels it forward, 
and in doing so the point of centre of gravity describes a circular motion, in 


the form of an arc about the foot. The less the body is raised, or, in other 


words, the shorter the versed sine of the arc, the less of course the labour. 


1 Queen’s Reg., 1885, section 10, para. 25a. 


MARCHES DURING WAR. 5AT 


In long steps the are, and of course the versed sine, or height to which the 
body is raised, are greater ; in short steps, less! It is probable, with the 
weight the soldier carries (60 tb), the step of 30 inches is quite long enough, 
perhaps even too long ; and it would be desirable to know if, after a march 
of six or eight miles, the steps do not get shorter. 

In the French army the march is commenced at 120 steps per minute ; 
then accelerated to 125 or even 135 steps; during the last half-hour 120 
steps are returned to. But the soldiers themselves often set the step ; the 
erenadiers and the voltigeurs alternately leading. Four kilometres (= 23 
miles) per hour is considered a good general average (Morache). 

The soldier, in this country, when he marches in time of peace in heavy 
order, carries his pack, kit, haversack, water-bottle, greatcoat, rifle, and 
ammunition (probably twenty rounds). In India he does not carry his pack 
or greatcoat. 

There is a very general impression that the best marchers are men of 
middle size, and that very tall men do not march so well. 

Length of the March.—In “marching out” in time of peace, which is 
done once or twice a week in the winter, the distance is 8 or 10 miles.2 In 
marching on the route or in war, the distance is from 10 or 12 miles to 
occasionally 18 or 20, but that is a long march. A forced march is any 
distance —25 to 30, and occasionally even 40 miles being got over in twenty- 
four hours. In the French army the length of march is from 20 to 25 
kilometres (12$ to 15 miles). Im the Prussian army the usual march is 14 
miles (English) ; if the march is continuous, there is a halt every fourth 
day. Anything beyond this is rarely achieved, except occasionally by small 
bodies of men. 

Conditions rendering Marches Slower.—The larger the body of men the 
slower the march; 14 miles will be done in six or seven hours by two or 
three regiments, but not under eight or nine hours by 8000 or 10,000 men. 
A large army will not go over 14 miles under ten hours usually. A single 
regiment can do 20 miles in eight hours, but a large army will take twelve 
or fourteen, including halts. Head winds greatly delay marches ; a very 
strong wind acting on a body of men will cause a difference of 20 to 25 
per cent., or only 4 miles will be got over instead of 5. 

Snow and rain, without head wind, delay about 10 to 15 per cent., or 45 
miles are done instead of 5. 

Of course bad or slippery roads, deep sands, heavy snows, jungle and 
brushwood, are often acting against the soldier, and in hilly and jungly 
countries only 5 or 6 miles may be got over in a day. 

Conditions adding to the Fatique of Marching.—Heat—dust—thirst— 
constant halts from obstructions—want of food—bad weather, especially 
head winds with rain. In order to avoid heat and dust, it is desirable, when 
it can be done, to separate the cavalry and artillery from the infantry ; to 
let the latter march in open order, and with as large a front as possible. 

Instances of Marches during War.—It is most important for a soldier to 
know what has been done and what can be done with a large body of foot 
soldiers, and it is scarcely less interesting to the physiologist. In comparing 
the marches of infantry, it must always be remembered how great an effect 
increasing the number of men has in lessening the rapidity and length of a 


1 The Brothers Weber, however, have shown that the angle at which the body is bent, and, 
consequently, the coefficient of resistance, are not affected by the length of step, provided the 
velocity remains the same. 

2 Morache, op. cit., p. 761. 

3 Queen’s Regulations, 1885, section 16, para. 6. See also Field Exercise (1877). 


548 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


march, and in increasing the fatigue. No large army has ever made the 
marches small bodies of troops have done. 

At times the fatigue undergone by trained men has been something almost 
incredible. Wolfe mentions in one of his letters that in 1743, just before. 
the battle of Dettingen, his regiment marched from Frankfort “ two days 
and two nights with only nine or ten hours’ halt.” This would be a march 
of thirty-eight hours out of forty-eight. He gives the distance at about 40 
miles, but it was probably more, The 43rd, 52nd, and 95th regiments of 
foot, forming the Light Division under Crawfurd, made a forced march in 
July 1809, in Spain, in order to reinforce Sir Arthur Wellesley at the battle 
of Talavera. About fifty weakly men were left behind, and the brigade then 
marched 62 miles in twenty-six hours, carrying arms, ammunition, and pack 
—in all, a weight of between 50 tb and 60 tb.! There were only seventeen 
stragglers. The men had been well trained in marching during the previous 
month. ; 

One of these regiments—the 52nd—made in India, in 1857, a march 
nearly as extraordinary. In the height of the Mutiny intelligence reached 
them of the locality of the rebels from Sealkote. The 52nd, and some 
artillery, started at night on the 10th of July 1857 from Umritzur, and 
reached Goodasepore, 42 miles off, in twenty hours, some part of the march 
being in the sun. On the following morning they marched 10 miles, and 
engaged the mutineers. They were for the first time clad in the comfort- 
able grey or dust-coloured native khaki cloth. 

A march of a small party of French was narrated by an officer of the 
party, who was afterwards wounded at Sedan, to Dr Frank. A company of 
a regiment of chasseurs of Macmahon’s army, after being on grand guard, 
without shelter or fire, during the rainy night of the 5th-6th August 1870, 
started at three in the morning to rejoin its regiment in retreat on Nieder- 
bronn, after the battle of Weissenburg. It arrived at this village at 3.30 
in the afternoon, and started again for Phalsbourg at 6 o’clock. The road 
was across the hills, and along forest tracts, which were very difficult for 
troops. It arrived at Phalsbourg at 8.30 o’clock in the evening of the next 
day. The men had, therefore, marched part of the night of the 5th—6th 
August, the day of the 6th, the night of the 6th-7th, ‘and day of the 7th 
till 8. 30 pt. The halts were eight minutes every hour from 3.30 to 6, 
one hour in the night of the 6th—7th, and 24 hours on the 7th. Altogether, 
including the halts, the march lasted 413 hours, and the men must have 
been actually on their feet about thirty hours, in addition to the guard 
duty on the night before the march. 

An officer of a Saxon fusilier regiment gave the following statement 
of a forced march in one of the actions at Metz in 1870. The regiment 
was alarmed at midnight and marched at 1 a.m., and continued march- 
ing with halts until 7 p.m.; they bivouacked for the night, marched at 
7 the next morning, came into action at 1.30, and in the evening found 
themselves 15 kilometres beyond the field of battle. The total dis- 
tance was 53} miles in about forty-two hours, with probably fifteen hours’ 
halt. 

Roth mentions that the 18th division of the Saxon army in the various 


1 Napier’s War in the Peninsula, 3rd edit., vol. ii. p. 400 ; Moorsom’s Record of the 52nd 
Regiment, p. 115. Both authors state that the men carried between 50 Ib and 60 fb on this © 
extraordinary march, but there seems a little doubt of this. During the Peninsular war the 
men carried bags, weighing about 2 Ib, and not framed packs, and their kits were very scanty. 
Lord Clyde, in talking of this march to Surgeon-General Sir T. Longmore, told him the 
men only carried a shirt and a spare pair of either boots or soles. He saw the men march | 
in. Inall probability also they would not carry their full ammunition. 


MARCHES DURING WAR. 549 


manceuvres about Orleans marched, on the 16th and 17th December 1870, 
54 English miles. 

Von der Tann’s Bavarian army, in retreat on Orleans, marched 42 miles 
in twenty-six hours. 

These were all forced marches for the purpose of coming into action or 
retiring after discomfiture. Apart from the Peninsular Light Division 
march, they show that in two days and one night a small body of men may 
cover 54 English miles, and that is probably near the limit of endurance. 
The Light Division march is so excessive (62 miles in twenty-six hours, or 
2°38 miles every hour, without reckoning halts) that it may be doubted if 
the distance was properly reckoned.! 

When a large army moves it has never accomplished such distances. 

In 1806 the French army marched on one occasion 49 kilometres, or 
305 miles. On the 15th June 1815, Napoleon made a forced march to 
surprise the Prussians and English, but only accomplished 30 kilometres, 
or 182 miles. 

In Sherman’s celebrated march across the Southern States the daily 
distance was about 14 miles. When the Prussians advanced on Vienna, 
after the battle of Kéniggriitz in 1866, they accomplished almost the same, 
and had also outpost duty every other night. 

The Russians marched in the expedition to Khiva, in 1873, 468-:7 miles 
(English) in 89 days, but as actual marching was done only on 44 days, 
the average daily march was (468°7+44) 10°65 miles; the longest march 
was 264 miles.” 

Macmahon’s army, in its march to relieve Bazaine at Metz, could only 
accomplish about 10 miles daily, while the Crown Prince of Prussia in 
pursuit was far more rapid. 

After Sedan, the Prussian and Saxon troops pushed on to Paris by forced 
marches, and accomplished on an average 35 kilometres, or 212 miles, daily, 
and they marched on some days 42 to 45 kilometres (26 to 28 miles); they 
started at 5 or 6, and were on their ground from 4 to 8 o'clock, the 
average pace being 5 kilometres (3:1 miles) per hour. 

In the Indian Mutiny several regiments marched 30 miles a day for 
several days. 

When marches are continued day after day, an average of about 20 miles 
may be expected from men for two or three weeks, after which, probably, 
the amount would lessen. 

It is difficult to estimate the labour of such marches, as besides the actual 


1 Sir William Cope, who was one of the officers of the 95th, says (in his History of the 
Rifle Brigade, formerly the 95th) that the distance was only 40 miles. 

2 In 1709, on the 3rd Sept., in order to secure the passage of the Haine, the Prince of 
Hesse-Cassel made a march of 49 English miles in 56 successive hours, with 4000 foot and 60 
squadrons (Coxe’s Life of Marlborough, v. 10-21). 

Alison (History of Marlborough, vol. ii. p. 27) says that “this rapidity of advance for such 
a distance had never been previously surpassed, though it has been outdone in later times.” 
He refers in a footnote to Mackenzie’s march to join Wellington at Talavera, which he gives 
as 62 English miles in 26 hours; also the Russian foot guards advancing to Paris in 1814, 
after the combat at Fére-Champenoise, marched 48 miles in 26 hours. 

In the Times of 1873 a writer gives the following statement ; he quotes from a dispatch 
published in the London Gazette of 1859:—“ During the day the troops from Khulkhbulla 
marched 35 miles, and those from the camp 48 miles, and much of this under a more than 
usually hot sun.” He also says that at the end of 1858 General Whitlock marched 86 miles 
in 37 hours to relieve Kirwee. 

In April 1859 Colonel De Salis (London Gazette, 1859) reported a march of not less than 40 
miles. Captain Rennie’s force also marched 40 miles in 24 hours. In the same number of 
the Times Captain Carleton states that Daly’s Guide Corps marched from near Peshawur to 
Delhi, 580 miles, in 22 days. Sir Hope Grant says 750 miles in 28 days. He also says that 
the Ist Bengal Fusiliers (European) marched 68 miles in 38 hours. 


050 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


march there is often work in fetching water, cooking, pitching tents, sentry, 
outpost, and picket duty, &c. As 20 miles a day with 60 Ib weight is 
equivalent to lifting 495 tons one foot, and there is always additional work 
to be done, it is clear that the labour is excessive, and must be prepared 
for, and that during the time the men must be well fed. 

In marching long distances, the extent of the marches, the halting 

grounds, &c., are fixed by the Quartermaster-General’s department. 
. Occasionally the march has been divided, one part being done in the 
early morning, and the remainder late in the afternoon. It is, however, 
better to make the march continuous, and, if necessary, to lengthen the 
mid-day halt. 

Order of March.—Whenever possible, it seems desirable to march in open 
order. Inspector-General J. R. Taylor has given evidence to show that a 
close order of ranks is a cause of unhealthiness in marching, similar to that 
of overcrowding in barracks; and the Medical Board of Bengal, in accord- 
ance with this opinion, recommended that military movements in close 
order should be as little practised as possible. There should also be as 
much interval as can be allowed between bodies of troops. 

Effects of Marches.—Under ordinary conditions, both in cold and hot 
countries, men are healthy on the march. 

But marches are sometimes hurtful— 

lst. When a single long and heavy march is undertaken when the men are 
overloaded, without food, and perhaps without water. The men fall out, and 
the road becomes strewed with stragglers. Sometimes the loss of life has 
been great. 

The prevention of these catastrophes is easy. Place the soldier as much 
as possible in the position of the professional pedestrian ; let his clothes and 
accoutrements be adapted to his work ; supply him with water and proper 
food, and exclude spirits; if unusual or rapid exertion is demanded, the 
weights must be still more lightened. 

When a soldier falls out on the march he will be found partially fainting, 
with cold moist extremities, a profuse sweat everywhere ; the pulse is very 
quick and weak—often irregular; the respiration often sighing. The weights 
should be removed, clothes loosened, the man laid on the ground, cold water 
dashed on the face, and water given to drink in small quantities. If the 
syncope is very alarming, brandy must be used as the only way of keeping 
the heart acting, but a large quantity is dangerous. If it can be obtained, 
weak hot brandy and water is the best under these circumstances. When he 
has recovered, the man must not march—he should be carried in a wagon, 
and in a few minutes have something to eat, but not much at a time. 
Concentrated beef-tea mixed with wine is a powerful restorative, Just as it is 
to wounded men on the field. 

2nd. When the marches which singly are not too long are prolonged over 
many days or weeks without due rest. 

With proper halts men will march easily from 500 to 1000 miles, or even 
farther, or from 12 to 16 miles per diem, and be all the better for it; but 
after the second or third week there must be one halt in the week besides 
Sunday. If not, the work begins to tell on the men; they get out of 
condition, the muscles get soft, appetite declines, and there may be even a 
little anzeemia. The same effects are produced with a much less quantity of 
work if the food is insufficient. Bad food and insufficient rest are then the 
great causes of this condition of body. 

In such a state of body malarious fevers are intensified, and in India 
attacks of cholera are more frequent. It has been supposed that the body is — 


EFFECTS OF MARCHES. bol 


overladen with the products of metamorphosis, which cannot be oxidised 
fast enough to be removed. 

Directly the least trace of loss of condition begins to be perceived in the 
more weakly men (who are the tests in this case), the surgeon should advise 
the additional halt, if military exigencies permit. On the halt day the men 
should wash themselves and their clothes, and parade, but should not drill. 

3rd. When special circumstances produce diseases. 

Exposure to wet and cold in temperate climates is the great foe of the 
soldier. As long as he is marching, no great harm results; and if at night 
he can have dry and warm lodgings he can bear, when seasoned, great 
exposure. But if he is exposed at night as well as day, and in war he often 
is so, and never gets dry, the hardiest men will suffer. Affections arising 
from cold, such as catarrhs, rheumatism, pulmonary inflammation, and 
dysentery are caused. 

These are incidental to the soldier’s life, and can never be altogether 
avoided. But one great boon can be given to him: a waterproof sheet, 
which can cover him both day and night, has been found the greatest 
comfort by those who have tried it. 

The soldier may have to march through malarious regions. The march 
should then be at mid-day in cold regions, in the afternoon in hot. The early 
morning marches of the tropics should be given up for the time; the 
deadliest time for the malaria is at and soon after sunrise. If a specially 
deadly narrow district has to be got through, such asa Terai, at the foot of 
hills, a single long march should be ordered ; a thoroughly good meal, with 
wine, should be taken before starting, and, if it can be done, a dose of quinine. 
If the troops must halt a night in such a district, every man should take 
five grains of quinine. Tents should be pitched in accordance with the rules 
laid down in the chapter on Camps, and the men should not leave them till 
the sun is well up in the heavens. 

Yellow fever or cholera may break out. The rules in both cases are the 
same. At once leave the line of march ; take a short march at right angles 
to the wind ; separate the sick men, and place the hospital tent to leeward ; 
let every evacuation and vomited matter be at once buried and covered with 
earth, or burnt, if possible, and employ natives (if in India) to do this con- 
stantly, with a sergeant to superintend. Let every duty-man who goes 
twice to the rear in six hours report himself, and, if the disease be cholera, 
distribute pills of acetate of lead and opium to all the non-commissioned 
officers. Directly a man who becomes choleraic has used a latrine, either 
abandon it, or cover it with earth and lime if it can be procured. If there 
is carbolic acid or chloride of zine, or lime or sulphate of iron or zinc at hand, 
add some to every stool or vomit. 

In two days, whether the cholera has stopped or not, move two miles; take 
care in the old camp to cover or burn everything, so that it may not prove a 
focus of disease for others. The drinking water should be constantly looked 
to. A regiment should never follow one which carries cholera ; it should 
avoid towns where cholera prevails; if it itself carries cholera, the men should 
not be allowed to enter towns. Many instances are known in India where 
cholera was in this way introduced into a town. 

The men may suffer from insolation. This will generally be under three 
conditions. Excessive solar heat in men unaccustomed to it and wrongly 
dressed, as in the case of the 98th in the first China war, when the men, 
having first landed from a six months’ voyage, and being buttoned up and 
wearing stocks, fell in numbers during the first short march. A friend who 
followed with the rearguard informed Dr Parkes that the men fell on their 


552 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. 


faces as if struck by lightning; on running up and turning them over, he 
found many of them already dead. They had, no doubt, struggled on to 
the last moment. This seems to be intense asphyxia, with sudden failure 
of the heart-action, and is the “‘ cardiac variety ” of Morehead. 

A dress to allow perfectly free respiration (freedom from pressure on chest 
and neck), and protection of the head and spine from the sun, will generally 
prevent this form. The head-dress may be wetted from time to time; a 
piece of wet paper in the crown of the cap is useful. When the attack has 
occurred, cold affusion, artificial respiration, ammonia, and hot brandy and 
water to act on the heart, seem the best measures. Bleeding is hurtful ; 
perhaps fatal. Cold affusion must not be pushed to excess. 

In a second form the men are exposed to continued heat,! both in the sun 
and out of it, day and night, and the atmosphere is still, and perhaps moist, 
so that evaporation is Jessened, or the air is vitiated. If much exertion is 
taken, the freest perspiration is then necessary to keep down the heat of the 
body ; if anything checks this, and the skin gets dry, a certain amount of 
pyrexia occurs: the pulse rises; the head aches; the eyes get congested ; 
there is a frequent desire to micturate (Longmore), and gradual or sudden 
coma, with perhaps convulsions and stertor, comes on, even sometimes when 
a man is lying guiet in his tent. The causes of the interruption to perspira- 
tion are not known; it may be that the skin is acted upon in some way by 
the heat, and, from being over-stimulated, at last becomes inactive. 

In this form cold affusion, ice to the head, and ice taken by the mouth 
are the best remedies; perhaps even ice water by the rectum might be tried. 
Stimulants are hurtful. The exact pathology of this form of insolation is 
uncertain. It is the cerebro-spinal variety of Morehead. 

In a third form a man is exposed to a hot land-wind ; perhaps, as many 
have been, from lying drunk without cover. When brought in there is 
generally complete coma, with dilated pupils and a very darkly flushed face. 
Aiter death the most striking point is the enormous congestion of the lungs, 
which is also marked, though less so, in the other varieties. Dr Parkes 
stated that he had never seen anything like the enormous congestion he had 
observed in two or three cases of this kind. 

As prevention of all forms, the following points should be attended to :— 
suitable clothing; plenty of cold drinking water (Crawford) ; ventilation ; 
production in buildings of currents of air; bathing; avoidance of spirits ; 
lessening of exertion demanded from the men. 


Duty of Medical Officers during Marches. 


General Duties on Marches in India or the Colonies.—Before commencing 
the march, order all men with sore feet to report themselves. See that all 
the men have their proper kits, neither more nor less. Every man should 
be provided with a water-bottle to hold not less than a pint. Inspect halting- 
grounds, if possible ; see that they are perfectly clean, and that everything is 
ready for the men. In India, on some of the trunk roads there are regular 
halting-grounds set apart. The conser vancy of these should be very carefully 
looked to, else they become nothing but foci for disseminating disease. If 
there are no such places, halting-crounds are selected. It should be a rule 
never to occupy an encamping eround previously used by another corps if it 
can be avoided ; this applies to all cases. Select a position to windward of 
such an old camp, and keep as far as possible from it. The encampments 


S$; 


1 The heat of sandy plains is the worst, probably from the great absorption of heat and 
the continued radiation. The heat of the sun, yer se, is not so bad; on board ship sun-stroke 
is uncommon. 


DUTIES OF MEDICAL OFFICERS ON MARCHES. 553 


of the transport department, elephants, camels, buliock carts, &c., must be 
looked to,—they often are very dirty: keep them to leeward of the camp, 
not too near, and see especially that there is no chance of their contaminating 
streams supplying drinking water. If the encampment is on the banks of 
the stream, the proper place for the native camp and bazaar will always be 
lower down the stream. The junior medical officer, if he can be spared, 
should be sent forward for this purpose with a combatant officer. Advise 
on length of marches, halts, &c., and draw up a set of plain rules to be pro- 
mulgated by the commanding officer, directing the men how to manage on 
the march if exposed to great heat or cold, or to long-continued exertion, how 
to purify water, clean their clothes, &c. If the march is to last some time, 
and if halts are made for two or three days at a time, write a set of instruc- 
tions for ventilating and cleaning tents, regulation of latrines, &c. 

Special Duties for the March ziself—Inspect the breakfast or morning 
refreshment ; see that the men get their coffee, &c. On no account allowa 
morning dram, either in malarious regions or elsewhere. Inspect the water- 
casks, and see them properly placed, so that the men may be supplied ; 
inspect some of the men, to see that the water-bottles are full March in 
rear of the regiment so as to pick up all the men that fall out, and order 
men who cannot march to be carried in wagons, dhoolies, &c., or to be relieved 
of their packs, &e. If there are two medical officers, the senior should be in 
rear; if a regiment marches in divisions, the senior is ordered to be with the 
last. When men are ordered either to be carried or to have their packs 
carried, tickets should be given specifying the length of time they are to be 
carried. These tickets should be prepared before the march, so that nothing 
has to be done but to fill in the man’s name, and the length he is to be 
carried. 

Special orders should be given that, at the halt, or at the end of the day’s 
march, the heated men should not uncover themselves. They should take 
off their pack and belts, but keep on the clothes, and, if very hot, should 
put on their greatcoats. The reason of this (viz., the great danger of chill 
after exertion) should be explained to them. In an hour after the end of 
the march the men should change their underclothing and hang the wet 
things up to dry; when dry they should be shaken well, and put by for the 
following day. Some officers, however, prefer that their men should at once 
change their clothes and put on dry things. This is certainly more com- 
fortable. But, at any rate, exposure must be prevented. 

At the end of the march inspect the footsore men. Footsoreness is 
generally a great trouble, and frequently arises from faulty boots, undue 
pressure, chafing, riding of the toes from narrow soles, &c. Rubbing the 
feet with tallow, or oil or fat of any kind, before marching, is a common 
remedy. In the late war the Germans found tannin very useful,—they used 
an ointment of one part of tannin to twenty parts of zinc ointment. A good 
plan is to dip the feet in very hot water, before starting, for a minute or 
two; wipe them quite dry, then rub them with soap (soft soap is the best) 
till there is a lather; then put on the stocking. At the end of the day, if 
the feet are sore, they should be wiped with a wet cloth, and rubbed with 
tallow and spirits mixed in the palm of the hand (Galton). Pedestrians 
frequently use hot salt and water at night, and add a little alum. The 
German soldiers use Pulvis salicylicus eum Taleo (German Pharmacopeeia) ; 
this is salicylic acid 3 parts, wheaten starch 10 parts, tale 87 parts; mix to 
a fine powder ; it is applied daily on the march; in garrison every 2 or 3 
days. Sometimes the soreness is owing simply to a bad stocking; this is 
easily remedied. Stockings should be frequently washed; then greased. 


554 CONDITIONS OF SERVICE, 


Some of the German troops use no stockings, but rags folded smooth over 
the feet. The French use no stockings. Very often soreness is owing to 
neglected corns, bunions, or in-growing nails, and the surgeon must not 
despise the little surgery necessary to remedy these things; nothing, in fact, 
can be called little if it conduces to efficiency. As shoes are often to blame 
for sore feet, it becomes a question whether it might not be well to accustom 
the soldier to do without shoes. 

Frequently men fall out on the march to empty the bowels ; the frequency 
with which men thus lagging behind the column were cut off by Arabs, led 
the French in Algeria to introduce the slit in the Zouave trousers, which re- 
quire no unbuckling at the waist, and, take no time for adjustment. 

At a long halt, if there is plenty of water, the shoes and stockings should 
be taken off and the feet well washed ; even wiping with a wet towel is 
very refreshing. The feet should always be washed at the end of the march. 

Occasionally men are much annoyed with chafing between the nates or 
inside of the thighs. Sometimes this is simply owing to the clothes, but 
sometimes to the actual chafing of the parts. Powders are said to be the 
best—flour, oxide of zinc, and, above all, it is said, fuller’s earth. 

If blisters form on the feet, the men should be directed not to open them 
during the march, but at the end of the time to draw a needle and thread 
through ; the fluid gradually oozes out. 

All footsore men should be ordered to report themselves at once. 

Sprains are best treated with rags dipped in cold water, or cold spirit and 
water with nitre, and bound tolerably tight round the part. Rest is often 
impossible. Hot fomentations, when procurable, will relieve pain.t 

Marches, especially if hurried, sometimes lead men to neglect their bowels, 
and some trouble occurs in this way. As a rule, it is desirable to avoid 
purgative medicines on the line of march, but this cannot always be done ; 
they should, however, be as mild as possible. 

Robert Jackson strongly advised the use of vinegar and water as a refreshing 
beverage, having probably taken this idea from the Romans, who made vinegar 
one of the necessaries of the soldier. It was probably used by them as an anti- 
scorbutic ; whether it is very refreshing to a fatigued man seems uncertain. 

There is only one occasion when spirits should be issued on a march: 
this is on forced marches, near the end of the time, when the exhaustion is 
great. A little spirit, in a large quantity of hot water, may then be useful, 
but it should be used only on great emergency. Warm beer or tea is also 
good; the warmth seems an important point. Ranald Martin and Parkes 
tell us that in the most severe work in Burmah, in the hot months of April 
and May, and in the hot hours of the day, warm tea was the most refreshing 
beverage. Travellers in India, and in bush travelling in Australia, have said 
there was nothing so reviving as warm tea. Chevers mentions that the juice 
of the country onion is useful in lessening thirst during marches in India, 
and that, in cases of sun-stroke, the natives use the juice of the unripe 
mangoe mixed with salt. 

Music on the march is very invigorating to tired men. Singing should 
also be encouraged as much as possible. 

Marching in India.—Marches take place in the cool season (November to 
February), and not in the hot or rainy seasons, except on emergency; yet 
marches have been made in hot weather without harm, when care is taken. 
They are conducted much in the same way as in cold countries, except that 


1 The following is a very good lotion for sprains:—sal-ammoniac, 20 grains; vinegar and 
spirit, an ounce of each. 


DUTIES OF MEDICAL OFFICERS ON MARCHES. 555 


the very early morning is usually chosen. The men are roused at half-past 
two or three, and parade half an hour later ; the tents are struck, and carried 
on by the tent-bearers ; coffee is served out, and the men march off by half 
past three or four, and end at half-past seven. Everything is ready at the 
halting-ground, tents are pitched, and breakfast is prepared. 

These very early marches are strongly advocated by many, and are opposed 
almost as strongly by some. In the West Indies marching in the sun has 
always been more common than in the East. Much must depend on the 
locality, and the prevalence and time of hot land-winds. Both in India and 
Algeria marches have been made at night ; the evidence of the effects of this 
is discordant. The French have generally found it did not answer; men bear 
fatigue less well at night; and it is stated that the admissions into hospital 
have always increased among the French after night marching. Annesley’s 
authority is also against night marching in India. On the other hand, it is 
stated by some that in India the march through the cool moonlight night 
has been found both pleasant and healthy. 

Afternoon marches (commencing about two hours before sunset) have been 
tried in India, and often apparently with very good results. 

Marching in Canada.—In 1814, during the war with America ; in 1837, 
during the rebellion; and in 1861-62, during the “Trent” excitement, 
winter marches were made by the troops, in all cases without loss. The 
following winter clothing was issued at home :—A sealskin cap with ear 
lappets; a woollen comforter; two woollen jerseys; two pairs of woollen 
drawers; a chamois leathern vest with arms; two pairs long woollen stockings 
to draw over the boots; sealskin mits ; and a pair of jackboots. In Canada a 
pair of blankets and moccasins were added,! and, at the long halts, weak hot 
rum and water was served out. A quarter of a pound of meat was added to 
the ration. A hot meal was given before starting, another at mid-day, and 
another at night. The troops were extremely healthy. During exposure to 
cold, spirits must be avoided ; hot coffee, tea, ginger tea, or hot weak wine 
and water are the best; it is a good plan to rub the hands, feet, face, and 
neck with oil ; it appears to lessen the radiation of heat and the cooling effect 
of winds. 


1 See Inspector-General Muir’s Report, Army Medical Reports, vol. iv. p. 378. 


CHAPTER IIL 
THE EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


Tue influence of the various conditions of military life is shown by the 
records of sickness and mortality, and this must be noted in the various 
stations. 

The recruit having entered the ranks, begins his service at home, and he 
is kept at his depot for some time. He does not go on foreign service until 
he has completed his twentieth year. We should suppose his life would be 
a healthy one. It is a muscular, and, to a certain extent, an open-air life, 
yet without great exposure or excessive labour; the food is good (though 
there might be some improvement), the lodging is now becoming excel- 
lent, and the principles of sanitation of dwellings are carefully practised. 
Although the mode of clothing might be improved as regards pressure, still 
the material is very good. There is a freedom from the pecuniary anxiety 
which often presses so hardly on the civil artisan, and in illness the soldier 
receives more immediate and greater care than is usual in the class from 
which he comes. 

There are some counterbalancing considerations. In a barrack there is 
great compression of the population, and beyond a doubt the soldier has 
greatly suffered, and even now suffers, from the foul air of barrack rooms. 
But this is a danger greatly lessening, owing to the exertions of the Barrack 
Improvement Commissioners, and, as is proved by the experience of some 
convict jails, can be altogether avoided. 

Among the duties of the soldier is some amount of night-work ; it is certain 
that this is a serious strain, and the Sanitary Commissioners, therefore, in- 
serted in the Medical Regulations an order that the number of nights in 
bed should be carefully reported by medical officers. General Sir Frederick 
Roberts, G.C.B., has lately called marked attention to the injurious effects 
of night duty and “ sentry-go.”! Commanding officers should be informed 
how seriously the guard and sentry duties, conducted as they are in full 
dress, tell on the men if they are too frequent. One guard-day in five is 
quite often enough, and four nights in bed should be secured to the men. 
Exposure during guard and transition of temperature on passing from the 
hot air of the guard-room to the outside air are also causes of disease. The 
weights and accoutrements are heavy, but the valise equipment introduced 
by General Eyre’s Committee has removed the evil of the old knapsack. 

The habits of the soldier are unfavourable to health; in the infantry, 
especially, he has much spare time on his hands, and ennui presses on him. 
Ennui is, in fact, the great bane of armies, though it is less in our own than 
in many others. It is said to weigh heavily on the German, the Russian, and 
even on the French army. Hence, indeed, part of the restlessness, and one 
of the dangers of large standing armies. The Romans appear to have avoided 
this danger by making their distant legions stationary, and permitting mar- 
riage and settlement—in fact, by converting them into military colonies. 


1 Nineteenth Century, Nov. 1882. 


ARMY STATISTICS. Hoy 


We avoid it in part by our frequent changes of place, and our colonial and 
Indian service; but not the less, both at home and abroad, do idleness and 
ennut, the parents of all evils, lead the soldier ito habits which sap his 
health. Not merely excessive smoking, drinking, and debauchery, but in 
the tropics mere laziness and inertia, ‘have to be combated. Much is now 
being done by establishing reading-rooms, trades, industrial exhibitions, &c., 
and “by the encourag ement of athletic sports to occupy spare time, and 
already good results have been produced. 

The establishment of trades, especially, which will not only interest the 
soldier but benefit him pecuniarily, is a matter of great importance. It has 
long been asked why an army should not do all its own work ; give the men 
the hope and opportunity of benefiting themselves, and ennui would no longer 
exist. In India Lord Strathnairn did most essential service by the estab- 
lishment of trades; and the system, after long discussion and many reports, 
is now being tried in England. 

One of the proofs of ability for command and administration is the power 
of occupying men, not in routine, but in interesting and pleasant work, to 
such an extent that rest and idleness may be welcomed as a change, not felt 
as a burden. Constant mental and much bodily movement is a necessity 
for all men ; it is for vas officers to give to their men an impulse in the 
proper dir ection. 

The last point which probably makes the soldier’s life less healthy than it 
would otherwise be is the depressing moral effect of severe and harassing 
discipline. In our own army in former years it is impossible to doubt that 
discipline was riot merely unnecessarily severe but was absolutely savage. 
An enlightened public opinion has gradually altered this, and with good 
commanding officers the discipline of some regiments is probably nearly 
perfect, that is to say, regular, systematic, and unfailing, but from its very 
justice and regularity, and from its judiciousness, not felt as irksome and 
oppressive by the men. 

The general result of the life at home on soldiers must now be con- 
sidered. 

It is by no means easy to say whether soldiers enjoy as vigorous health as 
the classes from which they are drawn ; the comparison of the number of 
sick, or of days’ work lost by illness by artisans, cannot be made, as soldiers 
often go into hospital for slight ailments which will not cause an artisan to 
give up work, The comparative amount of mortality seems the only avail- 
able test, though it cannot be considered a very good one. 


SECTION I. 
ARMY STATISTICS." 


At the close of the Peninsular war in 1814 Sir James M‘Grigor com- 
menced the collection of the statistics of disease and mortality in the English 
army, and during the course of the next twenty years a great amount of 
valuable evidence was accumulated. In 1835 Dr Henry Marshall (Deputy 
Inspector-General of Hospitals, and one of the most philosophical surgeons 
who has ever served in the English army) commenced to put these returns 
into shape, and the late Major-General Sir Alexander Tulloch, K.C.B. (at 
that time a lieutenant in the 45th Regiment, employed in the War Office), 


1 This short summary of the history of the Army Statistical Reports is chiefly taken from 
Dr Balfour’s account, in the Army Medical Report for 1860, p. 131. 


598 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


was associated with him. In the following year, on the retirement of Dr 
Marshall, Dr Balfour, formerly head of the Statistical Branch of the Army 
Medical Department, was appointed as his successor, and in conjunction 
with Sir A. Tulloch brought out the series of reports on the health of the 
army which have had such influence, not merely on the cause of the sickness 
and mortality among soldiers, but indirectly on those of the civil popula- 
tion also. In 1838-41 reports were issued of the following stations :— 
United Kingdom, Mediterranean, and British America, West Indies, Western 
Africa, St Helena, Cape, Mauritius, Ceylon, and Tenasserim. 

These returns included the years 1817-1836. In 1853 another report, 
containing the stations of the troops in the United Kingdom, Mediterranean, 
and British America, including the years 1836-1846, was prepared by the 
same gentlemen. 

In these reports, in addition to the statistical analysis, short but most 
graphic and comprehensive topographical and climatic accounts of the 
different stations were given. 

The effect of these several reports, and especially of the earlier issues, 
was to direct the attention of the Government both to the fact of an 
enormous sickness and mortality, and to its causes, and then commenced 
the gradual series of improvements which at a later period were urged on 
by Lord Herbert with so much energy. 

The Russian war of 1854-1855 prevented any further publication until 
1859, when yearly reports were commenced by Dr Balfour, and have been 
regularly issued since. In the report for 1860 Dr Balfour gave a summary 
of the earlier and later mortality of the different stations before and after 
1837, which showed a remarkable difference in favour of the later periods 
as regards both sickness and mortality. 


Sus-Section I. 


With respect to soldiers, in time of peace, the statistical evidence is required 
to show the amount of benefit the State receives from its soldiers, and the 
amount of loss it suffers yearly from disease. Tables should therefore 
show— 

1. The amount of loss of strength a definite number of men in each arm 
of the service suffers in a year— 

(a2) By deaths, or, in other words, the mortality to strength. 

(5) By invaliding from disease,! for if this is not regarded, different 
systems and modes of invaliding may entirely vitiate any conclusions drawn 
from the mortality. 

The groups thus formed must be again subdivided, so as to show— 

(a) The causes of death or invaliding. 

(6) The ages of those who die or w ho are invalided. 

(c) Their length of service. It is of great importance to determine the 
influence of service in every year, and these groups should be again divided 
by ages. 

2. The loss of effective service a definite number of men—say, 1000 men in 
each arm—suffers during a year. This is best expressed as follows :— 

(a) The total number of cases of disease in a year, 7.e., the number of ad- 


1 Loss by purchase of discharge, expiration of term of service, imprisonments, and dis- 
missals from the army, must also be put under separate headings ; but the medical officer has 
nothing to do with this point, except to see that such cases are not confounded with invaliding 
from disease. 


ARMY STATISTICS. 559 


missions to hospital per annum. It must be understood that this does not 
express the number of men admitted, as one man may be admitted two, three, 
or even ten times with the same disease: each admission counts as a fresh 
case. It is important to have another table showing the number of men 
admitted for different diseases, or, in other words, the number of cases of 
readmission for the same disease. The actual number of cases treated in a 
period may be obtained from the mean of the admissions and discharges. 

(6) The number constantly sick on an average. ‘This is often called the 
sick population, and is obtained most easily in army hospitals by dividing 
the number of diets issued in a year by 365, or adding all the ‘‘ remaining ” 
on the daily or weekly states together, and dividing by 365 or 52, as the 
case may be. 

(c) The total number of days lost in a year to the service by illness by 
each 1000 men, and the number of days per head. The number of the 
sick population (that is, the number constantly sick out of say 1000 men) 
multiplied by 365 and divided by 1000, or by the number furnishing the 
sick, whatever that may be, gives these facts. 

(d) The mortality in relation to sickness. 

The group constituted by the sick must then be subdivided by diseases, 
and lesser groups must be made by distributing the causes of sickness and 
deaths under ages and length of service. 

There are a few points which require attention. The amount of sickness 
and mortality is calculated on the mean strength, that is, the number of men 
of a regiment present at a certain station on the muster days divided by the 
number of muster days. But it must be understood that this includes the 
sick men in hospital as well as the healthy men, and therefore does not per- 
fectly express the amount of disease among the healthy men. Also some- 
times the muster rolls of a regiment include men on detachment at some 
distance, whose sickness is not attributable to the headquarters station. The 
French, in their Army Statistical Returns, make two headings, one of ‘‘ mean 
strength” (effectif moyen), and the other of “ present” (présents), the men in 
hospital not being included in the latter. Moreover, in the French Army 
nearly one-sixth are always absent on leave ; and the deaths of those on leave 
are included among the army deaths, but the sickness is not so. Con- 
sequently sickness has to be calculated on the number not on leave ; deaths, 
on the total strength. In the French army officers are included with the 
men ; in the English, separate returns are made. 

It is often difficult to get the mean strength if there are many changes of 
troops, and instances of erroneous calculations from this cause are not 
uncommon.! 


1 The following is one which Dr Balfour has given. It will be seen that an unhealthy 
station (Masulipatam) in India is credited with a much greater degree of health than it really 
was entitled to, and the annexed extract from Dr Balfour’s paper (Edin. Med. and Surg. 
Jour., No. 172) shows clearly how the mistake arose :— 

**The [Madras] Medical Board, in submitting to Government the table from which these 
figures are computed, stated that the ratio of mortality among all the European regiments 
in the Presidency, from January 1813 to December 1819, was 5°690 per cent.; whilst that of 
the regiments at Masulipatam, from 1813 to 1832 inclusive, was 5100 per cent. They then 
add—‘ The rate of mortality having been somewhat lower than throughout the rest of the 
Presidency for such a period, gives reason to conclude that the station cannot be considered 
under ordinary circumstances as unhealthy.’ Now, the Board appears to have arrived at 
this conclusion from an error in the mode of calculating the ratio. In several of the years 
between 1813 and 1832 the regiments were quartered at Masulipatam during part of the year 
only. It must be obvious to any one conversant with the principles of statistics that in such 
a case a proportion of the annual strength only should be taken corrresponding with the 
period for which the regiment was quartered there. Thus, if the period was nine months, 
the sickness and mortality should be calculated on three-fourths of the strength; if eight 
months, on two-thirds, and so forth. The Board, however, have made the calculation in 


560 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


In calculating also the effect of age and length of service upon disease and 
mortality, it is necessary to know not only the ages and length of service of 
the sick men, but of the healthy men also, and to calculate out the propor- 
tion of the sick to the healthy at that particular age or length of service, 
otherwise very erroneous conclusions might be drawn. For example, it 
might appear that sick men under twenty years of age were very numerous 
in proportion to other years, but in a very young army the greater number 
of the force might be of this age. Care is necessary in all these points 
to arrive at correct conclusions. 


Sus-SectTion [I].—Statistics In War. 


In time of war the statistics must be slightly altered in form, though the 
Same in principle. The object is to show as completely as possible to the 
General in command what amount of loss his army is suffering at the 
moment, and to what extent it may be expected to suffer, and also what are 
the causes of such sickness. 

The sickness here must not only be calculated on the mean strength 
(which will include the men in hospital), but also on the healthy men, or 
those actually under arms and effective. If the sick are counted in the 
strength, the sickness of the army may be much understated. What a 
General wants to know with regard to sickness will be these points— 

1. How many men am I losing daily from the rank and file actually 
serving with the colours ? 

2. How many are replaced by discharge from hospital ? 

3. What is the balance, gain or loss ? 

4. If my effective force loses daily, when this balance is struck, such a 
percentage, what will be its loss of strength in a week, in four weeks, in six 
weeks? We. 

5. What are the causes, z.e., what are the diseases which are causing this 
sickness, and how are they affected by special circumstances of age, par- 
ticular service or arms, or other causes ? 

The mortality in war should be calculated on the mean strength, that is, 
on the total number of healthy and sick, and also on the sick alone, so as 
to represent both the loss of the army and the fatality of the sickness. 


SECTION II. 


THE LOSS OF STRENGTH BY DEATH AND INVALIDING, 
PER 1000 PER ANNUM. 


A. By Dats. 


It is to be understood that the mortality is here reckoned on the strength, 
that is, on the total number of healthy and sick persons actually serving 
during the time. The mortality on the sick alone is another matter. 

From the Parliamentary Statistical Returns of the Army (1840 and 1853, 
which include the years 1826-1846), we find that the mortality among the 
cavalry of the line was at that time about 3d more than among the civil 


every instance on the average annual strength without any such deduction. Had the neces- 
sary correction been made, the deaths from 1813 to 1832 would have been found to average 
6394 per cent. annually, instead of 5°100 as above stated.” 


DEATH AND INVALIDING. 561 


male population at the same age (nearly 15 to 10! Bes 1000) ; among the 
foot guards it was more than double (very nearly 203 per 1000 as against 
10); among the infantry of the line it was ?ths more (or 18 per 1000 as 
against 10). 

The State was thus losing a large body of men annually in excess of 
what would have been the case had there been no army, and was therefore 
not only suffering a loss, but incurring a heavy responsibility. 

In the splendid men of the Household Brigade, diseases of the lungs 
(including phthisis) accounted for no less than 67-7 per cent. of the deaths, 
in the cavalry of the line for nearly 50 per cent., and in the infantry of the 
line for 57 per cent.; while among the civil population of the soldier’s 
age the proportion in all England and Wales was only 44:5 per cent. of 
the total deaths. The next chief causes of death were fevers, which 
accounted in the different arms of the service for from 7 to 14 per cent. 
of the total deaths. The remainder of the causes of deaths were made up 
of smaller items. 

These remarkable results were not peculiar to the English army. Most 
armies did, some still do, lose more than the male civil population at the 
same age, The following are the most reliable statistics: “— 


Army Loss Army Loss 
per 1000. per 1000. 
France (1823), . j 2) 283 Russian (series of years), ; , | a) 
France (ERIS Aas, 1846), ‘ 5 Altay) ap (HSBV=NGOS), : 2 18% 
France,* mean of 19 years (1862-82), 9°53 », (1871-84), : : las 
France (1882), ; 5 4 SCS », (1880-81), : ; POLO 
French in Algeria (1846), F » 64 Austrian, . : : : 5 BS 
@862=82);3 5 15-16 4 (1869), . 3 : , iil 456 
Prussian e (1846- 1863, excluding a 9-49 5 (1876-81),° . j > LOSe 
officers), . F ‘ Piedmontese (1859), .. j 2 v6 
Prussian (1869), . s 5 Blo) Italian (1870), . , BAC 
Prussian pee eames Saxon 1 4-96 United States (before the W ar), 5 se 
and Wiirtemberg corps, rhe e J Portuguese (1851- pee c ; 5 UGE} 
Prussian (1874— 81), : - abe) Danish, : ‘ : © OS 


The old Hanoverian army was very healthy, losing only 5°3 per 1000 as 
against 9°5 among the civil population of the same ages. 

In these foreign armies the same rule holds good; fevers (chiefly enteric 
in all probability) and phthisis were the great causes of mortality. In 
Prussia phthisis formerly caused 27 per cent. of the total mortality, but 
in that army phthisical men are sent home, and after a certain time are 
struck off the rolls, so that the army deaths are thus fewer than they 
would be if the men died at their regiments. In Austria phthisis caused 
25 deaths out of every 100; in France 22°9,° while in 1859 the pro- 
portion among the civil population was 17°76; in Hanover, 39°4; and in 
Belgium, 30; though in the latter country the proportion among the civil 
population was only 18-97 deaths from phthisis per 100 of all deaths. In 


1 Tn reality the deaths from the civil male population of the soldiers’ ages (20 to 40) were 
below ten, and in the healthy districts much below ; the case against the soldier i is, therefore, 
even worse than it reads in the text. 

2 Meyne, Eléments de Stat. Med. Militaire, 1859, gives some of these figures; others are 
taken from the reports of the different armies. 

3 1870-71 omitted. 

4 Dr Engel, in Z. des Konigl. Preussich. Stat. Bureaus, Aug.—Sept. 1865, p. 214. 

> If we omit 1879, an exceptional year, the mean is only 9°40. 

6 This was in 1860; calculated from Laveran’s returns from eleven of the great garri- 
sons. In the whole French army (including Algeria, Tunis, &c.) the mean for 10 years 
(1873-82) was 26°5 per 10U deaths. 

2N 


562 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


Portugal the mortality from phthisis constituted 22 per cent. of the deaths,! 
while in the civil population the deaths are 12 per cent. of the total deaths. 
In the Prussian army in 1876 only 16 per cent. were from phthisis. In 
these armies, also, fevers caused a greater number of the deaths than in the 
English army, even in the period referred to. In Prussia, 36 (reduced in 
1876 to 20); in France, 26 ;? in Belgium, 16°6; and in Hanover, 23°68 per 
cent. of all deaths were from fever fenteric!). In Portugal only 3-9 deaths 
are from enteric fever out of every 100 deaths; this is owing to its rarity 
in the country districts ; it is common in Lisbon. 

Nothing can prove more clearly that in all these armies the same causes 
were in action. And from what has been said in previous chapters, it may 
be concluded that the reason of the predominance of these two classes—lung 
diseases and enteric fever—must be sought inthe impure barrack air and in 
the defective removal of excreta. 

The Crimean war commenced in 1854 and ended in 1856. A large part 
of the first army was destroyed, and a fresh force of younger men took its 
place. Soon afterwards the great sanitary reforms of Lord Herbert com- 
menced. In 1859 yearly statistical returns began to be published. 

The mortality of all arms has undergone an extraordinary decrease from 
that of the former period. 


Mortality per 1000 per Annum in United Kingdom. 


From Disease alone (7.é., 


SNORE CEISEs, excluding violent death). 


Mean of ten years, 1861-70, 9°45 8534 
3 “3 1870-79, . 8:18 
» five years, 1879-83, . 701 — 6:030 
1884, , 5°33 4-660 


The diminution over the years previously noted (1826-46) is extra- 
ordinary. Three causes only can be assigned for it—the youth of the 
army and a better selection of men; or a partial removal of the causes of 
diseases ; or earlier invaliding, and the action of the Limited Enlistment 
Act, so as to throw the fatal cases on the civil population. 

The question of age has been examined and disposed of by Dr Balfour,? 
who has shown that the youth of the army does not account for the lessen- 
ing. Selection has always been made with equal care; and invaliding, 
though it certainly has been greater of late years, does not appear to have 
been in excess sufficient to account for the lessening. There can be no 
doubt, then, that the great result of diminishing by two-thirds the yearly 
loss of the army by disease has been the work of Lord Herbert and the 
Royal Sanitary Commission. 

It will be observed that the amount of the mortality in the French army 
was also singularly lessened from 1846 to 1862 and 1863 and later years, 
and this is, no doubt, owing to the great sanitary precautions now taken in 
that army. 


1 Marques, reviewed in an excellent article in the British and Foreign Medico-Chir. Review 
for April 1863. 3 

2 Laveran, in 1860, made the number 25°9 in the deaths from eleven garrisons. In 1863 
the mortality from enteric fever in the French army was 1°87 deaths per 1000 of effectives in 
France, 1°63 in Algeria, and 3°55 in Italy. In 1866 the mortality was 1°45 in France, 1°39 
in Algeria, and 2°26 in Italy. In 1873-82, for the whole French army, the deaths were 38°L 
per cent. of total deaths, or about 3°5 per 1000 of strength; this, however, includes the 
enormous losses in Tunis in 1881. The years 1880 and 1882 were also exceptional (Morache). 

3 Army Medical Reports for 1859, p. 6. 


MORTALITY ON HOME SERVICE. 563 


Of the different arms of the service, the cavalry and artillery are rather 
healthier than the infantry; the engineers than either; the officers always 
show less mortality than the non-commissioned officers and privates, and 
the non-commissioned officers less than the privates. In different regi- 
ments there is often a singular difference in the mortality in a given year, 
but this is usually easily accounted for, and in a term of years the differences 
disappear. 


Comparison with Civil Population. 
This gross mortality must now be compared with that of the civil popula- 


tion. In England the gross male civil mortality at the soldier’s age is— 
Mortality per 1000 of 


Population. 
From 20 to 25 years of age, . : : : : : 8°83 
25 to 35 a ; : : é : : 957 
39 to 45 3 : : . : : - - 12°48 


The soldier’s mortality, taken as a whole, is therefore under that of the 
civil population, but then there is inv aliding, and some uncertain addition 
should be made to the mortality on this account. 

Comparing the soldier’s mortality (for a ten years’ period, and invaliding 
being disregarded) with trades, he is now healthier than carpenters (777), 
labourers (7°92), bakers (7°94), blacksmiths (8°36), grocers (8-4), farmers 
(8°56), weavers and cotton-spinners (9°1), shoemakers (9°33), butchers (9°62), 

‘miners (9°96), tailors (11°62), and publicans (13-02),! in fact, than all trades 
with which that of the soldier has been compared. Formerly the case was 
different, several trades showing less mortality than that of the soldier. 


Influence of Age on the Mortality. 


The following table gives the results : ?— 


Per 1000 of Strength. 


= E 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and 
Sader 2b. under 25. under 30. under 35. under 40. upwards, 


1873-82 (10 years), 3°21 4:82 6°29 10°34 15°82 22-91 

1884, oo 2S) 4-47 5°68 10°15 11-78 19°85 

Civil male popula- 
tion in England - 6°89 8°67 9°55 10°37 11-96 13:96 
and Wales, \ 

Healthy districts, 5°83 73 793 8°36 8-96 9°86 


The number of soldiers under 20 years of age is so small that no con- 
clusions can be drawn ; but it would appear that from 20 to 30 the mortality 
is favourable to the soldier, but after that the proportion is reversed, and the 
soldier dies more rapidly than the civilian. And if to this we call to mind 
the invaliding from the army, it seems clear that a prolonged military career 
is decidedly injurious, either from causes proper to the career or to personal 
habits engendered in it. 


Causes of Mortality. 


In order to see the principal causes of the eight or nine deaths which occur 
annually among 1000 men, the following table has been calculated from the 
Army Medical Reports :— 


1 Dr Farr’s numbers, in the Supplement to ane 25th Report of the Registrar-General, p. xvi. 
2 Army Medical Reports, vol. xxii., 1882, p. 3 


564 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


Causes of Mortality. 


Mortality per Mortality per Mortality Drenting An 
annum per Deaths in annum per Deaths in |per annum 100 
1000 of 109 Deaths 1000 of 100 Deaths |per 1000 of Deaths 
Strength (1867-71, Strength (1872-80, Strength 1879-83 
(1867-71, | 5 years). (1872-80, | 9 years). | (1879-83, | G87* \ 
5 years). 9 years). 5 years). yearey 
Phthisis and tuber- 
2. . . 6 . . . 
Me encore 2-648 30-26 2-29 29-0 | 214 | 30-5 
Diseases of heart |) ,. 6 ; : : : 
and vessels, 1°462 16°71 117 14°8 0°72 10°3 
Pneumonia, . ; 0777 8°88 1342 17-07 1°38? 19°7 
Violent deaths, . 0°598 6°84 0°61 eat 0°87 12°4 
Diseases of nervous tee a a ; ; 
ees } 0-576 6-58 0-54 6s | 046 | 6-6 
Continued fevers ; ; we ‘ : : 
eae } 0405 4°63 0°30 38 | 082 | 4% 
Suicides, a j 0°288 3°30 0-21 D7) 0:23 33 
Bronchitis, . ; 0°167 1°91 bee Bee sae nace 
Delirium tremens, 0-069 0°80 ne cose boos ox 
All other causes, . 1°756 20:07 1°42 18°2 0°89 WD? 


This table must now be analysed more particularly. 


1. Lubercular Diseases. 


The deaths from phthisis and hemoptysis in the eight years ending 1866 
averaged 3:1 annually per 1000 of strength, the highest annual ratio being 
3°86, and the lowest 1:95. In 1867-71 the mean mortality was 2°648 per 
1000, in 1872-80, 2:29; in 1879-83, 2°14. In addition to this there was 
invaliding for phthisis, and thus a certain number of deaths were transferred 
from the army to the civil population. The following table shows the exact 
number in four branches of the service (two cavalry and two infantry) in 
seven years :— 

TABLE to show the Deaths and Invaliding per annum from Phthisis and 


Hemoptysis in Household Cavalry, Cavalry of the Line, the Foot Guards, - 
and Infantry of the Line (mean of seven years, 1864-70). | 


Phthisis and Hemoptysis, 
taken from Abstract in Household Cavalry of Foot Infantry of 
Appendix to Dr Balfour's Cavalry. Line. Guards. Line. 
Report. 
Died per 1000, : 3°763 1:416 2°300 2°120 
Invalided per 1000, . 8-234 4-025 9-491 5°510 
Total died and in- ; é : : 
valided per 1000, AEB 5:441 ileal 7630 


This table shows a considerable difference between the branches of the 
service ; the mortality and invaliding of the household troops are much the _ 
highest. The mortality from tuberculosis of the infantry of the line is below | 
the mean mortality of the army at large; the mortality of the cavalry of the | 
line below that of the infantry. 


1 This table has been calculated from the numbers in the Army Med. Department Blue 
Books (1867-84). 

2 The abridged and incomplete form in which the statistics have been published since 1874 
render it impossible to give these numbers in detail. he numbers opposite pneumonia for | 
the later period include all diseases of the Respiratory System, and the deaths from | 
delirium tremens are included under the head of Poisons. 

Since 1881 some more details have been given, so that we can state the ratios for 4 years 
(1881-4): deaths from pneumonia, 0°90 per 1000 of strength, bronchitis, 0:16, pleurisy, 0°10, | 


MORTALITY ON HOME SERVICE—PHTHISIS. 565 


Tt is quite clear (and the same thing is seen in the earliest records) that 
there has been an excessive rate of mortality and invaliding from phthisis in 
regiments serving in London, which points to some influences acting very 
injuriously upon them. During the later years, however, the invaliding in 
the foot guards has decreased, although the mortality has not diminished. 
It is remarkable that a similar excessive mortality has been observed in the 
guard regiments of both France and Prussia, located respectively in Paris 
and Berlin. The following table shows the average of our own army up 
to 1876 :-— 


Table similar to one on page 564, for 6 years 1871-76. 


No: Household | Cavalry of Foot Infantry of Depots. 
ee eee | ee 
Died per 1000, . 3°33 1°46 2°43 2°15 4°18 
Invalided per 1000, 4°44 4°30 males 4°60 9°82 
Total died and in- oP ” oR aie Q 
valided per 1000, | d i Bae zace Oe pa 


From this table it may be seen that up to 1876 there was a slight diminu- 
tion of mortality in the household cavalry and in the infantry of the line, 
but that the rates were nearly stationary in the cavalry of the line and the 
foot guards, and very high in the depdts. In the invaliding the rates were 
decidedly lower in the household cavalry, the foot guards, and the infantry 
of the line, whilst there was a slight increase of the cavalry of the line, 
and the rate was high in the depdts. 

Unfortunately since 1876 this information is no longer available, it being 
omitted from the Army Medical Reports. 

How does this mortality compare with that of the male civil population at 
the soldiers’ ages ? 


Mortality from Phthisis. 


Male Civilians.? Age. 
All England and Wales, . 4 é 20 to 25 3°50 
s a ; : : 25 ,, 30 4-00 
i a : : 2 30 ,, 35 4:10 
aN Pe ‘ : : 35 ,, 40 4:10 
a 3 : : ; OD 3°70 
Hi : é : 25 ,, 45 4:02 
London, . : LG 5, SD 4°50 
Worst districts in England, excluding hospitals, 5 5:00 
Best districts in England, ‘ : : 3 ‘ 1-96 


The deaths in the army from phthisis and hemoptysis are less than the 
deaths in the population gener ‘ally. They are, however, on an average 
greater than in the best districts in England, although the rate for 1884 (viz., 
1-79) was distinctly less. But in the army there is invaliding also; that 
is, men with a fatal disease are discharged into the civil population. In 
1884 there were invalided for tubercular disease 2°73 per 1000, and this 
added to the deaths (1:79) gives 4:52 as the ratio of loss from that class of 
disease. Taking this into consideration, it seems certain that phthisical disease 
is still in excess in n the army as s compared with the male civil population.’ 2 


1 Roth and apes’ op. cit., vol. iii. p. 392. 

* Parliamentary Return of Annual Average Mortality RIOTS the Decennial Period 1851-60, 
Feb. 1864; and Dr Farr’s Report to the Sanitary Commission, p- 907. 

3 The total deaths and invaliding for the 5 years 1879-83 amounted to 6°15 per annum. 


566 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


Did the army suffer more from phthisis in former years than it does now ? 
The following table will answer this questicn :— 


Deaths from Phthisis per 1000 of Strength. 
Years 1830-36, Years 1837-46, 


=7 years. =10 years. 
Household Cavalry, : : 5 : 74 6°28 
Cavalry of the Line, . : : ' 5°29 5-65 
Foot Guards, : i : : : 108 INL) 
Infantry, . , : : : : be US 
Mean, : ; ; : 7:83 7°89 


During these two periods, which make a total of seventeen years, the 
mortality was 7°86 per 1000, and there was no decline in the later as com- 
pared with the earlier period. 

But as in the 8 years ending with 1866 the mortality was only 3-1 per 
1000, in the 5 years ending 1871 only 2-6, in the 9 years ending 1880 only 
2-3, in the 5 years 1879-83 only 2°14, and in the year 1884 itself only 
1:79 per 1000, giving for the whole period of 26 years only 2-5, there must 
have been an enormous excess of mortality in the earlier period, unless it 
can be explained in some way. 

(a) In the earliest periods the mortality from chronic bronchitis was 
included in the phthisical mortality. If a correction is made for this, the 
mortality of the period 1859-1880 would not reach 3:0; so that will not 
explain the difference. 

(6) Was the invaliding more active in the last period, so as to lessen the 
deaths occurring in the army below what would have taken place without 
invaliding? The information about the early periods is scarcely obtainable, 
but there seems no reason to think it was less than subsequently, but on the 
contrary, it was very large from the foot guards. That invaliding cannot 
account for the difference is seen by the fact that the annual deaths per 
1000 in the seventeen years ending 1846 (viz., 7°86) were more numerous 
(in the cavalry and infantry of the line) than the average of deaths and 
invaliding together in the period of five years ending 1871. 

(c) The Limited Enlistment Act, by which a certain number of weakly 
men may possibly have left the army, was in action in the last period. It 
is impossible to estimate the amount of this action, but it is in the highest 
degree improbable that it had much direct effect ; for if a man of nearly ten 
years’ service were ill with phthisis, he would be sure to get invalided, in 
order to enjoy his temporary pension for two or three years, and would not 
simply take his discharge. 

(¢) The lessened age of the army at large might perhaps have some effect, 
as mortality from phthisis increases with age in the French army, and pro- 
bably in our own; but this would never account for the astonishing differ- 
ence; for in the French army the increase from phthisis of the men over 
fourteen years’ service, as compared with those under, is only 1 per 1000 
of strength. 

We may conclude, then, that there was a greater excess of the disorganis- 
ing lung diseases classed as phthisis in the ‘earlier period (1830-46). The 
amount of phthisis strongly attracted the attention of Sir Alexander Tulloch 
and Dr Balfour in 1839. They state that in the Equitable Assurance Com- 
pany at that time the annual mortality (at the ages 20 to 40) from disease of 
the lungs was 3°4 per 1000; while in the years 1830-36 the mortality from 


led 


MORTALITY ON HOME SERVICE—PHTHISIS. 567 


disease of the lungs among the foot guards was no less than 14:1 per 1000, 
of which phthisis alone caused 10°8.1 

How does our army contrast with others ? 

In France? the deaths from phthisis and chronic bronchitis together 
amount to 2°86 per 1000 of “present,” so that it is probable that there is 
at present even more phthisis in the French than in our own army. In 
the Prussian army the men are also discharged early, so that comparison is 
difficult. 

In the Prussian army the mean yearly mortality from laryngeal and lung 
phthisis was 1:28 per 1000 of strength (years 1846-63); in 100 deaths 
there were 13°57. What the amount of invaliding was at that time does 
not appear to be recorded, but in 1868-9 it was about 3 per 1000 of 
strength.? 

We may conclude, then, with regard to phthisis— 

1. That it was formerly in enormous excess in the army over the civil 
population, and particularly in the foot guards; in other words, a large 
amount of consumption was generated. 

2. That there has been a great decline of late years, though there is still 
in all probability some excess, especially in the household troops. 

What are the causes of this phthisical excess in the years 1830-46? It 
is noticeable that in the earlier periods all affections of the lungs were also’ 
in excess, and we can readily see that a number of antecedents may com- 
bine in producing the result, and that destructive lung diseases may pro- 
ceed from many causes. Still there must have been some predominating 
influence at work. 

The phthisis was not owing to climate, for that is unchanged. More- 
over, we shall hereafter see that the same excess was seen in the Mediter- 
ranean stations and the West Indies. . 

It was not owing to syphilis, for until late years the amount of syphilis 
has rather increased than diminished, while phthisis has lessened. 

It was not owing to bad food, for the food was the same in all the 
branches, and yet the amount of phthisis was widely different. Besides, 
the food has been comparatively little altered. 

It can hardly have been the duties or clothing,*+ for there has been no 
sufficient change in either to account for the alteration, unless the abolition 
of one of the cross-belts some years ago had some effect. But then this 
would have only affected the infantry. 

It must have been some conditions acting more on the foot guards than 
in the household cavalry, and less in the line regiments ; also it must have 
been acting in the troops stationed in the Mediterranean and the West 
Indies. There is only one condition common to all which seems capable of 
explaining it, and that the cause noticed in the Report of 1839, viz., over- 
crowding. This condition was and is still most marked in the barracks of 
the foot guards, and least in the barracks of the cavalry of the line. It is 


17n commenting on this fact the reporters say (Army Mcdical Reports of 1839, p. 13)— 
“Tf the aggregation of a number of men into one apartment, even though the space is not very 
confined, creates a tendency to this disease, then it clearly points out the propriety of afford- 
ing the soldier as ample barrack accommodation as possible.” Thus, even at that time, it 
was seen that no other cause but overcrowding could account for the great amount of lung 
disease. 

2 Mean of ten years, 1873-82 (Morache). 3 Roth and Lex, op. cit., vol. iii. p. 391. 

4 Dr Lawson has, in a very able paper read to the Statistical Society (Jan. 1887), attributed 
the increase of phthisis from 1823 to 1846 to the effects of the introduction of white trousers 
in the former year; the amelioration after 1846 to the substitution in that year of serge 
trousers ; and the further improvement of still later times to the introduction of the flannel 
shirt. a 


568 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


the only condition which has undergone a very decided change both at 
home and abroad. This consideration, as well as those formerly noticed in 
the section on Arr, seems to make it almost certain that the breathing the 
foul barrack atmosphere was the principal, perhaps the only, cause of this 
great mortality from lung diseases. If this be so, it shows that the foot 
guards are still the worst housed of any troops. 


; 2. Diseases of the Heart and Vessels. 


The fact that diseases of the circulatory system so long ranked second as 
causes of death in the army at home may well surprise us. It was marked 
in all arms, as much in the artillery and cavalry as in the infantry. The 
ratio per 1000 of strength for the five years 1867-71 for all diseases of 
the organs of circulation was 1:462, and in those years out of every 100 
deaths no less than 16-7 were from disease of the heart and vessels. In 
addition, there was a large amount of invaliding from this cause. 

If the fatal diseases of the circulatory system of the five years 1867-711 
are divided into two classes, those referred to some disease of the heart 
itself (chiefly chronic), and those referred to aneurysm (including an occa- 
sional rare return headed “ Degeneratio Aorte”), it is found that the deaths 
are :— 


Per 1000 of Strength. In 100 Deaths. 
From cardiac disease, . Se Weert 8°31 
From aneurysm, . 2 O"039 8-4 
Motale . >. ‘ ~ 1:462 16:74 


These numbers are higher than those of the nine years (1859-67), when 
the mortality from circulatory diseases was only 0-908 per 1000 of strength, 
and the percentage on the total deaths was 9. 

This mortality is in excess of that of the civil male population of the 
same age, especially as regards aneurysm. Dr Lawson calculated that 
aneurysm was eleven times more frequent among soldiers than civilians ; 
and he also calculated that among civilians, aged 15 to 44, the ratio of 
mortality from cardiac affections alone is 0-45 per 1000. The army, then, in 
the years 1867-71, had an excess of 0°277 per 1000 of heart disease. Myers’ 
statistics are confirmatory. The amount of heart disease was greater among 
the foot guards than among the metropolitan policemen. Myers in his 
able treatise * gives the following numbers :— 


Died per 1000. Invalided per 1000. 
Foot Guards, : : Se OHS) 32 
Police, : : : «O29 We3ii/ 


It was greater among soldiers than sailors; from six years’ observations 
(1860-65) Myers? makes the navy mortality 0°66, and the invaliding 3:44 
per 1000; while in the army in the same years the mortality was 0-9, and 
the invaliding 5-26. 

If the different arms of the service are taken, the following numbers are 
given by the five years 1867-71 :— 


1 In the recent returns the differential diagnosis is not given. In the nine years 1872-80 


the deaths per 1001) from diseases of the circulatory system were 1°17, and the percentage _ 


of total deaths 14°8. In the five years 1879-83 the numbers were respectively 0°72 and 
10°3; in 1884 they were 0°38 and 7:1. 
Diseases of Heart among Soldiers, by A. B. R. Myers, Coldstream Guards. London, 


870. 
3 


DEATHS ON HOME SERVICE—DISEASES OF HEART AND VESSELS. 569 


cera) corneas | eMlense | Gasavte!| coe tines 
Mean yearly strength, : 1,213 8,468 9,417 5,749 31,729 
Seana an digas of the a 1 24 57 19 73 
Be aah from aneurysm in) 2 37 49 20 103 


Heart deaths per 1000 of strength, 07181 0566 | 1°210 0°661 0°466 


Aneurysmal deaths per 1000 “of : : 4 : : 
strength, per annum, j 0329 | 0873 | 1:041 | 0-695 0649 


The numbers in the household cavalry are so small, it is not safe to use 
them; but the other numbers are sufficiently large to render it probable 
that the artillery show a larger proportion of fatal cardiac and aneurysmal 
cases than any other body of troops. The line cavalry and line infantry 
both show rather an excess of aneurysmal over heart deaths ; while the 
artillery show more heart than aneurysmal deaths, and in the foot guards 
the proportion is equal. The point which comes out clearly from the 
table, in addition to the large amount in all, is the excess of both classes 
of deaths in the artillery ; that it is a real excess is seen by comparing the 
yearly number of the artillery and cavalry of the line, who did not differ 
greatly in mean strength. The production of these diseases of the circu- 
latory organs begins very early in the military career. In 1860-62 Dr 
Parkes calculated out the causes of invaliding in 6856 men. Of these 1014 
were under two years’ service. In the whole number the percentage of 
heart and vessel disease as the cause of the invaliding was 7-7 ; among the 
men under two years’ service it was 14:23 per cent. As these men had 
presumably healthy hearts when they enlisted, the effect both of the 
military life in producing diseases of the circulatory organs, and the greater 
suffering from it of young soldiers, seems certain. The statistics in the 
Knapsack Committee’s Report confirm this. 

The cause of this preponderance in the army of diseases of the circulatory 
organs is a matter of great importance. Whatever they may be, it is 
probable that they produce both the cardiac and the arterial disease. 

The two most common causes of heart disease in the civil population are 
rheumatic fever in young, and renal disease in older persons. The latter 
cause is certainly not acting in the army, and the former appears quite 
insufficient to account for the facts. A great number of the men who suffer 
from heart and vessel disease have never had acute rheumatism ; and if we 
refer the affection to slight attacks of muscular rheumatism, which almost 
every man has, we are certainly going beyond what medical knowledge at 
present warrants. The effect of lung disease in producing cardiac affections 
is also not seen in the army to any extent. 

The influence of syphilis in producing structural changes in the aortic 
coats was noticed by Morgagni. In 114 post-mortem examinations of 
soldiers dying at Netley, Dr Davidson? found 22 cases of atheroma of the 
aorta. Of those 17 had a syphilitic history, 1 was doubtful, and 4 had had 
no syphilis, but had heart and lung diseases. Of the whole 114 cases, 78 
had no syphilitic history and had 4 cases of atheroma, or 5-1 per cent. ; 28 
had a marked syphilitic history and 17 had atheroma, or no less than 60°7 
per cent. This seems very strong evidence as to atheroma. With respect, 
however, to actual aneurysm, no corresponding analysis of cases has been 
made, and therefore at present the effect of syphilis must be considered 


1 Army Medical Department Reports, vol. v. p. 481. 


570 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


uncertain ; but it is quite clear, even admitting its influence, there is no 
reason to think that syphilis prevails more among soldiers than among the 
civil male population of the same class. It is, therefore, unlikely that an 
excess of syphilis, if it really occurs among soldiers, and if it actually pre- 
disposes to aneurysm, as seems probable, could produce 11 times as many 
aneurysms as in civil persons. Myers has also given evidence that both in 
the army and navy aneurysm is sometimes not preceded by degeneration of 
the arterial coats, and in these cases mere improper exertion seemed to 
produce it. 

The effect of excessive smoking again has been assigned as a cause of the 
soldier’s cardiac disease ; but no one who knows the habits of many con- 
tinental nations, and of some classes among our own, could for a moment 
believe this to be the cause. 

Again, the effects of alcohol in constantly maintaining an excessive action 
of the heart are so marked as to make it highly probable that this is a fact 
of great importance ; but soldiers do not drink so much, as compared with 
civilians, as to lead us to think the cause can explain the prevalence. 

There is, however, one cause which is continually acting in the case of 
soldiers, and that is the exertion (often rapid and long continued) which 
some of the duties involve.! The artillery have very heavy work ; often it 
is very violent and sudden, more so perhaps than in any other corps; the 
cavalry also have sudden work at times; and the infantry soldier, though 
his usual labour is not excessive, is yet sometimes called upon for consider- 
able exertion, and that not slowly, or with rests, but with great rapidity. 
And this exertion is in all arms undertaken with a bad arrangement of 
dress and of equipments. The cavalry and artillerymen are very tightly 
clothed, and though the horse carries some of the burden, it is undoubted 
that the men are overweighted. In the infantry, till lately, they wore very 
tight-fitting tunics, with collars made close round the neck, and trousers 
(which were often kept up by a tight belt); there was a broad strap 
weighted below with a heavy pouch and ammunition, crossing and binding 
down the chest ; and there was the knapsack constricting the upper part 
of the chest, and hindering the air from passing into the proper lobes. 

The production of heart disease ought not to be attributed solely to the 
knapsack, as is sometimes done; the knapsack is only one agency; the 
cross-belt was probably worse, and the tight clothes add their influence. 
But even with the knapsack alone the effect on the pulse is considerable, 
and one or two of Dr Parkes’ experiments may be given in illustration. 
Thus, four strong soldiers carried the old Regulation knapsack, service kit, 
greatcoat, and canteen, but no pouch and no waist-belt (except in one man). 
The pulse (standing) before marching was on an average 88; after 35 
minutes it had risen on an average to 105; after doubling 500 yards to 
139, and in one of the men was 164, irregular and unequal. After the 
double they were all unfit for further exertion. In a fifth man, who was 
not strong, the 35 minutes’ marching raised the pulse from 120 to 194; 
after doubling 250 yards, he stopped ; the pulse then could absolutely not 
be felt. In another series, the average pulse of four men, with the knap- 
sack only, was 98 (standing); after one hour’s march, 112; after their 
doubling 500 yards, 141. If the pouch with ammunition is added, the 
effect is still greater. Dr Parkes also took the pulse and respirations after 


1 For a full and able discussion on all those points, and for additional evidence, reference 
must be made to Mr Myers’ excellent work. On the effect of exertion during war in causing 
cardiac hypertrophy, reference may be made to Dr Frantzel’s paper in Virchow’s Archiv, 
Band lvii. p. 215. 


DEATHS ON HOME SERVICE—PNEUMONIA AND ACUTE BRONCHITIS. 571 


long marches and found the effect still more marked. Walking, of course, 
will quicken the pulse and respiration in any man, but not to such an 
extent, and the sense of fatigue in unincumbered men is much less. 

In the lecture formerly alluded to,t Dr Maclean put this matter most 
forcibly before the authorities, and he was undoubtedly quite justified in 
the expression that one cause of the cardiac (and perhaps of the aortic and 
pulmonary) disease in the army is to be found in exertion carried on under 
unfavourable conditions. 

Happily, much has been lately done by the authorities. to remove this 
cause, with the happy effect, as the returns show, of diminishing the 
amount of mortality and sickness from this cause; but still, especially in 
the artillery and mounted service,? changes appear to be necessary, and in 
all arms it is desirable that officers should allow their men to do their work 
under the easiest conditions, as regards clothes, weights, and attitudes, 
consistent with military discipline and order. 


3. The Nervous Diseases. 


These form a very heterogeneous class; apoplexy, meningitis, paralysis, 
mania, &c., are the chief headings. The proportion to 1000 of strength is 
about 0°46, and 6-6 deaths of every 100 are owing to nervous diseases. As 
among the male civil population (ages 25 to 35) the deaths are also 6°6 per 
cent. of total deaths, soldiers do not appear to suffer more. 


4. Pneumonia and Acute Bronchitis.* 


TABLE to show the Admissions and Deaths per Annum per 1000 of 
Strength, years 1859-71 (thirteen years). 


Pneumonia. | Acute Bronchitis. 
Admissions. | Deaths. Admissions. Deatlis. 
Average, . ; é 3 . 5°25 0-641 55°65 0°227 
Highest in thirteen years, : 7:13 0°741 88°00 0°380 
Lowest in thirteen years, . : 3°49 0-423 39°10 0-080 


The acute inflammatory diseases of the lungs gave, therefore, a mean 
annual mortality of 0°856 per 1000 of strength. The mean total deaths 
from diseases of the respiratory system, for the nine years 1872-80 was 
1:34 per 1000, causing 17 per cent. of total deaths. In the four years 
1881-84 the deaths from pneumonia were 0-90, from bronchitis 0°16, and 
from pleurisy 0°10 per 1000 of strength. 

In the French army pneumonia gives a lower, and acute bronchitis a 
higher, mortality than in ovr own, but this is perhaps a mere difference 
of nomenclature. 

The opinion that the military suffer more than the civil population from 


1 Royal United Service Institution Journal, 1863, vol. viii. 

2 The cardiac diseases are of the most varied kind. Dr Parkes wrote—‘‘I have seen at 
Netley, in Dr Maclean’s wards, in one hour in the summer, when the hospital is full, almost 
all the combinations of heart affections. It bas appeared to me that if anything gives the 
tendency to heart affections, then the dress and accoutrements come in as accessory causes, 
and prevent all chance of cure. In some cases there is no valvular disease, and not much 
hypertrophy of the heart, but a singular excitability, so that the heart beats frightfully quick 
on the least exertion.” 

3 Separate data are not published in the Army Medical Reports for the later years, 


az _ EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


pheumonia is an old one. It is also generally believed that they suffer less 
in the field than in garrison. Trustworthy statistics seem wanting as to 
the amount among the civil population. In the European population, gene- 
rally, Ziemssen! gives the deaths from pneumonia as 1°5, and Oesterlen? 
1:25 per 1000; but this includes all ages and both sexes. Among men 
alone it is certainly greater than among women. In London, in 1865, the 
mortality from pneumonia, between the ages 20 and 40 (both sexes), was 
1 per 1000 population.? 

If this be correct, the mortality among soldiers is below the civil 
mortality, or soldiers are less subject than civilians; for, as men are more 
subject to pneumonia than women, the mortality among the civilian males 
would be greater than 1 per 1000, but the military mortality is only 0°641. 
The mortality among the army pneumonia cases (deaths to treated) amounts 
(average of thirteen years) to 12°18 per cent.,+ and as this is very nearly the 
civil proportion, every 1000 of population in London gave nine cases of 
pneumonia, while 1000 soldiers gave only five. It may be said, however, 
that London is not a fair test ; but as a place of residence for soldiers it does 
not appear to predispose to pneumonia, as will be seen from the following 


table :— 


Per 1000 of Strength, 
years 1864-71. 


Foot Guards Infantry in the 

in London. Kingdom generally. 
Admissions from pneumonia, . : 5 3°75 : 
Deaths from pneumonia, . : . ; 0-44 0-66 


The mortality to cases treated in the five years 1867-71 was, in the 
guards, 10-68, and in the infantry, 11-°7 per cent. 

Although it does not seem that pneumonia (and acute bronchitis?) are 
more common or more fatal among soldiers serving at home than among 
civilians, the above figures show what a fatal disease pneumonia is, and how 
worthy of renewed study its causes are. 


5. The Class of Continued Fevers. 


The returns now distinguish two groups of continued fevers as Enteric 
and Other, the latter including typhus as well as febricula. Practically the 
majority of the fatal cases of ‘‘continued fever ” are from enteric fever. 

There has been a great decline in this class of late. In the ten years 
1837-46 the average admissions were 62, and the deaths 1°72 per 1000 of 
strength. In the eight years ending 1867 the admissions averaged 22, and 
the deaths 0°5 per 1000 of strength. In 1871 there were only 80 cases of 
enteric fever and 22 deaths in the whole army of 87,000 men. In the four 
years ending 1875 the mean total deaths from continued fever were 0°37 
per 1000, and they amounted to 4:4 per cent. of the total deaths. In the 
five years ending 1880 the mean total deaths were 0°30 per 1000, and the 
numbers to total deaths 4:1; in the five years 1879-83 the mean deaths 
were, from enteric fever, 0°18 per 1000, and percentage of total deaths, 2°6; 
in 1884 the numbers were respectively 0°19 and 3°6. 

This mortality is below that of the male civil population of the same age, 


1 Monats-Bl. fiir Med. Stat., 1857, and Schinidt’s Jahrb., 1862, No. 3, p. 337. 

2 Med. Statist., 2nd edit., p. 567. 

% Vacher, Sur la Mort en 1865, Paris, 1866, p. 137. 

4 In thirteen years there were 4826 cases treated, and 588 deaths, or 12:18 deaths per cent. 
In Canada the deaths to admissions were only 7°13 deaths per cent. (average of twelve years 
ending 1870). 


DEATHS ON HOME SERVICE—OTHER DISEASES. Oe 


which, for enteric fever alone, amounted to 4°4 per cent. of total deaths, and 
about 0°33 per 1000 of population in 1878, and to 4:1 and 0°301 in 1881. 

During late years no points have been more attended to in the army than 
pure water supply and good sewerage, and we see the results in this very 
large diminution of death from the rate of the former period, and in the 
fact that in this particular class of disease the soldier is better off than the 
civil population. So also the cholera of 1866 passed very lightly over the 
army at home (only 13 deaths out of 70,000 men),' although in former 
epidemics the army suffered considerably. 

The decline of enteric fever confirms most strongly the doctrine of its 
intimate dependence on bad sewage arrangements. 

The greatest amount of enteric fever in the army is in the garrisons and 
in the seaports, the least in the camps.” 


6. Other Diseases. 


The other classes of disease causing mortality need no comment. Chronic 
bronchitis is no doubt to be chiefly referred to phthisis (using that term as 
a generic word to include various disorganising lung diseases), and delirvwm 
tremens is a return which will, no doubt, gradually disappear in fact, as it 
has already done in figures, from the published Reports. 

The smaller items of mortality, making up about 22 out of every 100 
deaths, are various: erysipelas, pyzemia, syphilis, hepatitis (in men from 
foreign service), enteritis, rheumatism (from heart complication probably, 
but returned as rheumatism), diabetes, ebriositas, scarlet fever, and diphtheria 
are a few of the many causes which carry off a small number every year. 
The cancerous and kidney diseases are very few, as we might expect from 
the ages of the men. 

To sum up the case as regards the present mortality on home service, it 
may be stated that for the last twenty-five years (up to 1884) there has 
been some lessening, but no great fall in the number of deaths. There is 
still much to be done in respect of preventing disorganising lung disease, 
disease of the circulatory organs, and even fever, for we ought not to be 
satisfied until the term enteric fever is altogether obliterated. A renewed 
study of the causes of pneumonia is also necessary, in order to see if some 
way or other the attacks of that fatal disease cannot be lessened. There is 
no reason to think that we have yet touched the lowest possible limit of 
preventible disease ; but, on the contrary, we can see clearly that the 
soldier, comparatively healthy as he is, may be made more healthy still. 
Some evidence in support of such a view may be found in the fact, that 
both at Gibraltar and in some of the West Indian stations the mortality has 
been lower in some years than it has ever been at home. But there is no 
reason why the home mortality should not be reduced to the standard of 
those foreign stations. 

A question now arises—Why, after thirty years of age, should the soldier 
die more rapidly than the civilian, though for the first ten years of his ser- 
vice he has a smaller mortality? The causes may be foreign service, bad 
social habits (z.e., excess of drinking and syphilis, or other eftects of enforced 
celibacy), night duty, exposure on guard, and prolonged influence of impure 
barrack air. But to which of these the result is owing could only be deter- 
mined by accurate statistical inquiries into the causes of mortality at the older 


11°86 per 10,000 living, against 6°7 in total civil population of England and Wales. 
2Jn the French army (1879) the deaths from enteric fever are 2°7 per 1000 and about 53 
per cent. of all deaths. 


574 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


ages. We do not know these, and if the short-service system continues we 
are hardly likely to know them, so it is of no use to discuss a topic on which 
sufficient facts are not available. 


B. Loss oF STRENGTH OF THE ARMY BY INVALIDING. 


The amount of invaliding is influenced by cther causes than mere ineffi- 
eiency of the men; sometimes a reduction is made in the army, and the 
opportunity is taken to remove weakly men who would otherwise have con- 
tinued to serve. This was the case in 1861. As invaliding greatly affects 
the mortality of the army, a source of fallacy is introduced which it is not 
easy to avoid. 

During the seven years 1860-66 there were invalided every year 
nearly 37 men out of every 1000, thus making a total loss by death and 
invaliding from disease of nearly 46 men per 1000, or about one-twenty- 
second part of the whole force. In 1867 the invaliding was lower, viz., 
22°18 per 1000. For the ten years 1870-1879 the invaliding in the 
United Kingdom was at the rate of 27:18 per 1000, and the deaths were 
8:18,—making together 35°36, or one-twenty-eighth part of the force. For 
the whole army the numbers were, 22°15 and 12°67,—together 34-82, or 
slightly less. In the five years 1879-83 the invaliding at home was 23°39 
and the deaths 7:01, together 30°40; for the whole army, 21°66 and 12-06, 
together 33°72. In 1884 the total loss for the United Kingdom was only 
one-thirty-eighth, and for the whole army the same. Speaking in round 
numbers, phthisis and scrofula account for about one-sixth of the invalids, 
and if chronic bronchitis were included, for nearly one-fourth; the diseases of 
the circulatory system account for one-fifth, and chronic rheumatism for 
one-twentieth. Nervous diseases always cause a large number of invalids, 
amounting nearly to one-ninth. All the other items were smaller. In men 
invalided under one year’s service, nearly one quarter were from epilepsy ; 
the remaining chief causes were phthisis and diseases of the circulatory 
organs. It is probable that the loss from invaliding will continue to 
diminish as a consequence of the short-service system. 


SECTION III. 
LOSS OF SERVICE FROM SICKNESS PER 1000 PER ANNUM. 


(2) Number of Admissions into Hospital—On an average, 1000 soldiers 
furnish rather under 1000 admissions into hospital per annum; 809-1 in 
ten years (1870-79) : 840°2 in 1874-1883 ; in 1884, 861-7. The number 
varies in the different arms from about 600 in the household cavalry and 
engineers, which is usually the lowest, to about 1100 in the cavalry and 
artillery depots. In the first case the steady character of the men, many 
of whom are married, and in the second the frequency of contusions during 
drill, account for this great range. In the infantry the average is from 850 
to 1020. 

The number of admissions remained tolerably constant for twenty-five 
years, but during late years has been sensibly declining, although it is to 
be feared that the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts will in the future 
affect the ratio unfavourably. 

The admissions in the French army are not comparable with ours ; slight 
cases of sickness (which with us are often not recorded) are treated in 


LOSS OF SERVICE FROM SICKNESS. 575 


barracks (@ la chambre), severer, but still slight, cases in the infirmaries, 
bad cases in the general hospitals. The mean of five years (1862-66) gives 
2028 total admissions per 1000 “present.” The admissions to the infir- 
maries in France (in 1866) were 323 per 1000 “present,” to the hospitals, 
306 ; making a total of the severer cases of only 629 per 1000 in that year. 
This shows how many slight cases there are in the French army. In the 
eight years 1862-69 the mean number of slight cases in France was 1745 
per 1000. In the ten years 1873-82 the admissions to the infirmaries 
were 319; to the hospitals 264; and “a la chambre,” 2009 (Morache). 

In the Prussian ar my the average ence (mean of 18 years, 1846-63) 
were 1336. In 1867 there were 1125:6 per 1000. In 1873-75 it was 750, 
and in 1876 only 620 (Roth). 

(6) Daily Number of Sick in Hospital per 1000 of Strength.—About one- 
twenty-fifth of the army is constantly sick in time of peace, or 4 per cent. 
The mean for the ten years 1860-69 was 4:78 per cent. (or one-twenty-first 
part), and for the ten years 1870-79 it was 3°95 per cent., or just under 
one-twenty-fifth. In the ten years 1874-83 it was 4°28 per cent., or one- 
twenty-fourth ; in 1884 it was 4°88, or just under one-twentieth. 

It is not possible to compare the army sickness with the civil population, 
or even with other armies. 

In England the number of members of friendly societies, between twenty 
and thirty years of age, who are constantly sick, is nearly 16 per 1000. 

In the French army the mean sick in hospital are 29 per 1000 present ; 
in both hospital and infirmary, 50; in the Prussian, 44 (in 1876 only 
25°5); in the Austrian, 45; in the Belgian (1859), 54-2; in the Portuguese 
(1851-53), 39-4. 

The number of daily sick has, of course, a wide range; sometimes an 
hospital is almost closed, at other times there may be more than 100 sick 
per 1000 of strength. 

(c) Number of Days spent in Hospital per head in each 1000 of Strength.— 
The number of days’ service of a battalion 1000 strong in a year would be 
of course (1000 x 365 =) 365,000. If we assume the average number of sick 
to be 394 per 1000, there are lost to the State (394 x 365 =) 14,417 days’ 
service per annum, or 14} days per man. In 1874-83 the number of days’ 
sickness per man at home was 15'62, in 1884 it was 17°87. As already 
said, it is difficult to compare the sickness of soldiers and civilians, but the 
above amount seems large when we remember that, in the friendly societies, 
the average sickness per man per ¢ annum (under forty years of age) is less 
than seven days. 

Mean Duration of Cases of Iliness—The number of days each sick man is 
in hospital (mean duration of cases) is rather greater (18°59, average of 10 
years 1874-83), as the number of admissions is below the strength. In 
1884 it was 20°53. 

It can be most easily calculated as follows :—multiply the mean daily 
number of sick (sick population) by the number of days in the period, and 
divide by the cases treated. The number of “cases treated” is the mean 
of the admissions and discharges in the period. 


Austrian army, 17 to 18 days. French a la chambre, 3°10 days. 
French at home, all cases (1862-66), | Prussian (1859-63) in hospitals, 
7°97 days. 18-9 days. 
French in hospitals only (1862-66), | Belgian, 23-6 days. 
26°3 days. Portuguese, 19 days. 


French in infirmary, 12 days. 


576 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


(d) Mortality to Sickness.—This is, of course, a different point from that 
of the relation of mortality to strength. A few cases of very fatal illness 
may give a large mortality to cases of sickness, but the mortality to strength 
may be very small. 

The mere statement of the ratio of mortality to sickness gives little in- 
formation ; what is wanted is the mortality of each disease, and at every 
age. Otherwise the introduction of a number of trifling cases of disease 
‘may completely mask the real facts. 

When, however, the general ratio is to be determined, it must be calcu- 
lated in one of three ways :— 

1. Mortality to admissions in the time. This is, however, an uncertain 
plan; a number of cases admitted towards the close of a period, and the 
greater part of whose treatment and mortality falls into the next period, 
may cause an error. 

2. Mortality to cases treated (=mean of admissions and discharges). 
This is the best method of calculation. 

3. Mortality to sick population, 7.e., the number of deaths furnished per 
annum by a daily constant number of sick. This, however, must be taken 
in connection with the absolute number of sick in the time, and with the 
duration of the cases, or, in other words, with the kind of cases. 

The degree of mortality to the several causes of sickness was given very 
fully in the statistical part of the Army Medical Department Reports, up to 
the year 1873, since which time the detailed returns have been discontinued. 

Calculated on the admissions, the mortality to total sickness in the 
English army at home is a little above the mortality to strength, or about 
9°5 per 1000 per annum (1874-83). In 1884 the ratio was 6-4. In the 
Prussian army it was 7:25 (years 1846-62); in 1872 it was 7-71 


CAUSES OF SICKNESS. 


The causes leading men to go into hospital are, of course, very different 
from those which produce mortality. For example, admissions from phthisis 
will be few, mortality great ; admissions from skin diseases numerous, mor- | 
tality trifling. | 

Taking the most common causes of admission, we find— 

1. Venereal Diseases—Under the term venereal, all diseases, immediate — 
or remote, resulting from sexual intercourse, are included. Secondary as © 
well as primary syphilis ; stricture and orchitis, as well as gonorrhea, &c.; 
also a few cases not strictly venereal. The primary venereal forms are, 
however, of the most importance. 

In stations under the Contagious Diseases Act, 1000 men gave 50 ad- 
missions from primary venereal sores and 84 from gonorrhcea (average of 
13 years 1870-82). In stations not under the Act, the amounts were, 
respectively, 118 and 105. There were other admissions from secondary and 
tertiary syphilis, which somewhat increased the total admissions. In May 
1883 the compulsory examination of women was discontinued, and the Con- 
tagious Diseases Acts repealed in the following year. The result has at 
once shown itself. In the stations formerly under the Acts the admissions 
for primary venereal sore at once rose in 1883 to 110, and in 1884 to 138; 
the number constantly sick being 8°66 and 12-41 per 1000 respectively, 
against 6°51 in 1882 and an average of 3:97 for the previous 13 years. 

We have no certain facts with which we can compare the syphilitic disease 


1 For numerous statistical details of foreign armies, see Roth and Lex, op. cit., vol. ili. 
p. 411 et seq. 


CAUSES OF SICKNESS. NT 


of the civil population with that of the army. The amount among the civil 
population at large is really a matter of conjecture. But whether it is 
ereater or less than that of the army does not affect the result drawn from 
the above figures, viz., that there is an appalling loss of service every year 
from the immediate or remote effects of venereal disease,! a loss which un- 
fortunately is likely to increase. 

It should be understood, also, that the action of syphilis is long con- 
tinued. Many soldiers die at Netley from various diseases, whose real 
affection has been syphilis, so that the influence of this cause is very imper- 
fectly indicated by the number of admissions and the service lost under the 
head of syphilitic disease only. 

2. General Diseases.—The important diseases included under this class give 
about one-fourth of the total admissions, or about 220 per 1000 (1879-1883). 

(a) Eruptive fevers are not very common—about 5 per 1000. Smallpox 
is checked by vaccination ; measles and scarlatina are not frequent. 

(6) Paroxysmal fevers (most of which have been contracted out of 
England) give about 13 per 1000. 

(c) The continued fevers are more common, but their frequency is lessen- 
ing. There is no doubt that enteric fever is the chief, perhaps almost the 
only fever besides febricula which is now seen. The admissions for enteric 
fever alone in five years (1879-83) give a mean of 1-4 per 1000; in 1884 
they were 1-1. Spotted typhus is at present uncommon, but does occasion- 
ally occur. The continued fevers cause about 15 admissions per 1000 of 
strength (1879-83). Of late years there have been some cases of cerebro- 
spinal meningitis. 

(Zz) Rheumatism gives about 40 cases per 1000 of strength. 

3. Accidents give the next greatest number ; mean (1879-83) 106; range 
from 102 to 117 per 1000. 

4. Diseases of the Digestive system follow, about 110; range from 102 
to 116. 

5. Cutaneous diseases give a mean of 111; range from 102 to 123. 

6. Respiratory diseases (not including PAthisis) give a mean of 75 per 
1000; range from 63 to 97. 

7. Diseases of the Hye, mean 15, with little variation. 

8. Diseases of the Circulatory system, 14. 

9. Phthisis 10, with range between 8°5 and 11 (1884, 7:5). 

10. Nervous system, 12, with a range between 11 and 13. 

11. The remaining diseases of numerous smaller items, such as those of the 
generative (venereal excluded), locomotive, urinary (gonorrhea excluded), &e. 

As almost all details of these different groups are now omitted from the 
Army Medical Reports, it is difficult to discuss their causation and possible 
diminution. 

There is no room for doubt that the venereal admissions could be greatly 
lessened but for the late action of the Legislature ; so also could the admis- 
sions from fever, which have in fact been already reduced from 60 to 15 per 
1000 of strength ; in 1883 and 1884 they were only 13. For enteric fever 
they were only 1-4 and 1:1 respectively. The large class of integumentary 
diseases would probably admit of reduction. What is the exact nature of 
the phlegmon and ulcers which form so large a proportion of the admissions ? 
Trifling as the cases are, they form a large aggregate, and a careful study of 


their mode of production might show how they might be diminished. Pro- 


1 The order issued in 1873, directing stoppages to be made from men in hospital affected 
with venereal disease, was a most unfortunate one, as giving every inducement for the con- 
cealment of disease. Happily it was rescinded in 1879. 


D6) 


ww 


578 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


bably, however, these are mere conventional terms, under which a number | 
of trifling cases are conveniently recorded, but a complete analysis of the 
returns of one year under phlegmon would be desirable. So also of all the | 
other classes, it may be concluded that an active medical officer might | 
succeed in reducing the cases of rheumatism, bronchitis, and dyspepsia.* | 
Many cases of acute respiratory diseases are produced by exposure on guard, 
especially by the passage into and from the hot close air of the euard-room | 
to the open air on sentry duty. Good additional overcoats, means of drying 
the clothes, and proper ventilation of the guard-rooms, would probably | 
lessen the cases of bronchitis and pleurisy. 

Sickness in Military Prisons.—The admissions into hospital in the military — 
prisons do not appear to be great ; they have varied per 1000 of admissions _ 
of prisoners from 316 (in 1851) ha) 725°5 in 1863.2. Calculated on the mean — 
strength, the result is as follows :—In 1863 the ay average number of 
prisoners was 1064; the admissions for sickness, 722 ; the mean daily sick, 
21; the mortality, 0. These numbers give 7 25-5 admissions, and 19° 74 
mean daily sick per 1000 of strength. Prisoners are healthier than their 
comrades at duty in the same garrisons where the prisoners are under | 
sentence. 


SECTION IV. 
SOLDIERLY QUALITIES. 


Such, then, being the amount of mortality and sickness at home, it may 
be concluded that the soldier at present is not yet in so good a condition of | 
physical health as he might be ; and we can confidently look to future years 
as likely to show a continuance in the improvement now going on. In future 
years, however, the new system of limited service will render it difficult to | 
trace the progress in the infantry. 

Health is so inextricably blended with all actions of the body and mind, 
that the medical officers must consider not only all physical but all mental 
and moral causes acting on the men under their charge. 

The amount of work, the time it occupies, its relation to the quantity of | 
food, the degree of exhaustion it produces, the number of nights in bed, and 
other points of the like kind ; the mental influences interesting the soldier, 
or depressing him from ennuz; the moral effect of cheerfulness, hope, dis- | 
content, and despondency upon his health, as well as the supply of water, | 
air, food, clothing, &c., must be taken into account. And just as the body | 
is ministered to in all these ways, so should there be ministration of the | 
mind. It is but a partial view which looks only to the body in seeking to | 
improve health; the moral conditions are not less important ; without con-_ 
tentment, satisfaction, cheerfulness, and hope, there is no health. | 

Hygiene, indeed, should aim at something more than bodily health, and | 
should indicate how the mental and moral qualities, essential to the pee 
ticular calling of the man, can be best developed. 

How is a soldier to be made not mer ely healthy and vigorous, but courage- 
ous, hopeful, and enduring? How, in fact, can we best cultivate those martial | 
qualities which fit him to endure the hardships, vicissitudes, and dangers of | 
a career so chequered and perilous ? 


1 Tt is right, however, to say that no medical officer ought to sacrifice his men in theslightest | 
degree for ‘the purpose of appearing to have a small sick list and an empty hospital. "There | 
isa temptation in that direction which we have to guard against, and to remember that the | 
only question to be asked is, What is the best for the men? not, What will make the best 
appearance ? 

2 Report on Prisons for 1863, p. 24. 


SOLDIERLY QUALITIES. 579 


Without attempting to analyse the complex quality called courage,—a 
quality arising from a sense of duty, or love of emulation, or fear of shame, 
or from physical hardihood, springing from familiarity with and contempt 
of danger,—it may well be believed that it is capable of being lessened or 
increased. In modern armies, there is not only little attempt to cultivate 
courage and self-reliance, but the custom of acting together in masses and 
of dependence on others actually lessens this. It is, then, a problem of 
great interest to the soldier to know what mental, moral, and physical 
means must be used to strengthen the martial qualities of boldness and 
fortitude. 

The English army has never been accused of want of courage, and the idea 
of pusillanimity would seem impossible to the race. But drunkenness and 
debauchery strike at the very roots of courage ; and no army ever showed 
the highest amount of martial qualities when it permitted these two vices to 
prevail.t_ In the army of Marlborough, the best-governed army we ever had, 
and the most uniformly successful, we are told that the ‘sot and the 
drunkard were the objects of scorn.” To make an army perfectly brave, it 
must be made temperate and chaste. 

Good health and physical strength, by increasing self-confidence, increase 
courage ; and self-reliance is the consequence of feeling that, under all cir- 
cumstances, we can face the dangers and difficulties that present themselves. 

Few wiser words were ever written than those by William Fergusson,? at 
the close of his long and eventful service. 

“Of the soldier’s life within these barracks,” writes Fergusson, ‘there is 
much to be said, and much to be amended. ‘To take his guards, to cleanse 
his arms, and attend parade, seems to comprehend the sum total of his 
existence ; amusement, instruction beyond the drill, military labour, and 
extension of exercises, would appear, until very recently, to be unthought 
of ; as it is impossible that the above duties can fully occupy his time, the 
irksomeness of idleness, that most intolerable of all miseries, must soon over- 
take him, and he will be driven to the canteen or the gin-shop for relief. 

“Labour in every shape seems to have been strictly interdicted to the 
soldier, as water for his drink. All, or nearly all, must have been bred to 
some trade or other before they became soldiers ; but they are work for them 
no longer. Labour (the labour of field-works and fortifications) strengthens 
the limbs and hardens the constitution, but that is never thought of in our 
military life at home; so thought not the ancient Romans, whose military 
highways still exist, and who never permitted their soldiers to grow ener- 
vated in idleness during peace. Better, surely, would it be that every one 
should work at his own craft, or be employed on the public works, in 
regulated wholesome labour, than thus to spend his time in sloth and 
drunkenness. But his exercises, without even going beyond the barrack 
premises, may be made manifold—running, wrestling, gymnastic games of 
every kind, swimming, leaping, pitching the bar, the sword exercise (that 
of the artillery), all that hardens the muscles and strengthens the limbs, 
should be encouraged; and, when the weather forbids out-door pastimes, 
the healthy exercise of single-stick, in giving balance and power to the 


1 There are many sober and excellent men in the army. But asa rule the English soldier 
cannot be depended upon under any circumstances if he can get drink. Well does Sir 
Ranald Martin say, ‘‘ Before that terrible vice can be overcome, something far more powerful 
than medical reasoning on facts, or the warnings of experience founded on them, must be 
brought into active operation. Discipline must still further alter its direction: in place of 
being active only to punish wrong, it ought and must be exerted further and further in the 
encouragement to good conduct.”—Ranald Martin, 7’ropical Climates, p. 263. 

2 Notes and Recollections of Professional Life, 1846, p. 49. 


580 EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE. 


body, quickness to the eye, and vigour to the arm, may properly be taken as a 
substitute for the drill which, after the soldier has been perfected in his 
exercise, is always felt to be a punishment. So is the unmeaning evening 
parade and perpetual roll-calling. 

“ Foot-racing too, the art of running, so little practised, and so supremely 
useful, should be held amongst the qualities that constitute military excel- 
lence. It was so held at the Isthmian games of ancient Greece, and deserves 
_a better place than has hitherto been assigned to it in the military pastimes 
-of modern Britain. In our school-books we are told that the youth of 
ancient Persia were taught to launch the javelin, to ride the war-horse, and 
to speak the truth. Let the young British warrior be taught to use his 
limbs, to fire ball-cartridge, to cook his provisions, and to drink water. The 
tuition may be less classical, but it will stand him in far better stead during 
every service, whether at home or abroad. 

“Regular bodily pleasurable exercise has been said to be worth a host of 
physicians for preserving military health ; and occupation without distress 
or fatigue is happiness. The philosopher can make no more of it; and 
every idle hour is an hour of irksomeness, and every idle man is, and must 
be, a vicious man, and to a certain extent an unhealthy one.” 

In many of the foreign stations of the British army, excellent opportuni-— 
ties exist for both occupying the men and developing their spirit. All 
history teaches us that a hunting race is a martial one. The remarkable 
fighting qualities of the English, as drawn in Froissart’s Chronicles, were 
owing to the fact that at that time they were “a nation of hunters,” and 
trained from infancy to face dangers alone. In India there are many places 
where men could not only be allowed to hunt, but where such permission 
would be the greatest boon to the inhabitants. | 

The English army has hitherto offered but few incentives to good conduct, | 
and scanty encouragement for the cultivation of martial qualities. Men must | 
have rewards, and feel that earnest endeavour on their part to become in all 
respects better soldiers is neither overlooked nor unrewarded. The new 
order of things introduced by the late Lord Cardwell seems likely to open 
up means of progress for men who can acquire knowledge and to deserve | 
advancement. | 

The cultivation of the martial qualities of the soldier is in reality a part. 
of hygiene considered in its largest sense, but this part of hygiene must be | 
studied and carried into effect by the combatant officers. Let us trust it 
may not be long before they seriously study and endeavour, by precept and | 
example, to promote the formation of those habits of boldness and endurance, 
and that fertility in resources, which are as necessary as technical knowledge | 
to render an army the formidable instrument it is capable of becoming. 


CHUN ANTIRD INVG 


FOREIGN SERVICE. 


THE foreign service of the British army is performed in every part of the 
world, and in almost every latitude, and probably more than two-thirds of 
each line soldier’s service is passed abroad. 'The mere enumeration of the 
stations is a long task; the description of them would demand a large 
volume. In this short chapter, to give a few general statements as to 
climate and geology, and the past and present medical history of the 
stations, only can be attempted; such an outline as may give medical 
officers a sort of brief summary of what seems most important to be known. 

Detailed and excellent accounts of most of the foreign stations exist, either 
in the independent works of army surgeons, such as those of Marshall, 
Hennen, Davy, and many others, or in reports drawn up for Government, 
and published by them. In the early Statistical Reports of the Medical 
Department of the Army, short topographical notices of the stations were 
inserted ; they are models of what such reports should be, and must have 
been drawn up by a master in the art of condensation. In the Annual 
Reports now published many excellent topographical descriptions will be 
found ; and some of the Indian Governments have published complete 
descriptions of all their stations. In the Lombay Transactions, the Madras 
Medical Journal, and the Bengal Indian Annals are very full accounts of 
almost every station that has been or is occupied by European troops in 
India. Finally, in the Jndian Sanitary Report is much important informa- 
tion on the meteorology and topography of the present Indian stations. 
Young medical officers first entering on foreign service are strongly advised 
to study these accounts of the stations in the command where they are 
serving ; it will not only give them interest in their service, but will aid 
them in their search how best to meet the climatic or sanitary conditions 
which affect the health of the men under their charge. 


SECTION LI. 
MEDITERRANEAN STATIONS! 


GIBRALTAR. 


Usual peace garrison = 4500 to 6000 men. Period of service, three years. 
Civil population = 18,381 (in 1881). Height of rock, 1439 feet at highest 
point. Nature of rock, grey limestone, with many cavities filled with 
reddish clay ; under town, an absorbent red earth forms the subsoil. 

Climate.-—Mean temperature of year=64°-1;? hottest month, August 


1A very important Report on the Mediterranean Stations was published by the Barrack 
Improvement Commissioners (Dr Sutherland and Captain, now Sir Douglas, Galton).—Blue 
Book, 1863. 

2 Mean of eight years’ observations by the Royal Engineers (1853-60), as given in the 
Barrack Commissioners’ Blue Book (1863). 


we 


582 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


(invariably in eight years)=76°°6; coldest month, either January or 
February, in equal proportions, 53°°77: amplitude of the yearly fluctuation, 
22°:83 (= difference between hottest and coldest months). 

Mean monthly maximum and minimum in shade !—hottest month, July 
or August—mean maximum = 89°; coldest month, December, January, or 
February—mean minimum, 42°. Range of highest and lowest monthly 
means of maximum and minimum, 47°. Extreme yearly range (difference 
between highest and lowest temperature recorded in the time) about 50° to 
58°. The minimum thermometer on grass sometimes falls to 4° or 6° below 
freezing. 

RainfallM ean, 32°8 inches (mean of seventy years, 1790-1860). 
Greatest amount in any one year, 75:8 (1855). Least amount in any one 
year, 15-1 (1800). The importance of this great variation, as regards sieges, 
is evident ; Gibraltar might be embarrassed for water if the rainfall were 
only 15 inches in a year of siege. 

Number of Rainy Days = 68. The rain is therefore infrequent, but heavy. 
The rain falls in nine months, September to May; greatest amount in 
January and November ; most rainy days in April. Summer, rainless. 


Humidity. 
Grains of Relative 
Dew-point. Vapour in a Humidity 
cubic foot. Sat. =100, 
Mean dew-point of year, 5D°'9 5°75 72:3 
Mean highest dew-point in 672-9 7-50) 70-7 
Aug ist, ‘ 
Lowest dew-point i in January 43°-5 3-95 69-1 | 
or February, . | 


Gibraltar is thus seen to be rather a dry climate; at any rate, the air is 
on an average only three parts saturated with moisture, and therefore evapo- 
ration from the skin and lungs will be tolerably rapid, provided the wind 
moves freely. It is certainly not a moist insular climate, as might have been 
anticipated. At the times of rain, however, and during the foos and moist 
sirocco, the air is nearly saturated. 

W "ind. —Chiefly N.W. or 8.W. or W., in January, April, May, June, and | 
October. Easterly in July, August, and September. But sometimes the | 
easterly winds are more pr evalent, or may be moderate for almost the whole | 
year. The east and south-east winds are sirocco (Levanteros), and are often 
accompanied by rain and fogs. 


| 


Sanitary Conditions. 


Water Supply.—The quantity was formerly very deficient; in 1861 
only 25 gallons daily were supplied for non-commissioned officers and. 
privates. 

Sources.—Wells and tanks, rain-water, and a small aqueduct carrying) 
surface water. Very large tanks have been constructed in two of the ravines, | 
with arrangements for Pee into them a large amount of surface water ; 


1 Of the igi years (1853-60) given in the veporuanene quoted, the difference between the 
inonthly mean maximum and minimum is so much less in the last three years as to make) 
one suspect some error in observation. In 1880 the mean maximum in July was 87°°4, the 
mean minimum in January 47°°9—range 39°'5 ; absolute maximum 98°'8 in August, absolute! 
minimum 42°°5 in January— range 49°'3. 


GIBRALTAR. 583. 


and fresh wells have been dug at the north end, near the neutral ground, 
which yield a large supply of water. 

Quality.—The most of the well water is very hard, and in some cases almost 
brackish. In one sample analysed at Netley there were nearly 83 grains of 
chlorine per gallon, equal to nearly 140 grains of alkaline chlorides. Some 
of the wells contain a good deal of organic matter, whilst others are com- 
paratively free. In most of them there is a large quantity of nitrates, point- 
ing unequivocally to the oxidation of animal organic matter. Recent 
experimental borings have not been very encouraging as regards quality 
of water! The tank water is good when filtered; but the tanks require 
frequent inspection and cleaning. 

Many of the houses of the civilians have tanks, and no new house is allowed 
to be built without a tank. The distribution of water, both to soldiers and 
civilians, is defective ; it is almost entirely by hand. 

Drainage.—The sewers have been much improved. Surgeon-General A 
H. Fraser reported in 1884 that “the drainage and general sanitary condi- 
tion was satisfactory on the whole.” 

Barracks.—-More than half the garrison is in casemates, which have been 
described as “ mere receptacles of foul air, damp, dark, and unwholesome.” ? 
The barracks are, for the most part, badly arranged, and are overcrowded ; 
the average cubic space in 1862 was only about 450 feet, and the average 
superficial space under 40. Ventilation was very defective, especially in the 
casemates. The means of ablution and the latrines and urinals were also 
defective. In all those points, however, great improvement has taken place. 
The duties are not heavy, and the rations are said to be good. In 1860 some 
improvements were made in the dress of the troops, and a light summer suit 
ordered. Flannel next the skin has been recommended strongly for Gibraltar, 
on account of the occasional cold winds. 


Health of the Civil Population. 


Gibraltar is now a place of considerable trade ; whether the Government 
have been right in allowing a mass of people to herd closely together in the 
midst of the most important fortress we possess is very questionable. In case 
of a siege they would be a serious embarrassment, and even in time of peace 
they are objectionable. The health of this community is bad ; in 1860 the 
northern district, where population is densest, gave 38 deaths per 1000, or 
excluding cholera, 33-5; in the more thinly populated southern end, the 
mortality was 27:5 per 1000, or more than St Giles’, in London. The deaths 
in children under one year form 17:33 per cent. of the total mortality. The 
prevailing causes of this mortality are fevers (in all probability typhoid) and 
tuberculous consumption, which causes 13 per cent. of the total deaths at all 
ages, or 37°6 per cent. of the total deaths at the soldiers’ ages. Dysentery 
and diarrhoea are common. 

In this compressed and dirty population several great epidemics have 
occurred. The bubo plague does not appear to have been seen since 1649, 
but the earlier records are very imperfect ; yellow fever, however, prevailed 
in 1804, 1810, 1813, and 1828. Cholera has prevailed several times ; the 
last time was in 1865. 


1 For analyses of water of Gibraltar, see Reports on Hygiene, Army Medical Reports, vols. 
2 OAlbe Babes bre ee pA l.6.0F 
2 Barrack Commissioners’ Report, p. 37. 


584 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


HEALTH OF THE TROOPS. 


1. Loss of Strength by Death and Invaliding. 


(a) By Death.—Gibraltar has never suffered from any great sickness or 
mortality, except in yellow fever or cholera years. At the time when the 
mortality on home service was 17 or 18 per 1000 of strength, it was usually 
not more than 12 at Gibraltar. Of late years both sickness and mortality 
have been below that of home service, especially in the latter years. In spite 
of this comparative healthiness, it is quite certain that much preventible 
disease existed, and in part still exists, on the Rock. 


Mortality per 1000 of Strength. 


Years. Total Deaths. Deaths from 


Disease -alone. 
1837-46 (10 years), . ‘ : : 12-9 5°65 
1861-70 (10 years), . ; : : 8:54 
1870-79 (10 years), . d : : 6:98 
1879-63 (5 years), : : 6°94 6-11 
1884, . , : : 4:03 3°61 


The progressive diminution is remarkable, and shows what is possible in 
reducing mortality among soldiers. 

Causes of Death.—In the earlier years the chief causes of death were 
phthisis and continued fever, which was doubtless enteric fever. Of late 
years phthisis has declined; enteric fever, on the contrary, increased up to 
1863, has since then declined in frequency, though not in fatality per cent. 
of attacked. 

The admissions from phthisis averaged 11 per 1000 of strength in the 
ten years 1836-48; while in the eight years 1859-66 they were only 7°63. 
In the years 1863-66 the deaths and invaliding together from phthisis were 
only 3°72 per 1000 of strength, or hardly more than the deaths alone at 
home. In 1879-83 the admissions were 4:8; deaths 1:01; invalided, 2-07. 
In 1884 the admissions were 5°5, the deaths 0°85, and the invaliding 0°85. 
The two last together make 1°75, against 4:52 at home. The decline in 
phthisis seems therefore certain, but still it is possible that it is not even 
now so low as it might be. 

The continued fevers gave 75:7 admissions per 1000 of strength in the 
years 1837-46, and 98-5 in the five years ending 1863. There was also an 
increase in mortality. In the three years ending 1866 the admissions fell 
to an average of 42, and the decline was progressive. Of late the admis- 
sions have increased, the numbers for 1869-78 being 77 per 1000, in 
1879-83 nearly 153, in 1884 no less than 176, but of these last only 0°6 
were enteric, the remainder being febricula and so-called Rock-fever. 

During late years much has been done in Gibraltar to give the men 
more breathing space and ventilation, hence the decline in phthisis which 
was so fatal formerly when the men were crowded in casemates. When 
their barracks are still further improved, we shall see a still greater lessen- 
ing of phthisis. 

The amount of heart disease was formerly great, and probably arose from 
the same conditions as at home. It has latterly diminished considerably. 


1 Cholera prevailed in 1865, and raised the mortality to 23°74. Without cholera it was 7°91. 
2 Of course invaliding has an effect, but the invalids who died at Netley are included in the 
above numbers. 


GIBRALTAR—HEALTH OF THE TROOPS. 585 


The habits of the men are much improved, and deliriwm tremens, for- 
merly common, is rare. In 1865 and 1866 only one man died in two 
years from this cause, or at the rate of scarcely more than 0°1 per 1000 of 
strength. 

Formerly dysentery and diarrhea were common; now they are infrequent 
and mild. The average admissions from dysentery in three years (1864-66) 
were only 2 per 1000; in 1864 and 1866, from diarrhcea, were only 12 per 
1000.1. In 1880 they were under 11. In 1884 the cases were much more 
numerous. Coincident with the presence of cholera in Europe there was, 
however, no actual cholera reported. 

Everything points to the fact that Gibraltar itself is a perfectly healthy 
place, and that, when the sanitary alterations now going on are completed, 
the sickness and mortality will be trifling. 


Influence of Age on Mortality at Gibraltar. 


Deaths per 1000 of Strength at each Period. 


Mears: Under 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and 
20. under 25. | under 30. | under 35. | under 40. | upwards. 
1874-83 3°83 5°08 5°14 712 7°92 18°04 
1884 5:05 2°09 4°20 AN7/ 4°31 wae 


These numbers compare favourably with the home returns. 

(b) By Invaliding.—The number of men sent home for change of air and 
discharge varies greatly from year to year; about 20 to 30 per 1000 of 
strength is the average. The chief diseases are general debility, rheumatism, 
phthisis, and cardiac disease. The other diseases are in smaller number, 
but are numerous. Dysentery and liver diseases used to be common 
causes of invaliding, but both are now declining. The total number was 
33°10 per 1000 in 1884, of whom only 9°76 were finally discharged. 


2. Loss of Service by Sickness. 


The admissions, the mean daily sick, and the duration of the cases, are 
all below the home standard. 


Per 1000 of Strength. 


ne . , | Mean Stay in 
Tears samme | MeiacS7Y | Hospital of each 
1837-56, 976 bs a 
1861-70, 742 36°57 18°39 
1870-79, 669°4 35°88 19°62 
1879-83, 831°1 51°98 22°83 
1884, 966°9 55°65 21°06 


The venereal diseases cause a good many admissions. There is police 
regulation of prostitutes, but it is imperfectly carried out. Integumentary 
diseases cause about 43 admissions per 1000. In 1884 these amounted to 
56. Digestive disorders give a large number of admissions, and have always 
done so, but in the latest returns they are somewhat declining. 


1 Cholera prevailed in 1865, so that year has been left out. 


586 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


Sanitary Duties at Gibraltar.—Sir Douglas Galton and Dr Sutherland 
indicated the measures which should be adopted, viz., a better supply of 
water by arranging for a larger storage; a better drainage, with sea water 
for flushing, and a different outlet; and an improved ventilation, with 
less crowding in barracks. Most of the plans have been carried out as 
far as practicable. There is no doubt these measures will greatly improve 
health. 

_ Supposing war were to arise at this moment, and that we lose the com- 
mand of the sea for a time, the points of danger would apparently be 
these :— 

1. Deficient Water, the Rainfall being uncertain.—The new wells near the 
neutral ground will perhaps obviate this danger, but the water is not of 
good quality ; but if not, it would have to be supplied by distillation, and 
it would be prudent to keep a good apparatus always at Gibraltar. The 
amount of storage has been increased of late years. 

2. Overcrowding and Bad Ventilation, leading to Spotted Typhus.—With 
a full garrison, and with some barracks untenable, there is no doubt there 
would be serious danger of this disease; and it is a matter of great moment 
to ventilate as perfectly as possible all casemates which, even if now disused, 
must be used in time of war. 

3. Enteric Fever.—By means of improved drainage this cause of danger 
might soon be entirely removed. 

4, Diseases arising in the Town, and spreading to the Garrison.—In case 
of war, it would seem most desirable to clear out the native town as far as 
it can be done. More space and more water would be available. There 
would be less chance of famine, destitution, and disease. 

In the war in 1792 scurvy prevailed from deficiency of food and fresh 
vegetables. 


Matra. 


Size, 17 miles by 9. Usual peace garrison=5000 to 7000; period of 
service, three years ; population (civil) in 1879 = 154,198. 

Geology.—Soft, porous rock ; the greater part is sandstone resting on hard 
limestone; in some parts there is marl and coral limestone over the sandstone. 
In the centre of the island, at Citta-Vecchia, there is, in order from the 
surface, alluvium, upper limestone, red sand, marl, sandstone, and lower 
limestone. Valetta is on thin alluvium, with thick sandstone below, and 
beneath this the lower limestone. 

Climate (at Valetta).—Mean of the year,) 66°°8; hottest month (July), 
77°; coldest (January), 57°; amplitude of the yearly fluctuation, 20°; ex- 
treme yearly range (from highest to lowest temperature in shade), 59”, 
from 99° in July to 40° in January ; mean yearly range, about 53”. 

Undulations of temperature are frequent, and there are often cold winds 
in winter from N.W. ‘The south-east wind is an oppressive sirocco, raising 
the temperature to 94° or 95°. It is chiefly in the autumn, and blows for 
from 60 to 80 days every year. At Citta-Vecchia (600 feet above the sea) 
the temperature is lower and the air keener. Rainfall about 22 inches. 
Chief rain in November, December, and January; less in February and 
March; small in amount in the other months. From June to August almost 
rainless. 

Humidity.—Mean of 1869-80; observations at 9.30 am. Relative 
humidity, 70. 


1 For eleven years (1869-80), with the exception of 1874, not recorded in A.M.D. Reports. 


MALTA, 587 


Malta thus appears to be a dry climate, 2.e., with a moderate relative 
humidity. 


Sanitary Condition. 


Much has been done of late years, and, as far as external cleanliness goes, 
Valetta is very clean. Water supply from rain and springs (the largest of 
which is in the centre of the island, and the waters of which are led by 
aqueduct), is not very deficient in quantity (8 to 10 gallons per head), and, 
except in some places, good in quality, though the rain-water contains 
chlorides from the spray falling on the roofs of buildings. Some of the 
tanks are too near the sea, which percolates into them. The tanks 
require careful looking after. Within the lines there are 272 public and 
military tanks, with storage for 55 millions of gallons, and 4294 private 
tanks, with storage for 323 millions of gallons. The military tanks, if full, 
would give 6 gallons of water per man daily for eleven months, but even 
now the water often falls short. The water is carried everywhere by hand, 
and the drinking water for the men is not filtered, or only partially so. An 
attempt to get water by sinking into the sandstone was made in 1866-67, but 
failed. The sewers in Valetta are bad in construction and outlet, and much 
enteric fever has been, and is still, caused in consequence. In many cases 
“they are nothing but long cesspools.”! Pipe drains are, however, now 
being laid in the old drains, which were merely narrow deep channels cut in 
the soft porous rock. The old style of drain has now quite ceased to exist 
in the barracks. 

The barracks are bad, many casemates being used, and buildings which 
were intended for stores and not for habitations. They are built of soft 
sandstone, which both crumbles and absorbs wet. Insome cases all sanitary 
considerations have been sacrificed for the purposes of defence. 'The ventila- 
tion of the casemates is very bad, but some improvements have taken place. 
The Barrack Commissioners, in their Report, recommended that in every 
way which could be done the ventilation should be improved by admitting 
the wind, especially from the north, and that each barrack would require a 
separate plan to meet the particular case. They recommended that air 
shafts should be made, much larger than ordered for home service, viz., 1 
square inch for every 20 cubic feet of space, or for a barrack-room of twelve 
men with regulation space (7200 + 20 = ) 360 square inches (= 24 square feet) 
of outlet opening. Some of those points have been carried out with very good 
results. At the present time the amount of cubic space is below the home- 
service amount (600 cubic feet), and the superficial area is very small, in 
some cases being as low as 40 square feet per head. All the barracks are 
now supplied with new and remodelled married quarters, with proper 
appliances. 

During the hot weather the space is increased by making the men sleep 
under canvas every alternate night.? 

A gymnasium is provided both in Cottonera and Valetta, and all the 
barracks are well provided with reading, recreation, and school rooms. The 
means of ablution are now very good in all the barracks, and there are new 
water latrines and slate or earthenware urinals provided. 

We may therefore hope that a diminished amount of disease may be the 
result of these improvements, although much remains to be done to make 
the condition of the troops as good as it ought to be. 


1 Barrack Commissioners’ Report, p. 111. 
2 Report by Surgeon-General W. A. Mackinnon, C.B., 4.M.D. Reports, vol. xxii. p. 235. 


588 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


Health of the Civil Population. 


There is some, but no great amount, of malarious disease, but a good deal 
of the so-called bilious remittent! and enteric fever. Typhus is not at 
present seen. Bubo plague has prevailed seven times, the last in 1841, 
slightly. Yellow fever has been known, but not of late years. Cholera has 
occurred thrice. Dysentery is common ; teenia not infrequent ; ophthalmia 
common, from dust and glare. Boils or anthrax are frequent ; rheumatism 
is not uncommon, and phthisis is said to be frequent (from dust?). The 
death-rate is said to be 21°3 per 1000 in the towns, and 28-7 in the 
country districts; while nearly 574 per cent. of this is in children under 
five years,” the great causes of infantile mortality being registered as 
teething and convulsions. 


Fealth of the Troops. 


The health of the troops is worse than at Gibraltar, but it has singularly 
fluctuated (even without great epidemics), more so probably than at any 
station in the same latitude. The mortality has varied as much as threefold 
without cholera. 


Loss of Strength per 1000 per Loss of Service per 1000 per 
annum. annum. 
Years. Days in 
Total Deatis Invaliding Admis- Mean Hospital to 
Deaths. Diseaces *| sions. daily Sick. ean Sick 
an. 
1837-46, . 5 15:3 1120 43°79 B08 
1861-70 (10 years), : 13°49 222 798°6 | 43°31 19°81 
1870-79 (10 years), Cai Fes 30°00 837°8 | 42°35 18°45 
1879-83 (5 years), 9°47 801 12°60 840°7 | 51:29 22°28 
1884, é 9-27 7°76 17°89 840°4 | 55°84 24°24 
Hichest (1865, cholera), 26°44 | 24°63 ; se ae ae 
Lowest (1864), ‘ 6°53 4°58 


The mortality in 1864 was as low as it has ever been ; but it has in former 
years been as low as 5-6 from disease alone. It is curious how alternations 
of health and sickness occur chiefly from the variations in the fevers of 
different kinds, especially enteric and the remittent or so-called Malta 
fever, which has a long course, a great tendency to rheumatic sequel, and 
little mortality. 

In 1867 there was a terrible outbreak of continued fever, chiefly among 
the troops quartered in the notoriously unhealthy barracks of Lower St 
Elmo and Fort Ricasoli. The admissions rose to 228, and the deaths actually 
amounted to no less than 7-93 per 1000 of strength. Out of 100 deaths no 
less than 32:2, or nearly one-third, were from “ continued fever,” 7.¢., enteric 
fever in great measure. In 1872 there was also a great deal of fever, the 
admissions being 233, and the deaths 3-91, per 1000 of strength. In 1878, 
also, there were 209 admissions and 5'16 deaths per 1000 of strength, the 


1 See Dr Marston’s excellent Report in the Army Medical Report for 1861, for the symptoms 
of this disease among troops. See also Dr Boileau’s interesting essay in the same publication, 
vol. viii. 

2 Report of Barrack Commissioners, p. 87. The Commissioners justly remark that these 
figures are so striking as to demand further inquiry. Probably they are quite untrustworthy ; 
yet both at Gibraltar and Malta it would be of the greatest importance not merely for the 
health of the troops in peace, but for the security of the fortress in war, to know everything 
about the social life and the diseases of the native population. 


MALTA—-HEALTH OF THE TROOPS. 589 


deaths being in almost all cases enteric. In 1884 the deaths from enteric 
fever alone were 4:74 per 1000 of strength, and 51 per cent. of the total 
deaths, more than four times the home rates. 

In former years phthisis was the cause of 39 per cent. of the deaths, or 
nearly the same as at Gibraltar. Latterly there have been fewer deaths at 
Malta, but a considerable number of tubercular cases are sent home. The 
disease is probably detected earlier, and the men do not die as formerly at the 
station. Still this does not account for the whole diminution, and there has 
been clearly a lessening of phthisis. There was formerly a large amount of 
stomach and bowel disease, and dysentery was forty times as frequent as in 
England.! It is certainly a very remarkable circumstance that both at 
Gibraltar and Malta there should have been this extraordinary liability to 
affections of the alimentary canal. At Malta, as at Gibraltar, it may have 
been chiefly owing to impure water and to food.?_ Of late years stomach and 
bowel affections have been much less frequent. In the three years 1878-80 
the admissions at Malta were only 4:4, and in 1880 only 2-2 per 1000 and 
no deaths. 

In the Statistical Report for 1853 it is observed that the number of cases 
of liver disease at Malta is remarkably high ; and the writers, while believ- 
ing there must be “something in the climate of Malta peculiarly favourable 
to the production of hepatic affections,” were unable to find, on bringing the 
cases into relation with the temperature, any connection. The cause of this 
may be something very different, and it is very desirable that the food should 
be looked to. ; 

The history of admission for venereal disease is important ; in 1837-46, 
inclusive, the admissions were only 99 per 1000, or two-thirds less than at 
home ; in 1859, when the next report appeared, they were 149 per 1000; 
and in 1860 they were 147-9 per 1000. In the early period there were police 
regulations, which were suspended in the two latter years. In June 1861 
the police regulations were re-enforced, and the admissions for the year sank 
to 102. The 4th battalion of the Rifle Brigade showed the following remark- 
able result :—In the first half of 1861 there were 57 admissions ; in the last 
half only 17. In 1862 the total number of cases of “enthetic disease” in 
the whole garrison was only 49°5; in 1863, 44-1; and in 1864, 53-2 per 
1000. They were increased in that year by the women who came from 
Tonia with the troops. In 1865 they were 44; in 1866, 59-6 per 1000. 
In 1870 and 1871 the admissions were very few; in the latter year, which 
was the worst, the admissions of primary syphilis were only 8-3 per 1000 of 
strength. Ifthe home return is looked at, it will be seen what an effect has 
been produced at Malta by good regulations, although the number of cases 
fluctuates from causes traceable to special influences ; the reduction is almost 
entirely of syphilis, not of gonorrhoea. In the later years there has been an 
increase and considerable fluctuations. Such, then, in brief, seem to be the 
chief medical points of importance at Malta, viz., a liability to phthisis, less 
marked of late years ; a great amount of fever, from bad sanitary conditions 
in great part ; a liability to stomach and intestinal affections, which, though 
less obvious, is still great; and a singular tendency to a liver affection, which 
may be parasitic. The chief improvements advised by the Barrack Commis- 
sioners refer to a larger water supply, a better distribution, improved drain- 
age, and efficient ventilation. 


1 In England, in 1837-46, every 1130 men gave one case of dysentery; in Malta, in the 
same years, every twenty-eight men gave one case of dysentery. The mortality of the disease 
was, however, nearly the same (see pages 21 and 118 of the Report of 1853), 

2 Report of 1853, p. 118. ‘ 


590 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


In the time of war, the dangers at Malta would be the same as at Gibraltar ; 
the aqueducts might be cut by a besieging force, and the water supply 
restricted to the tanks.! Although these are supposed to hold a large 
quantity, they are not kept full, and could not, perhaps, be rapidly filled. 
The garrison might be driven to distil the sea water. A still more serious 
danger would be the overcrowding of a war garrison. Doubtless, in case of 
a war, the garrison would only be concentrated in the lines when the siege 
commenced, But the crowding during a siege of three or six months might 
be very disastrous. The danger should be provided for beforehand by a 
clear recognition of what accommodation would be granted for war, and how 
it is to be obtained without violating either the conditions of health or of 
defence. 


On the Influence of Age on Mortality in Malta. 


| Deaths per 1000 of Strength at each Period. 
| 
| 


Under 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and 
20. under 25. | under 30. | under 35. | under 40. | upwards. 
| SSS SSS SSS 
| = | 
kee 4-90 | 9-48 | 7-08 | 8-89 | 12-45 | 19-09 
| (10 years), 
| iss, . | 8°85 | 6-99 | 10-21 | 5-58 | 28-5 *. 
CYPRUS. 


This station was first occupied in 1878. It is an island in the Levant, 
about 50 miles from the nearest mainland, and 240 from Port Said at the 
eutrance of the Suez Canal. Size, 90 miles by 40; area about 4000 square 
miles ; civil population about 185,000 (in 1881). Our information about 
the climate is as yet imperfect, but it appears to resemble that of Malta, 
with greater rainfall. 

The stations at present occupied are Nicosia (592 feet above the sea), as 
headquarters ; Polymedia camp (400 feet), by the bulk of the troops, from 
October to May; and Mount Troados (5720 feet), from May to October. 
The average strength (1880) was 443 officers and men. The mean tem- 
perature at Polymedia during the cooler season (November to May inclu- 
sive) is about 59° to 60°, of Mount Troados (May to September inclusive) 
about 64° Fahr. The rainfall appears to be considerable, for in seven 
months (November to May) in 1880 31°81 inches fell, of which no less than 
12-26 were recorded in December alone. The number of rainy days in the 
seven months was 58. The prevailing wind would appear to be N.W. 

On the first occupation in 1878 there was a great amount of sickness, 
chiefly from paroxysmal fever. This appeared to arise from the unsuitable 
sites selected for the temporary camps and the turning up of soil infiltrated 
with organic matter. During the five months (24th July to 3lst Decem- 
ber 1878) there were, out of a strength of 894 non-commissioned officers 
and men, 3931 admissions for disease and 36 deaths, or at the rates of 
4397 and 40°3 per 1000 respectively. Expanding these to an annual rate, 
they amount to 10,094 admissions and 92 deaths per 1000 of strength, an 
enormous amount. 84 per cent. of the admissions and 61 per cent. of the 
deaths were due to fever, almost all paroxysmal (so-called remittent), only 


1 Dr Notter analysed, in 1872, fourteen of the tank waters of the different forts, and found 
the condition of the water to be satisfactory. 


WEST INDIES. 591 


14 admissions (actual number) and 2 deaths being due to enteric. In 1879 
(strength 660) there was a great improvement,—the ratios being 1470 
admissions and 21 deaths per 1000, 35 per cent. of the admissions and 50 
per cent. of the deaths being still due to paroxysmal fever. There were 3 
deaths from dysentery, against 4 in 1878. In 1880 (strength 443) the 
total admissions were 1002-2 and the deaths only 2-26 per 1000 strength. 
Paroxysmal fevers gave only 196°4 of admissions and no deaths. The only 
death in the command was from pulmonary extravasation, and occurred 
out of hospital. In five years (1879-83) the total admissions were 972-4 
per 1000, of which 866°3 were for disease ; deaths (total 9-96) from disease 
alone, 7°66 ; invaliding (total 22-98) for discharge, 17-24; average strength, 
495 men. 

The possibility of placing the troops in the hills at a considerable eleva- 
tion (Mount Troados, 5720 feet), during the hottest months, will always be 
a great advantage to this station. 


SECTION II. 
WEST INDIES. 


The history of sanitary science affords many striking instances of the 
removal of disease to an extent almost incredible, but no instance is more 
wonderful than that of the West Indies. Formerly service in the West 
Indies was looked on as almost certain death. It is little over sixty years 
since the usual time for the disappearance of a regiment 1000 strong was 
five years. Occasionally in a single year a regiment would lose 300 men, 
and there occurred from time to time epochs of such fatality that it was a 
common opinion that some wonderful morbid power, returning in cycles of 
years—some wave of poison—swept over the devoted islands, as sudden, as 
unlooked-for, and as destructive, as the hurricanes which so sorely plague 


the 
“* Golden isles set in the silver sea.” 


What gave countenance to this hypothesis was, that sometimes for 
months, or even for a year together, there would be a period of health so 
great that a regiment would hardly lose a man. But another fact less 
noticed was not so consistent with the favourite view. In the very worst 
years there were some stations where the sickness was trifling ; while, more 
wonderful still, in the worst stations, and in the worst years, there were 
instances of regiments remaining comparatively healthy, while their neigh- 
bours were literally decimated. And there occurred also instances of the 
soldiers dying by scores, while the health of the civil inhabitants in the 
immediate vicinity remained as usual, 

If anything more were wanted to show the notion of an epidemic cycle to 
be a mere hypothesis, the recent medical history of the West Indies would 
prove it. At present this dreaded service has almost lost its terrors. There 
still occur local attacks of yellow fever, which may cause a great mortality ; 
but for these local causes can be found ; and otherwise the stations in the 
West Indies can now show a degree of salubrity almost equalling, in some 
cases surpassing, that of the home service. 

The causes of the production, and the reasons of the cessation, of this 
great mortality are found to be most simple. It is precisely the same 
lesson which we should grow weary of learning if it were not so vital to us. 
The simplest conditions were the destructive agents in the West Indies. 


¢ 


592 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


The years of the cycles of disease were the years of overcrowding, 
when military exigencies demanded that large garrisons should hold the 
islands. The sanitary conditions at all times were, without exception, in- 
famous. 

There was a great mortality from scorbutic dysentery, which was almost 
entirely owing to diet.1_ Up to within a comparatively late date, the troops 
were fed on salt meat three, and sometimes five, days a week, and the 
supply of fresh vegetables was scanty. It required all the influence of 
Lord Howick, the then Secretary of War, to cause fresh meat to be issued, 
though it had been pointed out by successive races of medical officers that 
fresh meat was not only more wholesome but was actually cheaper. The 
result of an improvement in the diet was marvellous; the scorbutic 
dysentery at once lessened, and the same amount of mortality from this 
cause is now never seen. Another cause of dysentery was to be found in 
the water, which was impure from being drawn from calcareous strata, or 
was turbid and loaded with sediment. The substitution of rain-water has 
sufficed in some stations to remove the last traces of dysentery. 

If the food and water were bad, the air was not less so. Sir Alexander 
Tulloch has given a picture of a single barrack at Tobago, said to be the 
“best in the whole Windward and Leeward command,”? the figures of 
which tell their own tale. 

Barrack at Tobago in 1826.—Superficial space per man, 224 feet ; breadth, 
23 inches ; cubic space, 250 feet. 

The men slept in hammocks touching each other. In these barracks, 
crowded as no barracks were even in the coldest climates, there was not a 
single ventilating opening except the doors and windows ; the air was foetid 
in the highest degree. With this condition of atmosphere it is impossible 
not to bring into connection the extraordinary amount of phthisis which 
prevailed in the soft and equable climate of the West Indies. There was 
more phthisis than in England, and far more than in Canada. The first 
great improvement was made in 1827, when, iron bedsteads being intro- 
duced, each 3 feet 3 inches wide, greater space was obliged to be given to 
each man. 

Every arrangement for removal of sewage was barbarous, and in every 
barrack sewage accumulated round the buildings, and was exposed to heat 
and air. When yellow fever attacked a regiment, every stool and evacua- 
tion was thrown into the cesspools common to all the regiment ; and in this 
way the disease was propagated with great rapidity, and was localised in a 
most singular manner, so that, a few hundred yards from a barrack where 
men were dying by scores, there would be no case of fever. In spite of 
this, it was many years before the plan of at once evacuating a barrack 
where yellow fever prevailed was adopted. 

The barracks themselves were usually very badly constructed, and when 
in some cases the architects had raised the barracks on arches from the 
ground, in order to insure perflation of air below the buildings, the arches 
were blocked up or converted into store-rooms; and the barracks, with 
spaces thus filled with stagnant air beneath them, were more unhealthy 
than if they had been planted on the ground. 

The localities for barracks were often chosen without consideration, or for 


1 This is pointed out in the Statistical Report (1838) on the West Indies, by Tulloch and 
Balfour ; and it is believed that the improvement in the diet was in a great measure owing 
to these gentlemen. 

2 Report, 1838. 


WEST INDIES. 593 


military reasons,! into which no consideration of health entered. Almost all 
were on the plains, near the mercantile towns, where the soil was most 
malarious, and the climate hottest and most enervating. Malarious fevers 
were, therefore, common. 

To all these causes of disease were added the errors of the men them- 
selves. For the officers there existed, in the old slave times, the greatest 
temptation. A reckless and dangerous hospitality reigned everywhere ; 
the houses of the rich planters were open to all. A man was deemed 
churlish who did not welcome every comer with a full wine, or more often a 
brandy, cup. 

In a climate where healthy physical exertion was deemed impossible, or 
was at any rate distasteful, it was held to be indispensable to eat largely to 
maintain the strength. To take two breakfasts, each a substantial meal, was 
the usual custom ; a heavy late dinner, frequently followed by a supper, 
succeeded ; and to spur the reluctant appetite, glasses of bitters and spirits 
were taken before meals. 

The private soldiers obtained without difficulty abundance of cheap rum, 
which was often poisoned with lead. Drunkenness was almost universal, 
and the deaths from delirium tremens were frequent and awfully sudden. 
The salt meat they were obliged to eat caused a raging thirst, which the 
rum bottle in reality only aggravated. 

To us these numerous causes seem sufficient to account for everything, 
but in former days an easier explanation was given. It was held to be the 
climate ; and the climate, as in other parts of the world besides the West 
Indies, became the convenient excuse for pleasurable follies and agreeable 
vices. In order to do away with the effects of this dreaded climate, some 
mysterious power of acclimatisation was invoked. The European system 
required time to get accustomed, it was thought, to these climatic influ- 
ences, and in order to quicken the process, various measures were proposed. 
At one time it was the custom to bleed the men on the voyage, so that 
their European blood might be removed, and the fresh blood which was 
made might be of the kind most germane to the West Indies. At other 
times an attack of fever (often brought on by reckless drinking and ex- 
posure) was considered the grand preservative, and the seasoning fever was 
looked for with anxiety. The first statistical report of the army swept 
away all these fancies, and showed conclusively that instead of prolonged 
residence producing acclimatisation and lessening disease, disease and mor- 
tality increased regularly with every year of residence. 

The progress of years has given us a different key to all these results. It 
is now fully recognised that in the West Indies, as elsewhere, the same cus- 
toms will insure the same result. Apart from malaria, we hold our health 
and life almost at will. The amount of sickness has immensely decreased ; 
occasionally in some stations which used to be very fatal (as at Trinidad) 
there has not been a single death in a year among 200 men. Among the 


1 The history of the old St James’s Barracks in Trinidad is too remarkable to be passed 
over. It was determined to build a strong fort—a second Gibraltar—on the lower spurs of 
the hills overlooking the plain where the barracks now stand. When the works had been 
carried on for some time, it was discovered that they could not hold the troops. The bar- 
racks were then ordered to be placed on the plain, under cover of the guns of the fort. 
Before the fort was quite finished, it was found to be so unhealthy that neither white or 
black men could live there, and it was abandoned. The barrack, it is said, was not then 
commenced; yet, though the reason for placing it in that spot had gone, it was still built 
there, on a piece of ground near two marshes (Cocorite and the Great Western Marsh), 
below the general level of the plain, and exposed to the winds from the gullies of the 
neighbouring hills. Yet this bad position, so fruitful of disease, was in reality less injurious 
than the bad local sanitary arrangements of the old St James’s Barrack itself. 


2P 


594 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


measures which have wrought such marvels in the West Indies have 
been— 

1. A better supply of food ; good fresh meat is now issued, and vege- 
tables, of which there is an abundance everywhere. 

2. Better water. 

3. More room in barracks, though the amount of cubic space is still 
small. 

, 4. Removal of some of the stations from the plains to the hills, a mea- 
sure which has done great good, but which can explain only a portion of the 
improvement. The proper height to locate troops is by most army surgeons 
considered to be at some point above 2500 ‘feet. 

5. Better sewage arrangements, and more attention generally to sanitary 
conservancy. 

6. A more regular and temperate life, both in eating and drinking, on 
the part both of officers and men. 

7. The occupancy of the unhealthy places, when retained as stations, by 
black troops. 

8. A better dress. It is only, however, within recent years that a 
more suitable dress has, at the instance of the late Sir J. B. Gibson, for- 
merly Director-General A.M.D., been provided for the West Indian Islands. 

The army stations in the West Indies are Jamaica, Barbadoes, Trinidad, 
St Vincent. British Guiana, on the mainland, is part of this command. 
There are small parties of artillery and some black troops in Honduras and 
the Bahamas. 

The period of service is now three or four years: formerly it was eleven or 
twelve, but this was altered after the first statistical report. Usually the 
Mediterranean regiments pass on to the West Indies, and subsequently to 
Canada. The total number of men serving in the West Indies is now very 
small. 

The proper time for arriving in the West Indies is in the beginning of the 
cold season, viz., about the beginning of December, when the hurricanes and 
autumnal rains are usually over. 


JAMAICA. 


Present strength of white garrison, 200 to 300; black troops, 500 to 600 
Population of island estimated at 560,000. A range of lofty hills (Blue 
Mountains) divides Jamaica into two parts, connected by a few passes. The 
troops were formerly stationed chiefly in the south plains, at Kingston 
(30,000 inhabitants), Port-Royal, Spanish Town, Up-Park Camp, Fort- 
Augusta, &c. After the Maroon war in 1795 some troops were stationed at 
Maroon Town (2000 feet above the sea), on the north side, and at Montego 
Bay. Subsequently Stoney Hill (1380 feet above the sea), at the mouth of 
one of the passes, was occupied. 

Since 1842 some, and now nearly all, the troops are at Newcastle, in the 
hills, 4000 feet above the sea, with detachments at Kingston and Port-Royal. 
The other stations are now disused for white troops. The sanitary condition 
at Newcastle was formerly not good; the sewage arrangements are very 
imperfect ; it is now somewhat improved. 

Climate.—The climate is very different at the different stations. At 
Kingston (sea-level)—temperature, mean of year=78°; hottest month, 
July, mean =81°-71; coldest month, January, mean = 75°65 ; mean yearly 
fluctuations = 6°06. Undulations trifling. The climate is limited and 
equable. At Newcastle the mean annual temperature is about 66° ; hottest 


JAMAICA. 59d 


month, August = 67°°75; coldest month, February=61°. The diurnal range 
is considerable, but the annual fluctuation is trifling (about 6°). The mean 
of the year is therefore much lower than on the plains; the amplitude of 
the yearly fluctuation about the same; the diurnal change greater. 

Humidity.—This is considerable in the plains—often from 80 to 90 per 
cent. of saturation=7 to 9 grains of vapour in a cubic foot. At Newcastle 
the mean yearly dew-point is about 60°; the amount of vapour in a cubic 
foot of air is 5°77 grains; the mean yearly relative humidity is 68 per 
cent. of saturation. 

fain.—Amount on the plains = 50 to 60 inches, in spring and autumn, viz., 
April and May, and October and November. Stow ers in July and August. 

Winds.—Tolerably regular land winds at night, and sea breezes in the 
hot and dry months during the heat of the day. The central chain of 
mountains turns the north-east trade wind, so that it reaches the south side 
diverted from its course; from December to February the wind is often 
from the north, and brings rain and fogs (“wet northers”). The south-west 
wind in April and May is very moist. The hurricane months are from the 
end of July to the beginning of November. The climate in the plains is 
therefore hot, equable, and humid. 


Health of the Black Cwil Population. 


Of the specific diseases, smallpox and the other exanthemata are common. 
Spotted typhus is said to be unknown; enteric fever is said to be uncom- 
mon, but is probably more common than is supposed. Influenza has prevailed 
at times, and also the so-called dandy or polka (Dengue). Cholera has pre- 
vailed severely. Malarious fever is common over the whole of the south 
plains. Yellow fever is common, though less frequent and severe among 
the blacks than the whites. Dysentery is common, though it has always 
been less frequent than among the troops. Organic heart disease is frequent. 
Liver diseases are uncommon. Spleen disease, in the form of leucocythemia, 
is common among the blacks (Smarda). Gout is said to be frequent, and 
scrofula and rickets to be infrequent. Syphilis is not common, but 
gonorrheea is. Cancroid of the skin and elephantiasis of the Arabs (pachy- 
dermia) are common. Leprosy is also seen. 


Health of the Troops. 


In the years 1790-93 the annual mortality of the white troops varied in 
the different stations from 111 (Montego Bay) to 15-7 per 1000 of strength 
at Stoney Hill (1380 feet above sea-level), In the years 1794-97 the 
mortality was much greater; the most unhealthy regiment in the plains 
lost 333, the most healthy 45-4, per 1000 of strength; at the hill station 
of Maroon Town (2000 feet) the mortality was, however, only 15-6 per 
1000. In the years 1817-36 the mean mortality was 121:3; the mean of 
the four healthiest years gave 67, and of the four unhealthiest years 259 
per 1000. The causes of death in these twenty years were— 


Fevers, . - : : Lol 9 per 1000 of strength. 
Lung diseases, : ; 

Bowel complaints, 
Brain disease, 
Liver diseases, 
Other complaints, 


wr bh ow 
wWOoaeaH 


—_ 
bo 
_ 
oo 


596 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


The admissions in these years were 1812 per 1000 of strength. In 
1837-55 the following were the mean results:—Mortality per 1000 of 
strength—white troops, 60°8 ; black troops, 38:2. Admissions per 1000— 
white troops, 1371; black troops, 784. So that the mortality had declined 
one-half. 

In 1864 the mortality was much below the home standard. In 1867 it ran 
up nearly to the old amount, from the prevalence of yellow fever, which in 
that year prevailed again in Newcastle, and caused a greater loss than it had 
done in 1860. The statistics of the white troops were— 


Loss of Strength per 1000 per Loss of Service per 1000 per 
annum. annum. 
Years. Days in 
Total peas iealicee Admis- Mean Hospital to 
Deaths Disease: sions. | daily Sick. wer? Sick 
an. 
1861-70 (10 years), . 20°36 ae 27°6 930°8 40°63 16°10 
VALS 5 2 s 3 13°51 13°51 30°4 oes 32°43 USI | 
Highest in 1867, C 71°09 69°80 45°91 | 1192°9 78°95 21°95 |} 
Lowest in 1864, . : 7°35 5°88 ae a Bs ee 
In 1875 the death-rate 
was, ; : : 12°99 at Fe — Bi Bae | 


Since 1875 no separate return is furnished in the A.W.D. Reports. An 
increase in admissions and mortality occurred in 1865 and 1866, owing to 
the exposure of the troops in the time of the negro disturbances, and their 
subsequent partial location on the plains. 

Before this period Jamaica contrasted favourably even with home service, 
and particularly so with India. 

A decrease of admissions in 1859-64 was chiefly owing to the compara- 
tively small number of cases of paroxysmal disease, a decline consequent on 
the removal of most of the troops from the plains (in 1859 Newcastle gave 
29-1 admissions, and Port-Royal, on the plain, 443-5 per 1000 of strength, 
from malarious disease). In 1863 some white troops were sent to Up-Park 
Camp, and furnished a large number of malarious cases (547°6 admissions 
per 1000 of strength), while at Newcastle they were only 48 per 1000. The 
decrease in the mortality in the years 1859-64 was owing to lessened fever 
and dysentery. Among the black troops there is now greater sickness and 
mortality than among the whites; the mortality in 1837-55 was 38-2 per 
1000 ; in 1859-65 it was 27°33 ; in 1866, 23-03 ; in 1875 it was only 14-67. 
There is among these troops a large mortality from paroxysmal fevers, 
phthisis, and diseases of the alimentary canal; and it is evident that their 
condition requires a close examination. 

The mortality of the white troops shows a marked increase with age. 

The following seem to be the most important points connected with the 
white troops which require notice. 

It is impossible to avoid paroxysmal fevers without placing all the troops 
in the hills, and it is very desirable Newcastle should be made the only 
station for white troops. 

The possibility of yellow fever occurring at an elevation of 4000 feet was 
shown by the appearance of yellow fever at Newcastle in 1860 and 1867. 
In 1860 occurred the remarkable instances of contagion on board the ships 
“Jearus” and ‘Imaum” described by Dr Bryson. Whether yellow fever 
was imported into Newcastle or not was a subject of discussion ; it certainly 
appears probable that it was carried there ; but the important point for us 
is that mere elevation is not a perfect security. There were, however, only 


TRINIDAD. 597 


a small number of cases. In 1867, when yellow fever again appeared at 
Newcastle, it was imported, apparently, from Kingston and Up-Park Camp. 

In the returns for a number of years, cases were returned as ‘“ continued 
fever”; it had never been clearly made out whether or not these were cases 
of enteric fever until 1873-4, when a sharp epidemic occurred at New- 
castle. 

Formerly there was a large number of cases of phthisis ; phthisis is now 
uncommon ; in 1817—36 lung diseases (almost entirely phthisis) caused 7-5 
deaths per 1000 of strength, or more than in England. In 1859-66 the 
ratio was only 1:42 per 1000 of strength; and in 1861, out of 636 men 
there was not a single death, though four men were sent home with con- 
sumption. In 1865 there was no death ; eight men were sent home. 

At Newcastle there occurred for some years an excess of affections of the 
alimentary canal, chiefly indigestion ; at present these have lessened, but it 
would be important to make out the cause. In 1860 there was not a single 
admission from dysentery at any station. 

In the worst times in Jamaica it was always remarked that there was 
rather a singular exemption from acute liver disease ; very few cases appear 
in the returns under hepatitis; whether this is a matter of diagnosis, or 
whether there was really an immunity compared with India or the Mauri- 
tius, is a question of great interest which cannot now be solved. At present, 
liver disease unconnected with drinking is uncommon. 

There is still too much drinking, and the medical officers have strongly 
advised the issue of beer instead of the daily dram. 

Venereal diseases have never prevailed much in Jamaica; they have 
caused, on an average, from 70 to 90 admissions per 1000 of strength. In 
1862 there were only 47 admissions per 1000 of strength. On an average 
in 1859-65, enthetic diseases gave 118 admissions per 1000. This is owing 
to the connection usually formed between the black women and the soldiers, 
and to a lessened amount of promiscuous intercourse. 

The history of the years 1865—67 shows that the greatest care and the 
most judicious arrangement of the men is necessary to guard against a 
recurrence of the old evils. 

The black troops gave a mortality of 24-6 per 1000 (mean of ten years, 
1861-70), especially from phthisis. 


TRINIDAD. 


Strength of garrison, 200 men. Civil population (in 1881) about 153,000. 

Geology.—Tertiary formation of Miocene age ; central range of hills is an 
indurated formation of Cretaceous age; the northern littoral range consists 
of micaceous slates, sandstones, limestones, and shales. The highest hill is 
3012 feet; the central hill (Tamana) is 1025 ; =1,th of the island is swampy. 

Climate.—Temperature of the plains: Mean of year about 79°°3 ; coldest 
month, January = 78°; hottest month, May =81°:5; next hottest, October 
=80°4. Mean annual fluctuation, 3°°5. The climate is therefore very 
equable and limited. There are, however, cold winds from the hills blowing 
over small areas. 

Hygrometry.—Mean dew-point, 75°:1; mean relative humidity =81 per 
cent. of saturation; mean weight of vapour in a cubic foot=9'4 grains ; 
most humid month is May, as far as the amount of vapour is concerned, 
Month with greatest relative humidity, August. 

Winds from east to north-east and south-east. West winds rare, and 
oppressive. 


598 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


Rain on the Plains about 60 to 70 inches. Greatest rainfall in one day, 
4°67 inches. Dry season, December to May. June and July showery. 
Heavy rain in August, September, and October. 

Sanitary Condition.—St James’s Barrack is on a depression on an alluvial 
soil three miles from Port of Spain, the capital; it is one mile from the 
Cocorite, and three from the Great Western Swamp ; the drainage, for many 
years most defective, is now improved, as the main sewer is carried to the 
sea. On many occasions yellow fever has prevailed in this barrack, and 
nowhere else in the island; the last occasion was in 1858—59, and then it 
was proposed by Dr Jameson (the principal medical officer) to erect barracks 
on a spot 2200 feet above sea-level. 

The capital, the Port of Spain (32,000 inhabitants), is built at the prin- 
cipal outfall of the island; it is on a low and unhealthy plain. Formerly 
it was so unhealthy as to be scarcely habitable, but after being well drained 
and paved by Sir Ralph Woodford, it has become much healthier. This 
was the result of great sanitary efforts in a very unpromising locality, and 
should be a lesson for all climates. 

There is still, however, much malarious disease, dysentery, and at times 
yellow fever ; but this last disease has occasionally been very severe at St 
James’s Barracks without a single case being seen in Port of Spain. The 
ascent of the malaria from the barrack plain is certainly more than 500, 
and probably as much as 1000 feet. 

Diseases of Troops.—The state of health has been and is very similar to 
that of Jamaica, with, however, a large percentage in former years both of 
phthisis and diseases of the stomach and bowels, chiefly dysentery. 

In the years 1817-36, the average mortality of the white troops was 
106°3 per 1000 of strength, and of these deaths there were— 


From fevers, 

Lung diseases, 

Diseases of stomach and bow els, 

Dropsies (probably partly malarious, partly renal), 
Brain diseases (especially from intemperance), 
Liver diseases, : ; 

All other diseases, 


a er) 


Se Rae 
DH WAAISHD 


106°3 


As in Jamaica, the statistics of the white troops of late years tell a very 
different story. 

In 1859 there was an outbreak of yellow fever, and the deaths from 
disease rose to 84:27 per 1000. In the next seven years (ending 1866) the 
average number was 7°48 deaths from disease per 1000. In two years 
(1860 and 1865) there were no deaths. 

Even in 1859, when the mortality was so large, there were only 10 deaths 
from yellow fever among 190 men, while there were no less than 4 deaths 
from delirium tremens. 

Among the diseases in the returns, the largest item is malarious fever ; 
there are also cases of “continued fever,” as in Jamaica; and this term, in 
fact, has never been absent from the reports. Is this enteric fever? In 
all probability it is, as unequivocal enteric fever does occur in Trinidad.? 
A considerable number of cases of dyspepsia are admitted; in 1860 there 
were 16 cases out of 221 men, or 72 per 1000 of strength. In 1862 there 
were 103 per 1000 admissions, from ‘‘digestive” diseases. Venereal diseases 


u Dr Stone’ s paper in the Medical Times and Gazette, Feb. 1860. 


TRINIDAD—BARBADOES. 599 


have always been low ; in 1860, 1861, 1862, and 1864 there were only 49:8, 
44-4, 20°6, and 63°8 admissions per 1000 of strength. Dysentery is now 
infrequent. In 1860, out of 221 men, and 1861, out of 225 men, there was 
not a single case. In 1864, out of 235 men, there was only 1 case. In 
1865 there were no admissions from phthisis. Phthisis is much less common, 
yet in some years there is still too much of it. Separate statistics are no 
longer available from the A.W.D. Reports. 

It is evident that if Dr Jameson’s suggestion is acted upon, and the 
troops are removed to the hills, malarious fever will disappear, and yellow 
fever can be prevented. In such a case, if the men will abstain from drink- 
ing, this island, which formerly killed rather more than | man in every 10 
yearly, will be one of the healthiest spots in the world. 

The black troops are now less healthy than the white, having in 1859-65 
an annual mortality of nearly 20 per 1000, of which 18 were from disease. 
Their condition requires looking into, Of late years a very small number 
of black troops have been stationed at Trinidad. 

The invaliding from Trinidad is combined in the Army Reports with that 
of the other islands of the Windward and Leeward commands. 


BARBADOES. 


Strength of garrison, 300 to 400 men. Civil population (in 1881), 
172,000. 

Geology.—Limestone (coralline) ; sandstone (Tertiary); beds of bituminous 
matter and coal (Tertiary); clay in parts (especially in the hilly district 
called ‘‘ Scotland”). 

An open country, well-cultivated, no marshes except a small one at 
Greme Hall, one mile to the east of St Ann’s Barracks. 

The country is divided into two parts: a mountainous district termed 
“Scotland,” and a lower country consisting of a series of five gigantic 
terraces, rising with some regularity one above the other. The highest hill 
is 1100 feet. 

Climate of the Plain.—Temperature: mean of year, 80°; hottest month 
(October), 83°; coldest month (January), 78°; mean yearly fluctuation, 5°. 
Climate equable and limited. Relative humidity, 70 per cent. 

Wind.—N.E., trade, strongest in February to May; weak in September 
to November inclusive; hurricane month, August. 

Rain.—About 56 to 58 inches on an average, but varying a good deal in 
the autumn chiefly, though there is rain in all months, but much less. 
The dry season is from December to May. 

Water.—Formerly supplied from wells; it was highly calcareous. At 
present good water is supplied by a water company. Rain-water is also 
collected in tanks. 

Sanitary Condition.—St Ann’s Barracks are placed above one and a half 
miles from Bridgetown, on the sea ; the locality and the construction of the 
barracks have been much complained of, and a position in the hills advised.! 
Arrangements for sewering and the water supply were both formerly bad ; 
considerable improvements have been made, and, since 1862, 30,000 gallons 
are supplied daily to St Ann’s Barracks. It is a limestone water, con- 
taining carbonate of lime, but no sulphate of lime, and is remarkably free 
from organic matter. The total solids are 18°72 grains per gallon. The 


1 For an extremely good and concise account of Barbadoes, see Dr Jameson’s Report in the 
Army Medical Report for 1861, p. 261. 


600 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


troops are still too much crowded in barracks, the allowance being under 
600 cubic feet. Since 1872 new latrines (Jennings’ pattern) have been 
provided and the old ones closed. 

Formerly vegetables were very deficient in Barbadoes, and even now 
there is some difficulty in procuring them. They are often imported from 
other islands. 

Diseases among Civil Population.—Yellow fever has appeared frequently. 
It is not so frequent as formerly ; it used to be expected every four years. 

'Barbadoes and Trinidad contrast greatly in the freedom from marshes of 
the one, and the existence of marshes and malarious diseases in the other ; 
but Barbadoes has had as much yellow fever as Trinidad. 

Dysentery was common formerly, partly from bad water; imfluenza has 
been epidemic several times. Barbadoes leg, or elephantiasis of the Arabs, 
is frequently seen. Leprosy, or elephantiasis Greecorum, is also not very 
uncommon. Variola and Pertussis have from time to time been very bad. 

Hillary, in 1766, described a “slow nervous fever,” under which term 
our enteric fever appears to have been indicated by most writers of that 
period. His description is not quite clear, but resembles enteric fever more 
than any other. He also speaks of ‘diarrhoea febrilis.” Can this have 
been enteric ? 

Dracunculus was formerly very frequent, and Hillary attributes it to the 
drinking water, and states that there were some ponds, the water of which 
was known to “ generate the worm if washed in or drunk.” 

Yaws used to be common. 

Colica pictonum was formerly frequent. 

Diseases of Troops.—Yellow fever has several times been very fatal. 

Scorbutic dysentery, arismg from the wretched food, was formerly very 
frequent, and appears from Sir Andrew Halliday’s work to have been very 
bad even in his time (1823 to 1832). 

From 1817 to 1836 (20 years)— 

Average mortality (white troops), 58°5 per 1000 of strength. 
Greatest is * 204 a3 ‘ (in 1817). 
Least 18 - 55 (in 1823). 

In 1817 there were 1654 men on the island, and yellow fever broke out. 
In 1823 there were only 791. 

Of late years, as in all the other islands, the sickness and mortality has 
been comparatively trifling. 

In 1859-65 the total deaths were 6:98 per 1000, and in 1866 they fell 
to 3°28 per 1000, which was only 4rd the mortality of home service. The 
highest mortality of late years was in 1862, viz, 16°77; the average 
number of admissions is about 1200. 

In 1864 there was an outbreak of a mild fever, termed ‘‘ remittent” ; the 
nature is unknown ; no case was fatal. 

The increased mortality of 1862 was owing to yellow fever. It appeared 
first among the civil population in Bridgetown, and afterwards attacked the 
troops in the (stone) barracks. As it continued to spread, the men were 
moved out and placed under canvas, with the best effects. A remarkable 
feature of this epidemic was that the officers suffered in attacks six-fold more 
than the men, and had a mortality more than twenty-fold. The women 
also suffered three-fold more than the men. Formerly the case would have 
been reversed. In 1861 there were only two deaths out of 787 men, one 
from phthisis and one from apoplexy ; and in 1864 there were also only two 
deaths (diarrhoea and phthisis) among 930 men. 

Dyseutery is now uncommon. 


BARBADOES—ST LUCIA. 601 


The great improvement to be made at Barbadoes is decidedly a complete 
change of barracks. The persistent recurrence of yellow fever in these old 
barracks, with their imperfect arrangements, shows them to be the main 
cause of the appearance of the disease. The saving in the cost of a single 
epidemic would amply repay the outlay. 

As in the other islands, the black troops are now much more unhealthy 
than the white, and the sanitary condition of their barracks and their food 
evidently requires looking into. Phthisis and chronic dysentery are the 
chief diseases causing mortality. The average of 1859-64 gave 1015 admis- 
sions and 20-46 deaths per 1000 of strength. In 1865 there were 22-64 
deaths per 1000 of strength, or, excluding violent deaths, 20°49; of these 
phthisis caused 14:34, or no less than 70 per cent. of total deaths. 

No separate information is now available from the A.M.D. Reports. 


Sr Lucta. 


Strength of garrison = 100 men, now usually black troops. Civil popula- 
tion (in 1871), 36,610. 

St Lucia is divided into two parts: Basseterre, the lowest and most 
cultivated part, is very swampy; Capisterre, hilly, with deep narrow 
ravines full of vegetation. The climate is similar to that of the other 
islands, but is more rainy and humid. 

Diseases of the White Troops.—From 1817-36: average strength, 241 ; 
average deaths, 30 = 122-8 per 1000 of strength. Of the 122°8 deaths, 63:1 
were from fevers, 39°3 from bowel disease ; and 12-5 from lung disease. 

Pigeon Island (a few miles from St Lucia) was formerly so unhealthy that 
on one occasion 22 men out of 55 died of dysentery in one year, and of the 
whole 55 men not one escaped sickness. The cause is supposed to have 
been bad water. Now Pigeon Island is considered healthy. 

Although the mortality was formerly so great, St Lucia has been very 
healthy for some years. 

In 1859, mean strength of white troops, 96; admissions, 113; and there 
was not a single death, although, if the mortality had been at the rate of 
the twenty years ending 1836, 12 men would have died. 

Better food, some improvement in barracks, and the use of rain instead 
of well water, have been the causes of this extraordinary change. 

22 men were admitted with “ continued fever,” 18 with ophthalmia, and 
only 2 with venereal. 

In 1860 there was no case of dysentery and only two of diarrhoea among 
100 men in this island, where formerly there would have been not only 
many cases, but 4 deaths. One man died from phthisis, or at the rate of 
10 per 1000. 

In 1861, out of 94 men, there was one death from jaundice, or at the rate 
of 10°6 per 1000. 

In 1862 there were 88 men on the island ; one man was drowned ; there 
was no death from disease. No case of jaundice was admitted. 

In 1863 there were 55 men, and one death from accident ; there were 64 
admissions, of which 15 were accidents. 

The total death-rate among the white troops in the West Indian command 
was, in 1880, 8:68 per 1000, of which 5:79 only were due to disease ; invalids 
sent home, 42°43 per 1000, of whom 1254 were finally discharged. 


British Gurana (252,000 inhabitants in 1881). 


No white troops are at present stationed at Demerara. 


602 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


This station in the West Indian command is on the mainland, extending 
from the equator (nearly) to 10° N., 200 to 300 miles, and inland to an 
uncertain distance. 

It is a flat alluvial soil of clay and sand, covered with vegetation. 

The water of Georgetown is not good; it is drawn from a freshwater lake 
and an artesian well; the water from this well contains a good deal of iron. 

Trade winds from N.E. and E. for nine months. In July, August, and’ 
September, S.E. and 8. and land-winds. This is the unhealthy season. 

Two wet seasons, January and June; the last is the longest. | 

Temperature of summer, 86° ; of winter, 82°. Rain about 100 inches. 

Formerly there was an enormous mortality among the troops from yellow 
fever and scorbutic dysentery. The men used to have salt meat five times 
a week. 

The climate is most highly malarious, but this does not cause much 
mortality. | 

Yellow fever has prevailed here several times. On one occasion (1861) the 
troops were moved out and encamped at some distance from Georgetown ; 
they escaped (7 mild cases only), although they were on a swampy plain. 

In 1817-36 the average deaths were 74 per 1000 of strength. 

In 1859, out of a mean strength of 143, there were 156 admissions = 1091 
per 1000 of strength; 2 deaths=13-9 per 1000 of strength. One death 
from apoplexy, one from drowning. The deaths from disease were only 
6-9 per 1000. Of the 156 admissions, no less than 81 were from malarious 
disease, or at the rate of 519 per 1000 of strength, or nearly one-half the 
total admissions. 

In 1860, 1861, and 1862 the admissions from malarious disease continued 
high (673, 1380, and 1104 per 1000 of strength), the mortality was very | 
small, being only 6:6 per 1000 in each year; in fact, the single death in” 
1860 and in 1861 was in the one year from “acute hepatitis,” and in the 
other from accident. In 1862, in spite of the immense malarious disease, 
there was no death. | 

Subsequently to 1861 it appears that scattered cases of yellow fever 
occurred among the shipping and in the town every year; in 1866 there was 
an outbreak among the white troops. In eight weeks 16 deaths occurred 
among 72 men, or 22 per cent.! 

Some important lessons are drawn from the medical history of this station. - 
It has been shown that even in a highly malarious country yellow fever may — 
be evaded by change of ground, although the men are obliged to encamp on 
a swamp. Another remarkable point is the very small mortality attending — 
the paroxysmal fevers. It would be very interesting to know the future 
history of such men, but it cannot be doubted that the lessened mortality 
since former years must be owing to better treatment. | 


1 A full inquiry was made into this outbreak ; it was, as so frequently happens, localised, 
for the troops were suffering severely while the health officer for the port (Dr Scott) states 
in his evidence (Report of the Commissioners appointed to Inquire into the Outbreak of Yellow © 
Fever at Demerara in 1866, p. 25) that the cases in town were “very few” at the time. The — 
barracks were badly circumstanced in various ways, particularly in having removal of sewage — 
on a trench system, into which the latrines opened, and which trenches were intended to be 
kept clean by flushing; they were, however, in a very foul state, and were merely open cess- 
pools ; and the evidence of Surgeon-Major Hutton (Report, p. 37) clearly points out that a — 
thoroughly good system of dry removal is the proper plan for this colony. Whether this 
and the other unsanitary conditions gave its local development to the yellow fever was a — 
wnatter of doubt in the colony, but they are precisely the same conditions which have been | 
so frequently seen in West Indian outbreaks,—a foul soil, and, in addition, open cesspools | 
exposed to the intense heat of a tropical sun, and to the influence of a moist atmosphere — 
and a moist soil. On this occasion the troops were not removed from the barracks until too — 
late. 


BAHAMAS—HONDURAS—BERMUDA. 603 


The extent of malarious disease shows how desirable it is to avoid send- 
ing white troops to Demerara. 

iin French Guiana, Dr Laure, besides malarious fevers, describes enteric 
fever to have occurred for some short time after the samira of French poli- 
tical prisoners after the coup @état of 1851. It then disappeared. 


BAHAMAS AND HoNnpDURAS. 


The black troops garrison both those places, and show a degree of mortality 
nearly the same as in the other stations, the amount of phthisis being very 
great. In 1862, at the Bahamas, there were no less than 4 deaths from 
phthisis out of a strength of 439, or at the rate of 9-1 per 1000 of strength ; 
there were also 3 deaths from pneumonia and 1 from pleurisy. In the years 
1859-66 the average deaths from tubercular diseases per 1000 men were 
11:04 yearly, and from other diseases of the lungs 5-86; out of 100 deaths, 
60 were from diseases of the lungs. This is evidently a matter for careful 
inquiry. 

At Honduras, among the black troops, the deaths from tubercular disease, 
in 1859-66, were 4:04 per 1000 of strength. 

Taking the West Indian command in 1884 (a year free from yellow fever), 
the admissions per 1000 for disease alone were 604, and the deaths 9°27. 
There was no death from any form of fever. 


SECTION III. 
BERMUDA. 


Strength of garrison (1884), about 1551 men. Civil population (in 1881), 
13,948. 

Climate.—Hot, equable, and rather limited. 

Temperature. —Mean of year, 74°; hottest month (July), 83°:5; coldest 
month (February), 64°°5 ; amplitude of yearly fluctuation 19°. ‘Relative 
humidity about 74 per cent. 

The sanitary condition was formerly very bad; there were no sewers, and 
no efficient dry method of removal. Now matters are much improved, and 


in later years the health of the troops has been good. Rain-water is used 
for drinking. 


Diseases of the Troops. 


Loss of Strength per 1000 per annum. | Loss of Service per 1000 per annum. | 
Years, | | Days in 
Deaths PDIsease Invaliding. | Admissions, MST Cy Tench Sick 
Man. 
1817-36, 288 fs 768 | 
1837-46, B55 i ae 1080 sor ix 
1861- 70 (10 years), 26°02 m 20°6 764°3 39°54 15 
1864 (highest ; yel- ) nape : 
low fever year), if Tae ©) LGM 
1860 (lowest), : 8°55 5°70 ae ah con ibs 
1865-74 (10 years), 15-04 oe 21:92 | 7165 35°39 18°27 
1870-79 (10 years), 8°96 ee 20°45 637°1 32°62 18°69 
1879-83 (5 ea) 7°03 5°36 16°79 650°2 35°45 19°90 
| 1884, ; 10°96 8°39 Wa 617°6 32°40 19°16 
| 


604 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


The history of the West Indies may be applied to Bermuda, though, with 
the exception of yellow fever years, it never showed the great mortality of 
the West Indies. There is no great amount of paroxysmal fevers ; in ten’ 
years eer 46) there were only: 29 admissions out of an aggregate strength 
of 11,224 men. In ten years (1870-79) there were only 15 admissions out 
of 18, 974, or at the rate of 0-8 per 1000. In five years (1879-83) the “a 
per 1000 was 1:9, in 1884 it was 0°6, being 1 case in 1551 men. 

Yellow fever has prevailed seven anes in this country, viz., in 1819, 
1837, 1843, 1847, 1853, 1856, and 1864. 

The history of the yellow fever in 1864 is given in detail by Dr Barrow. : 

The total mortality was 14 officers, 173 men, 5 women, and 4 children.) 
The deaths to strength were, among the officers, 189, and among the men,” 
149 per 1000. The officers’ mortality was owing to a large number of, 
deaths among the medical officers. 

The town of St George’s, in Bermuda, presents every local condition for: 
the spread of yellow fever ; the town is quite unsewered ; badly supplied) 
with water ; badly built. | 

“Dandy fever,” or break-bone (Dengue), has prevailed several times. | 

“Continued fevers” (often in large part enteric) have always prevailed 
more or less at Bermuda. In the ten years 1837-46 they gave 1004 
admissions out of 11,224 men, or 88 per 1000 of strength, being rach 
greater than at home. In ten years (1870-79) there were 884 admissions 
out of 18,974, or 47 per 1000; in 1879-83 the admissions were, for enteric 
fever 9:9, other continued fever 31:3 per 1000; deaths (enteric only) 1-91. 

In 1859 there were only 11 cases of “ continued fever” out of 1074 men; 
but in 1860 “continued fever ” prevailed severely (209 cases in 1052 men)./ 
It was of a mild type, and caused little mortality. It was probably not. 
enteric, but its nature was not definitely determined. It prevailed in Sep- 
tember, October, and November. It is said that the drainage was defective | 
at Hamilton. 

In 1884, admissions for enteric fever 40, for other continued fevers 30°9 | 
per 1000; deaths (enteric only) 6°45 per 1000, or 78 per cent. of total 
deaths from disease. This inordinate mortality seems to have been con-) 
nected with a heavy rainfall following an unusually dry summer, and | 

| 


consequent accumulation in various cess-pits—on this being removed and 
the cess-pits cleaned the epidemic ceased. 

Formerly tuberculous diseases caused a considerable mortality. In the 
years 1817-36 diseases of the lungs gave a mortality of no less than 8°7 per 
1000 of strength. In 1837-46 the lung diseases gave a yearly mortality 
of 8:3 per 1000 of strength. Of late years the amount has decreased. The ' 
admissions and deaths respectively were 10-5 and 2°6 in the seven years 
1859-65. In 1870 the deaths from phthisis were 1:57, and in 1871 no less — 
than 5:19 per 1000 of strength; in 1875 they were 1:58. In five years | 
(1879-83) they were 1:19, discharged as invalids 2°62, total 3°81; in 1884) 
deaths 0°64 (one case out of 1551 ‘men), no invalids. | 

Diarrhoea and dysentery were also formerly very common, but of late years if 
there has been a great decrease. Diseases of the eyes are common. 

There has always been much intemperance, and a large number of deaths _ 
from delirium tremens. This was the case even in 1866: there were no less i 
than 5 deaths out of a total of 28. 

Venereal diseases have averaged from 55 to 80 per 1000 of strength, but 
latterly have diminished. 


bds. | 


1 Army Medical Reports, vol. v. p. 290. 


i 
li 
| 
i 


NORTH AMERICAN STATIONS—CANADA. 605 


In considering the sanitary measures to be adopted at Bermuda, it would 
seem that drainage and ventilation are still most defective, and that means 
should be taken to check intemperance. If yellow fever occurs, the measures 
should be the same as in the West Indies. 


SECTION IV. 
NORTH AMERICAN STATIONS 


Sus-Section I.—Cawnapa.! 


The usual garrison used to be from 3000 in profound peace to 10,000 or 
12,000 in disturbed times. In 1871 the troops were withdrawn from Canada 
and concentrated at Halifax. 


Lower CaNaDa. 
Chief Stations—l. Quebec (62,000 enhabitants). 


Temperature.—Mean of year, 41°; hottest month (July), 71°-3; coldest 
(January), 11°. Annual fluctuation, 60°°3. 

The undulations of temperature are enormous. In the winter, sometimes, 
there is a range of 30, 40, and even more degrees in twenty-four hours, 
from the alternation of northerly and southerly winds. In one case the 
thermometer fell 70° in twelve hours. The mercury is sometimes frozen. 

The mean temperature of the three summer months is 69° ; winter months 
12°-8. The climate is “extreme” and variable. 

Rain.-—About 36 to 40 inches. The air is dry in the summer, and again 
in the depth of winter. 

Barracks.—Built on Lower Silurian rocks. No ague is known, though the 
lower town is damp. 

Amount of cubic space small. Casemates in citadel very bad, damp, ill 
ventilated, ill lighted. 


2. Montreal (140,000 inhabitants). 


Temperature.—Mean of year, 44°-6 ; hottest month (July), 73°:1; coldest 
(January), 14°°5. Annual fluctuation, 58°°6. The undulations are very 
great, though not so great as at Quebec. 

Mean of the three summer months, 70°°8; of the three winter months, 
i °2. 

Rain.—36 to 44 inches. 

Barracks.—Bad ; very much overcrowded. 

In Lower Canada are also many smaller stations. 


Upper CANADA. 
Chief Stations—1. Toronto (86,000 inhabitants). 


Temperature.—Mean of year, 44°-3 ; hottest month (July), 66°°8 ; coldest 
(February), 23°-1. Difference, 43°°7. Great undulations. 
Rain.—31°5 inches, 


1 For an excellent account of the Canadian stations, see Sir W. Muir’s Report in the 
Army Medical Report for 1862, p. 375. 


t 


606 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


The town stands on ground originally marshy. The new barracks are built 
on limestone rocks of Silurian age. Average cubic space only 350, 
Drainage bad. 

Intermittent fevers among the civil population ; not very prevalent among 
the troops. 


2. Kingston (14,000 inhabitants). 


Temperature.—Mean of year, 45°°8. 

Malarious. 

London, Hamilton, and several smaller stations—Fort George, Amherst- 
berg, &c.—were also occupied at one time. 


Diseases of the Cwil Inhabitants. 


Formerly ague was prevalent in Upper Canada, especially in Kingston ; 
it isnow much less. At Montreal ague used to be seen; now it is much less 
frequent. It prevails from May to October, and is worst in August. 

If the summer isothermal of 65° be the northern limit of malaria, both 
Quebec and Montreal are within the limit ; yet the winter is too severe, and 
the period of hot weather too short, to cause much development of malaria. 

The climate is in both provinces very healthy, and has been so from the 
earliest records, though, when the country was first settled, there was much 
scurvy. 

Enteric fever is sometimes seen. Typhus has often been carried in emi- 
grant ships, but has not spread, or at least has soon died out. Cholera has 
prevailed. Yellow fever dies out. Consumption is decidedly infrequent. 

Acute pulmonary diseases used to be considered the prevalent complaints, 
but it is doubtful whether they are much more common than elsewhere. 


Diseases of the Troops. 


Years 1817-36 (20 years).—Admissions per 1000 of strength = 1097; 
deaths 16-1 (without violent deaths). 

Years 1837-46 (10 years).—Yearly admissions per 1000 of strength, 982 ; 
average daily sick per 1000 of strength, 39:1; mortality (violent deaths 
excluded), 13 ; mortality with violent deaths, 17°42. 

The mortality was made up in part of—fever, 2°13; lung disease, 7°44; 
stomach and bowels disease, 1-11 ; brain disease, 1:28, Nearly two-thirds of 
the fevers are returned as ‘‘ common continued,” probably euteric. 

Venereal admissions, 117 per 1000. 

Erysipelas was epidemic at Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto in 1841; at 
Montreal in 1842, from bad sanitary conditions. 

The following table shows the mean of the later years :— 


Loss of Strength per 1000. Loss of Service per 1000, 

Tear’ : Days in 
Years. By total | By ceaths| py Admis- | Meandaily/ Hospital 

Deaths. soa {nvaliding.| sions. Sick, to eac 
Pieae . Sick Man. 

1861-70 (10 years), 9°01 Oo ays, 646°9 30°36 17°14 

1871, ; : 9°55 5°87 17°6 679°8 33°15 17°80 

| « 


Influence of Age on Mortality. 


NORTH AMERICA—CANADA. 607 
' 
| 


Yeats. Under 20. | 20-24. 25-29. 30-34. 35-39. |40and over. 
| se 


| 1861-70 (10 years), .| 3-47 | 6-01 | 9:0 | 11°13 | 17-66 | 20-23 
' 


_ These numbers show, what indeed is apparent in all the records, that 
Janada is a very healthy station. 
_ The amount of phthisis was always smaller than on home service, and 
egiments of the Guards proceeding from London to Canada had on two 
ecasions a marked diminution in phthisical disease. 
In this respect, also, Canada contrasted formerly with the West Indies, 
nut of late years the decline of phthisis in the West Indies has lessened the 
superiority of Canada. 
_ The comparatively small amount of phthisis was remarkable, as the troops 
were at times very much crowded in barracks. Latterly they had the home 
ulowance of space (600 cubic feet). In the later years phthisis declined 
sonsiderably with improved barrack accommodation. 
_ In the 20 years 1817-36 the annual admissions were 6°5, and the deaths 
4-22, per 1000 of strength. 
_ In the years 1859-65 the admissions from the whole tubercular class 
were 8°3, and the deaths were 1°67, per 1000 of strength.! It is curious to 
observe that this diminution was coincident with a similar change at home.? 
The acute lung affections, pneumonia and acute bronchitis, appear formerly 
to have been rather more prevalent in Canada than they were in later years. - 
The following table gives the mean and extremes for 8 years (1859—66):— 


Per 1000 of Strength. 


Admissions. Deaths. 

Pneumonia—Mean, : 3 ; 12-24 0°8576 
Highest, . : : 15°33 1-996 
| Lowest, : : ; C9 0-411 
Acute bronchitis—Mean, : L 42-67 0-309 
Highest, .- : 49-79 0-719 
Lowest, é ‘ 28°48 0-092 

Average of the mean of both, . 27-45 05833 


If this table is compared with the prevalence of these diseases at home, 
it appears that both pneumonia and acute bronchitis were rather more 
fatal at that time in Canada. Both together gave a mortality of :868 per 
1000 at home, and 1-166 per 1000 in Canada. The admissions from pneu- 
monia were also higher, but those from acute bronchitis were one-third 
less than at home, showing that the common catarrhal affections were less 
frequent in Canada. On the whole, however, the influence of the severe 
climate and the exposure on guard in Canada produced less effect than 
might have been anticipated. 

“Continued fevers ” (probably enteric) almost yearly gave some mortality; 
the mean being about ‘6 per 1000 of strength. This was actually more than 


1 Still the lung complaints were higher than they ought to have been. Sir William Muir 
(Army Med. Reports, vol. viii. p. 56), after detailing the measures taken by him to improve 
the barrack accommodation, says: ‘‘I cannot help thinking that the large number of men 
treated and invalided for chest disease, during the five years I have been on this command, 
bear a close relationship to this impure state of barrack air.” 

2 In contrasting the consumptive invalidity at Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Canada, the Re- 
porters of 1839 (Army Med. Report) remark that the returns ‘‘ afford another interesting 
proof how little the tendency to consumption is increased either by intensity of cold or sud- 
den atmospherical vicissitudes,” See also the remarks on phthisis in India at a subsequent 
page, 


- 


608 FOREIGN SERVICE. 
on home service, and depended probably on the difficulties connected with 
drainage. A good dry system is the only plan which can be depended on in | 
Canada. ! 

The great healthiness of Canada in part probably depends on the fact, | 
that the extreme cold in winter lessens or prevents decomposition of animal | 
matter and the giving off of effluvia; hence, in spite of bad drainage and | 
deficient water, there is no very great amount of fever. In the hot summer — 
the life is an open-air one. Even in winter the dry cold permits a good — 
deal of exercise to be taken. 

The amount of drunkenness and delirium tremens in Canada used to be | 
great. In 1863 no less than 9 out of 96 deaths, or nearly one-tenth, were © 
caused by delirium tremens. Violent deaths also are usually large, drowning 
giving the largest proportion. 

The sickness and mortality of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are almost _ 
identical with Canada, and they are now included in the returns under the 
one head of “Dominion of Canada.” Both stations have always been con- | 
sidered very healthy. There is some enteric fever at Halifax, and at both | 
places there was formerly much drinking, but that is now less. In 1884 
there were only 3 deaths from disease out of 1265 men—1 phthisis, 1 — 
pneumonia, and 1 Bright’s disease. In British Columbia, where there is a 
small garrison of 100 to 150, the health is also extremely good. 


SECTION Y. 
AFRICAN STATIONS. 
Susp-Section [.—St HELENA. 


Garrison, 200. In 1880 only 194. Civil population (in 1881), 5059. 

Until comparatively recently this small island was garrisoned by a local 
corps (St Helena regiment), which has now been disbanded. 

The island has always been healthy ; seated in the trade-winds, there is a _ 
tolerably constant breeze from south-east. The average mortality in the — 
years 1859-66 was 9:75, or without violent deaths, 7°85. In 1867 the | 
mortality from disease was only 5°24. In 1875 almost the same, viz., 5-41. _ 
There is very little malarious disease (about 50 to 60 admissions per 1000 | 
of strength), but there have frequently been a good many cases of “continued _ 
fever,” and dysentery and diarrhoea are usual diseases. Formerly there | 
appears to have been much phthisis, but this is now much less, giving | 
another instance of the decline of this disease, as in so many other stations. 

In the years 1837-46, the admissions from tubercular diseases averaged — 
21 per 1000 per annum, and the deaths 5-45. In the years 1859-66 the 
admissions from tubercular diseases were 6°6, and the deaths 1°66 per 1000. 
In 1867 there were no admissions. The health of the troops would have 
been even better if the causes of the continued fever and dysentery could 
have been discovered and removed, and if the amount of drunkenness had 
been less. The returns from St Helena are now combined with those from 
the Cape of Good Hope. 


Sus-Section IJ.—Wesr Coast or Arrica.! 


The principal stations are Sierra Leone and Cape Coast Castle. 
The station of Gambia has now been given up, and troops are no longer 


_ 1 For a very good account of the topography of the Gold Coast, see Dr R. Clarke’s paper 
in the Zransactions Epid. Society, vol. i. 


SIERRA LEONE. 609 


stationed regularly at Lagos (500 miles from Cape Coast Castle, and occu- 
pied in 1861). In 1875 Sierra Leone, Cape Coast, and Accra were occupied, 
and Elmina for a short time, and since then the two first stations have been 
alone garrisoned. No white troops are employed, except during war-time, 
as in the Ashanti campaign of 1873. 


Srerra Leone. 


Strength of garrison, 300 to 500 black troops, with a few European 
officers and non-commissioned officers. Civil population (in 1872), 37,089. 
Hot season from May to the middle of November; Harmattan wind in 
December; soil, red sandstone and clay, very ferruginous. There are 
extensive mangrove swamps to N. and 8. Water very pure. The spring 
in the barrack square contains only 3 to 4 grains per gallon of solids. 

This station had formerly the reputation of the most unhealthy station 
of the army. Nor was this undeserved. 

From 1817 to 1837 (20 years) there were yearly among the troops— 


Admissions, . ; : 2978 per 1000. 
Deaths, . ; : F ANS) 
At the same time, about 17 per cent. of the whole white population died 


annually. 

The chief diseases were malarious fevers, which caused much sickness, 
but no great mortality; and yellow fever, which caused an immense mor- 
tality. Dysentery, chiefly scorbutic, was also very fatal. 

The causes of this great mortality were simple enough. The station was 
looked upon as a place of punishment, and disorderly men, men sentenced 
for crimes, or whom it was wished to get rid of, were draughted to Sierra 
Leone. They were there very much overcrowded in barracks, which were 
placed in the lower part of the town. They were fed largely on salt meat ; 
and being for the most part men of desperate character, and without hope, 
they were highly intemperate, and led, in all ways, lives of the utmost 
disorder. They considered themselves, in fact, under sentence of death, 
and did their best to rapidly carry out the sentence. 

Eventually, all the white troops were removed, and the place has since 
been garrisoned by one of the West Indian regiments. Of late years, the 
total white population of Sierra Leone (civil and military) has not been 
more than from 100 to 200 persons. 

The great sickness and mortality being attributable, as in so many other 
cases, chiefly to local causes and individual faults, of late years Europeans 
have been comparatively healthy; although from time to time fatal epi- 
demics of yellow fever occur. They are, however, less frequent and less 
fatal than formerly. The position of the barracks has been altered, and 
the food is much better. One measure which is supposed to have improved 
the health of the place, is allowing a species of grass (Bahama grass) to 
grow in the streets. The occupiers of the adjacent houses are obliged to 
keep it cut short, and in good order. 

During the four years 1863-66 there died 8 white non-commissioned 
officers, in the whole command of the West Coast, out of an average 
strength of 25, or at an annual rate of 80 per 1000 of strength. Three of 
the 8 deaths were from liver disease, two from delirium tremens, two from 
fevers, and one from dysentery. In 1867 two sergeants died, out of 15 
white men—one from apoplexy, one from delirium tremens. 

Among the black troops serving in Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast, the 

2Q 


w 


610 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


returns of the ten years 1861-70 give 1283 admissions and 22°49 deaths | 
per 1000. In 1871 the deaths were 15°63 per 1000 from disease. Jn ten | 
years (1870-79) the admissions were 1640°5 and the deaths 25-07 per 1000. — 
1873 was the year of the last Ashanti war. In 1880 the admissions were | 
1565-7 and the deaths 22°47, of which 20°86 were from disease. These | 
numbers are for the whole West African command. Among the causes of | 
death, tubercular diseases hold the first place, amounting to 7:05 per 1000 | 
of strength. In 1862 phthisis amounted to no less than 12°6 per 1000 of — 
strength, and constituted 43-7 per cent. of all deaths from disease. There — 
were also 9°46 per 1000 of strength deaths from pneumonia, In 1863 the 
deaths from phthisis were 9°3 per 1000 of strength, and made up 36°3 per — 
cent. of the total deaths. In 1867 the tubercular deaths per 1000 of 
strength were 17-71 in Sierra Leone, 15°87 at the Gambia, and 12°58 at | 
the Gold Coast and Lagos together. In 1880 the total rate for the com- 
mand was 11:23 per 1000. It seems clear, indeed, that in all the stations | 
of the West India corps (black troops), the amount of phthisis is great; in | 
fact, the state of health generally of these regiments requires looking into, | 
as in the West Indies. 

In 1862 there were only five cases of intermittent, and eighteen of 
remittent fever among 317 negroes: In 1880 the number was 404 out of | 
623 ; in 1884, 163 out of 539. 

In 1861 some of the troops from Sierra Leone and the Gambia were | 
employed up the Gambia against the Mandingoes, and also against the 
chiefs of Quiat. In 1863 and 1864, and again in 1873, Ashanti wars pre- | 
vailed. All these wars added to the sickness and mortality, so that these. 
years are not fair examples of the influence of the climate. 


Gambia. 
No troops have been quartered here of late years, and it has been in’ 
contemplation to abandon the station. It is much more malarious than 
any of the others. The drinking water is bad; all barrack and sewage, 
arrangements are imperfect. Yellow fever from time to time is very 
destructive. In 1859 two out of four European sergeants, and in 1860) 
three medical officers died of yellow fever. Among the black troops, in, 
1859-65, the admissions were 1169-8 and the deaths 29:97 per 1000 of 
strength. i 
As at Sierra Leone, phthisis and other diseases of the lungs caused a 
large mortality among the negroes. In 1861 phthisis gave fae deaths out 
of a strength of 421, or at the rate of 11°6 per 1000 strength; and 
pneumonia gave four ‘deaths, and acute bronchitis three, or (together) at, 
the rate of 16- 24 per 1000 of strength. Phthisis, pneumonia, and bronchitis. 
gave near ly 60 per cent. of all deaths from disease. This was higher than) 
in previous years; but in 1862 phthisis gave 14°35 deaths per 1000 of 
strength, and constituted 75 per cent. of the whole number of deaths. | 
There was, however, no pneumonia or bronchitis in that year. In 1856 the 
tubercular class gave 9°53 deaths per 1000. In 1863, however, there were| 
no deaths from phthisis. Although the period of observation is short, it. 
can hardly be doubted that here, as elsewhere in the stations occupied by 
the West Indian regiments, some causes influencing the lungs prejudicially 
are everywhere in action. ‘These are probably to. be found in conditions| 
arising from bad ventilation of the barracks. 
Among the few white residents at the Gambia, diarrhoea, dysentery, and 
dyspepsia appear to be common. ‘These, in part, arise from the bad water 5 


HYGIENE ON THE WEST COAST. 611 


in part from dietetic errors (especially excess in quantity), and want of 
exercise and attention to ordinary hygienic rules, 


Cape Coast Castle (Gold Coast). 

Garrison, 300 to 400 (black troops). 

This station has always been considered the most healthy of the three 
principal places. It is not so malarious as even Sierra Leone, and much 
less so than the Gambia, and has been much less frequently attacked with 
yellow fever. Dysentery and dyspepsia are common diseases among the 
white residents. Among the black troops the prevalence of phthisis, 
pneumonia, and bronchitis is marked, though less so, perhaps, than at the 
other two stations. 

One peculiarity of the station was the prevalence of dracunculus. This 
was much less common at Sierra Leone and at the Gambia. It appears to 
have lessened considerably in later years, but there is no definite information 
now to be obtained from the A.1/.D. Reports. 


Hygiene on the West Coast. 


There is no doubt that attention to hygienic rules will do much to lessen 
the sickness and mortality of this dreaded climate. In fact, here as else- 
where, men have been contented to lay their own misdeeds on the climate. 
Malaria has, of course, to be met by the constant use of quinine during the 
whole period of service. The other rules are summed up in the following 
quotation from Dr Robert Clarke’s paper,! and when we reflect that this 
extract expresses the opinion of a most competent judge on the effect of 
climate, we must allow that, not only for the West Coast, but for the West 
Indies, and for India, Dr Clarke’s opinions on the exaggeration of the effect 
of the sun’s rays and exposure to night air, and his statement of the necessity 
of exercise, are full of instruction :— 

“Good health may generally be enjoyed by judicious attention to a few 
simple rules. In the foremost rank should be put temperance, with regular 
and industrious habits. European residents on the Gold Coast are too often 
satisfied with wearing apparel suited to the climate, overlooking the fact that 
exercise in the open air is just as necessary to preserve health there as it is 
in Europe. Many of them likewise entertain an impression that the sun’s 
rays are hurtful, whereas in nine cases out of ten the mischief is done, not 
by the sun’s rays, but by habits of personal economy. Feeling sadly the 
‘wearisome sameness of life on this part of the coast, recourse is too frequently 
had to stimulants, instead of resorting to inexhausting employments, the only 
safe and effectual remedy against an evil fraught with such lamentable con- 
Sequences. Europeans also bestow too little attention on ventilation, far 
more harm being done by close and impure air during the night than is ever 
brought about by exposure to the night air. 

“Much of the suffering is occasioned by over-feeding.”? 


1 Trans. of the Epidem. Soc., vol. i. pp. 128, 124. 

* Considerable interest in this part of the work was roused by the occurrence of the Ashanti 
war of 1873, for an admirable account of which see the Army Medical Reports, vol. xv., where 
sir Anthony D. Home gives a full medical history of the operations carried on. The excellent 
lygienic arrangements enabled the arduous work of the expedition to be accomplished with a 
vomparatively small loss. But the few casualties in action compared with the deaths by 
lisease show by contrast how much more deadly were the forces of nature than those of the 
onemy. 26 officers died, of whom only five were killed or died of wounds ; 13 men were killed 
_ white troops), whilst 40 died of disease ; of the West Indian troops (black) only one was killed, 
whilst 41 died of disease. For analysis of soil of Gold Coast, see Army Med. Reports, vol. xiv. 
1p. 264 ged. for some account of the drinking water, see papers by Dr J. D. Fleming in vols. 
\<iv. and xv, 


| 
, 


612 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


Sus-Section II].—Caprst or Goop Hops. 


Garrison, about 3000 men. 

The chief stations are Cape Town (about 45,000 inhabitants), Graham’s- 
Town, King William’s Town, Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay, and several small 
frontier stations. In Natal there is also a small force. The climate is) 
almost everywhere good; the temperature is neither extreme nor very 
variable; the movement of air is considerable. 

At Cape Town the mean annual temperature is 67°, with a mean annual 
range of about 38°. 


Days in | 
| Years, Total Deaths, | Admissions. |Mean daily Sick. pepe | 
| Man. 
| 1860-69 (10 years), | 10°87 | 973 | 50:24 18°33. | 

1870-77 (8 years), 9°72 906 | 43°85 17°88 


The statistics of later years are complicated by the casualties of war, 
including killed and wounded in action and a great excess of fever. Eliminat- 
ing these, we have the following ratios per 1000 :-— 


Total W d al Admissions C P Adm 
ota. younds an a ontinued ro 1] f i e, 
Years. | Admissions.| Injuries. for pisease F ever: “F ek ia excindial 
y: Fevers. 
1870-77 (8 years | | ioe 5 
of peace), mil 906 131 | 779d 39 28 708 
| 1878-80 (3 years . Hee ~ 
fe } | 900 103797 159 38 600 
1879-83 (5 years), 825 95 730 141 48 541 
I y u 
Deaths per 1000 of Strength. 
Wounds and) ‘ | |Deaths from 
= Injuries and isease | Continued | Paroxysmal) Disease, 
| Years. Total Killed in ouly. °F avers eee excludia ; 
Action. ’ Fevers. 99 
1870-77 (8 years), 9°72 1:94 7°78 0°50 0°24 7:04 | 
1878-80 (3 years), 50°43 23°98 21°45 11°16 1°13 918 | 
1879-83 65 years), Bef 34°56 | 19°15 2°53 — 1662755 


As regards the admissions, it is clear that the diminution which migh 
have been expected in consequence of sanitary improvements was chief; 
arrested by the great number of cases of continued fever which occurret 
during the period of hostilities. In times of peace there is but little fever 
and a small and decreasing mortality. Thus in 1856-66 the death-rat 
was 1-25 per 1000, in 1870-77 only 0:°50,—whilst in 1878-80 it was no les 
than 11°16; in all these cases the deaths are almost invariably enteric 
Paroxy Sih fevers arising in the station itself are very uncommon, th 
worst year in the period 1870-77 being 1874, when these diseases appeare 
among troops from the Mauritius, w here it had undoubtedly been contractec 
During the period of hostilities there was an increase both in admissions an 
deaths from that cause. Although the net admissions (after eliminatin 
wounds and injuries and fevers) are less in the later period (1878-80) tha 
in the earlier Si0—77 i ), as 07H n in the preceding table, ye the death-rat 


1 Including the detachment at St Helena. 


CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 613 


is higher. This is almost entirely due to diseases of the digestive system, 
mostly dysentery and diarrhoea. These were more common formerly than 
they are now in ordinary years; in many cases, especially in the small 
frontier stations, they were clearly owing to bad water. 

Ophthalmia has prevailed rather lar oely, especially in some years; there 
is a good deal of dust in many parts of the colony, and it has been attributed 
to this ; the disease is probably the specific ophthalmia (grey granulations), 
and is propagated by contagion. Whether it had its origin in any catarrhal 
condition produced by the wind and dust, and then became contagious, is 
one of those moot points which cannot yet be answered. 

The Cape has always been noted for the numerous cases of muscular 
rheumatism. Articular rheumatism is not particularly common. There is 
also much cardiac disease. The prevalence of this affection has been attri- 
buted to the exposure and rapid marches in hill districts during the Kaffir 
wars. In 1863 there was, however, less rheumatism than usual. 

Taking the years 1859-66 as expressing tolerably fairly the effect, per se, 
of the station, we find that the whole colony gave 18-3 admissions and 1-90 
deaths per 1000 of strength from diseases of the circulatory organs. In 
1869-77 the admissions were 13-5 and the deaths 1:47; in 1878-80 they 
were 20°3 and 1:25 respectively ; in 1879-83 the admissions were 18-6 and 
the deaths 0°65 ; in 1884 admissions 12, deaths 0°32. 

Dr Lawson! contributed a valuable paper on this subject. He found 
the death-rate from diseases of the organs of circulation (mean of seven 
years, 1859-65) at 1-91 per 1000 of strength. This was higher than at any 
other foreign station, as will be seen from the table copied by Dr Lawson. 


. Mortality from Diseases of the Circulatory Organs. 
Ratio per 1000 | Ratio per 1000 Ratio per 1000 
of Strength. | of Strength. of Strength. 

Cape of Good Hope, 1°91 | Bombay, . . 0°80 | Malta, ; PO 
New Zealand, lesa. bengal: . 0°86 | Gibraltar, . OO 
Australia, . . 1:72 | South China, . 1:16 | Bermuda, . > NaN 
Mauritius, . . 0°53 | West Indies, . 1:02 | Nova Scotia, . 0°84 
St Helena, . . 0-31 | Jamaica, . . 0°85 | Canada, . s ies) 
Ceylon, : lati lonia, 3 . 0°84 | Home, , . 0°93 
‘Madras, : , Helly 


_ This table shows an extreme diversity, hardly to be reconciled with 
‘differences of climate or duties. In the years 1869-74 the death-rate was 
1-68, and was exceeded by that of the Mauritius, 2-29, and that of Madras, 
1-99. In 1875 the rate at the Cape was only L- 45, while Ceylon showed 
3: 87, Bermuda 2°63, and Madras 2:05; Mauritius returning no death. In 
‘the eight years 1870-77 the rate at the Cape was 1°62; and in the years 
11878 80 it was 1°25; in 1879-83 it was 0°65, and in 1884 only 0°32, there 
being only 1 death out of 3157 of strength. 

' Scurvy formerly prevailed much at the Cape, particularly in the Kaffir 
/wars, and may have had something to do with the prevalence of dysentery. 
i Venereal diseases were very common. The average admissions from 
*“enthetic” diseases in 1859-66 were 248°5, and in 1867 they were 438°3 
»per 1000 of strength in the whole colony. In Cape Town alone, where 
‘facilities for promiscuous intercourse are greater, they were even more 
numerous.? Much diminution has taken place in recent years, In the ten 


| 
¥ 


1 Army Medical Reports, vol. v. p. 338. 
2 Army Med. Depart. Reports, vol. viii. p. 548. 


614 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


years 1871-80 the ratio for syphilis, both primary and secondary, was | 
only 102, and for gonorrhcea 80; in 1879-83 the admissions were, for | 
primary syphilis, 89, secondary 24:4; for gonorrheea 74:1. 

The Cape has always been considered a kind of sanitarium for India. Its _ 
coolness and the rapid movement of the air, the brightness and clearness of | 
the atmosphere, and the freedom from malaria, probably cause its salubrity. 
It has been supposed that it might be well to send troops to the Cape for 
two or three years before sending them on to India. This plan has never 
been perfectly tried; but in the case of regiments sent on hurriedly to’ 
India on emergency it has been said that the men did not bear the Indian 
climate well. Probably they were placed under unfavourable conditions, 
and the question is still uncertain. 

As a convalescent place for troops who have been qrectecel & in a mala- 
rious district it is excellent.* 


SECTION VI. 


MAURITIUS. 


Garrison, about 300 to 500 men. Civil population (in 1879), 359,988. 

Mauritius in the eastern has been often compared with Jamaica in the 
western seas. The geographical position as respects the equator is not very 
dissimilar ; the mean annual temperature (80° Fahr.) is almost the same ; 
the fluctuations and undulations are more considerable, but still are not 
excessive ; the humidity of air is nearly the same, or perhaps a little less ; 
the rainfall (66 to 76 inches) is almost the same; and the physical forma- 
tion is really not very dissimilar. Yet, with all these points of similarity: 
in climatic conditions, the diseases are very different. 

Malarious fever was formerly not nearly so frequent as in Jamaica, andl 
true yellow fever is quite unknown ; Mauritius, therefore, has never shown 
those epochs of great mortality which the West Indies have had. Hepatic 
diseases, on the other hand, which are so uncommon in the West Indies, 
are very common in the Mauritius. For example, in 1859 there were 47 
cases of acute and chronic hepatitis in 1254 men, while in Jamaica there 
was one case out of 807 men. In 1860 there were 31 admissions from acute 
hepatitis out of 1886 men; in Jamaica there was not a single case. In 
1862 there were 12 cases of acute, 11 of chronic hepatitis, and 72 cases of 
hepatic congestion, out of 2049 men; in Jamaica, in the same year, there 
was only | case of acute hepatitis out of 702 men, This has alwe ays been 
marked ; is it owing to an error in diagnosis, or to differences in diet? It 
can scarcely be attributed to any difference in climate: In 1863 the differ- 
ence was less marked, but was still evident. In later years, however, there 
has been considerable diminution : in 1872 there were only 4 cases of hepa- 
titis, and in 1873 only 2. Since that year no detailed statistics have been 
published, but it is mentioned incidentally that there were 3 cases in 1880, 
out of a strength of 353, and in 1884 there were 8 cases out of 363 men. 

In 1866-67 a very severe epidemic fever prevailed'in the Mauritius, which 
offers many points of interest. As already noted, the Mauritius has til) 
lately been considered to be comparatively free from malaria. All the older 
writers state this, and it is apparent from all the statistical returns. Deputy 
Inspector-General Dr Francis Reid, in a report? in 1867, mentions that he 
had served ten years in the Mauritius, and had looked over the records 03 
the punOD ps for twenty-four veuE: He found some records;of intermittents. 


1 See effect on the 59th regiment, in the Army Medical Report for 1859, p. 99. 
2 Letter to the Director- General, Feb. 1867. 


MAURITIUS. 615 


but he traced all these to foreign sources, viz., troops coming from India, 
China, or Ceylon, and presenting cases of relapses. 

For the first time, in the latter months of 1866 and the commencement 
of 1867, malarious fevers of undoubted local growth appeared on the 
western side of the island. 

The causes of this development were traced by Dr Reid, and also by 
Surgeon-Major Small and Assistant-Surgeon W. H. T. Power, in some very 
careful reports.' During some years a large amount of forest land had been 
cleared, and there had been much upturning of the soil; coincidently the 
rainfall lessened, and the rivers became far less in volume. At the same 
time, there was a large increase of population; a great defilement of the 
ground in the neighbourhood of villages and towns, so that in various parts 
of the island there was a constant drainage down of filth of all kinds (vege- 
table and animal) into a loose soil of slight depth, resting on impermeable 
rock, which forms a great deal of the western seaboard. In 1866-67 there 
occurred an unusually hot season, and again a deficient rainfall. This seems 
to have brought into active operation the conditions which had been gradu- 
ally increasing in intensity forsome years. The development of the malaria 
was not so much on the regular marshy ground as on the loose contaminated 
soil already noticed. 

That the fever which in 1866-67 became so general was of malarious 
type, is proved by a large amount of evidence on the spot from both mili- 
tary and civil practitioners, and from the fact that many soldiers returned 
to England and had at home relapses of decided paroxysmal fevers. Dr 
Maclean also stated that he had seldom seen spleens so enlarged as among 
the invalids from this fever who arrived at Netley. 

But in some respects this fever. presented characters different from com- 
mon paroxysmal fevers. ‘There was no very great mortality among the 
troops, but it was excessively fatal among the inhabitants of Port Louis 
and many other towns and villages. It also lasted for many months, and 
was attended in many cases with symptoms not common in ordinary par- 
oxysmal fevers, viz., with yellowness of the skin and with decided relapses, 
closely resembling in these respects the common relapsing fever. Mixed up 
with it also was decided enteric fever. The question whether the great 
bulk of the epidemic was a purely paroxysmal or malarious fever, with an 
independent subordinate outbreak of enteric fever, or whether it was a 
composite affection like the “typho-malarial fever” of the American war,? 
or was mixed up with the contagious “Indian jail fever” imported by 
coolies, is not a matter very easy to decide. The officers best qualified to 
judge (Drs Reid, Small, and Power) looked upon it as a purely malarious 
disease, and expressed themselves very strongly on this point.® 

This much seems certain, that in various parts of the island the loose, 
porous, shallow soil had been gradually becoming more and more impure 
with vegetable matters, and in some cases with animal excreta; that there 
had been a gradual diminution of the subsoil water, and that this reached 
its minimum in 1866, when the rains failed, and the hot season was pro- 
longed. There coincided, then, an unusual impurity of soil, lowered sub- 
soil water, consequent increased access of air, and heightened temperature. 


! Annual Report on the District Prisons Hospitals (in 1867, Mauritius, 1868). On the 
Malarial Epidemic Fever of the Mauritius, Army Med. Depart. Report, vol. viii. p. 442. 

2 As described by Woodward, Camp Diseases of the United States Armies, by J. J. 
Woodward, M.D., Philadelphia, 1863, p. 77. 

% The two latter gentlemen say, op. cit., p. 453: “It was entirely of malarious origin, and 
in every form, we might say, perfectly curable by administration of quinine in large doses.” 
These observers entirely deny that it had any contagious properties. 


616 FOREIGN SERVICE. 
Under these conditions, a usually non-malarious soil gave rise to an epidemic | 
fever, which was characterised (chiefly at any rate) by the symptoms re- | 
ferr ed to the action of marsh miasmata, and was curable by quinine. The 
admissions for paroxysroal fevers alone were, in 1875, 585°5 per 1000, and | 
in 1869-75 (five years) 722°3 per 1000 as a mean. In later years the type | 
has been distinctly paroxysmal, the large majority of cases being returned 
as ague. 'The mean admissions per 1000 for six years, 1875-80, were 970, 
with a maximum of 1557 in 1879; in the five years 1879-83 they were | 
1167; and in 1884, 1358. 

In the Mauritius, as in Jamaica, a “continued fever” is not uncommon ; 3 
this is now being returned in part as enteric.! It has occasionally been | 
imported. There are fevers vaguely named “bilious remittent,” ‘“ Bombay 
fever,” ‘coolie fever,” &c. The last term denotes the communicable fever — 
so common in the jails in the Bengal Presidency. It prevailed in the jails” 
in the Mauritius in 1863 and 1864, among the Hindoos. The “ Bombay 
fever ” is probably enteric. Dysentery and diarrhoea have largely prevailed, | 
but are now becoming less frequent. In this respect Jamaica now contrasts | 
very favourably with the Mauritius; thus, in 1860, there were altogether 
213 admissions per 1000 of dysentery and diarrhoea, and 6°8 deaths per. 
1000 ; in Jamaica, in the same year, there was not a single admission from | 
dysentery, and only 19 from diarrhoea, among 594 men, and no death. | 
Cholera has prevailed five times, first in 1819; not afterwards till 1854; 
then again in 1856, 1859, and 1861. (It appears to have been imported in | 
all these cases.) Formerly there was a large mortality from lung diseases ; | 
now, as in Jamaica, this entry is much less, not more than half that of 
former days. The deaths from phthisis per 1000 of strength were, in 1860, | 
0-521; in 1861, 1:03; in 1862, 1-94 (but in this year 11 men were invalided - 
for phthisis) ; and in 1863, 2; in 1875 no death was recorded. Venereal | 
(enthetic) diseases formerly gave about 110 to 130 admissions per 1000 of | 
strength, but they are now greatly diminished. Ophthalmia prevails | 
moderately ; ; to nothing like the same extent as at the Cape. 

In 1873 (the last year of detailed statistics) there were 8 admissions fort | 
diarrhcea and none for dysentery in Jamaica ; in Mauritius there were 29 for. 
diarrhoea and 16 for dysentery, and 2 deaths, out of a strength of 441. 


Per 1000 of Strength. 


Loss of Strength. Loss of Service. 
HOES, 1 hs fr 1 year gaat aoe iy | 
Cees Dae TEENY SAEED | i TSI each Sick 
Man. 
1817236. & 30°50 i ni) S\ORIORO Tr MGS 20 
SEE OB oo-17 | es 1056°5 
years), .J | | 
1865-74 (10\| 18.97 J 44-15 | 14194 | 58°58 13°76 4] 
years), .f 
1875-80 (6\/ 17-89 A 48-03 | 2181-7 70°36 11°65 
years), ef 
ee (5 \ 14-75 13°65 B481 | 23785 | 96-01 14°76 
1884,  . | 22°03 22-03 46°83 | 2294'8 (95°78 15:24 


‘ 
1 Dr Reid had no doubt of the frequent occurrence of enteric fever for many years. He | 
mentioned an interesting fact, viz., that patients with true enteric fever were also affected | 
with the malarious epidemic fever; this latter was, however, easily curable by quinine, but 
the enteric fever, which was also present, was quite unaffected. 


CEYLON. 617 


SECTION VII. 
CEYLON.1 


Garrison, 800 to 1000 white troops; and about 100 gun-lascars (black). 
Population, 2,758,166 (in 1881), including about 5000 Europeans. The 
stations for the white troops are chiefly Galle, Colombo, Kandy, and 
Trincomalee, with a convalescent station at Newera Ellia (6200 feet 
above sea-level). The black troops are more scattered, at Badulla, Pultan, 
Jafina, &e. 

Geology.—A considerable part of the island is composed of granite, gneiss, 
and hornblende granite rocks; these have become greatly weathered and 
decomposed, and form masses of a conglomerate called ‘“ cabook,” which is 
clayey, like the laterite of India, and is used for building. The soil is derived 
from the débris of the granite ; it is said to absorb and retain water eagerly. 
In some parts, as at Kandy, there is crystalline limestone. 

Climate.—This differs, of course, exceedingly at different elevations. At 
Colombo, sea-level, the climate is warm, equable, and limited. Mean annual 
temperature about 81°. Mean temperature—April, 82°70; January, 78°'19 ; 
amplitude of the yearly fluctuation =4°°51. April and May are the hottest 
months; January and December the coldest. Amount of rain about 74 
inches ; the greatest amount falls in May with the 8.W. monsoon (about 13 
to 14 inches) ; and again in October and November with the N.E. monsoon 
(about 10 to 12 inches) in each month. Rain, however, falls in every month, 
the smallest amount being in February and March. The heaviest yearly 
fall ever noted was 120 inches. The relative humidity is about 80 per cent. 
of saturation. The S.W. monsoon blows from May to September, and the 
N.E. monsoon during the remainder of the year, being unsteady and rather 
diverted from its course (long-shore wind) in February and March. The 
mean horizontal movement during the year 1872 was 125 miles; in 1870 it 
was 139 miles, or rather under 6 miles an hour. 

At Kandy (72 miles from Colombo, 1676 feet above sea-level), the mean 
temperature is less, 3° to 5°; the air is still absolutely humid, though re- 
latively rather dry. At 9.30 a.m. the mean annual dew-point is 70°-4, and 
at 3°30 p.m. it is 71°54. This corresponds to 8:11 and 8-42 grains in a 
cubic foot of air; as the mean temperature at these times is 76°°37 and 
79°27, the mean annual relative humidity of the air at 9.30 a.m. and 3°30 
p.M. is 71 and 63 per cent. of saturation. The heat is oppressive, as Kandy 
lies in a hollow, as in the bottom of a cup. 

At Newera Ellia (48 miles from Kandy, 6210 feet high) is a large table- 
land, where, since 1828, some Europeans have been stationed ; the climate 
is European, and at times wintry ; the thermometer has been as low as 29", 
and white frosts may occur in the early morning in the coldest months. 
The mean annual temperature is about 59°.? 

In the dry season (January to May) the thermometer’s daily range is exces- 
sive; the thermometer may stand at 29° at daybreak, and at 8 a.m. reach 62°; 
at mid-day it will mark 70° to 74°, and then fall to 50° at dark. In one day 
the range has been from 27° to 74°=47°. The air is very dry, the difference 
between the dry and wet bulbs being sometimes 15°. Assuming the dry 
bulb to mark 70°, this will give a relative humidity of only 38 per cent. of 


si For a full account, see Sir E. Tennent’s Ceylon. 
* Many of these facts are from an excellent Report by Assistant-Surgeon R. A. Allan, as 
well as from Sir E. Tennent’s book. 


vw 


618 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


saturation ; the barometer stands at about 24:25 inches. Although the 
diurnal range of temperature is thus so great, it is equable from day to | 
day. 

Such a climate, with its bright sun and rarefied air, an almost constant 
breeze, and an immense evaporating force, seems to give us, at this period, 
the very beau ideal of a mountain climate. 

In the wet season (May or June to November) all these conditions are re- 
versed. The mean thermometer of twenty-four hours is about 59°, and the — 
range is only from 56° at daybreak to 62° at mid-day ; during the height of — 
the monsoon there are about 30 inches of rainfall, and sometimes as much 
as 70; the air is often almost saturated. The mean of three years (1870-72) — 
gives no less than 944 inches.! 

Two more striking climatic differences than between January and June | 
can hardly be conceived, yet it is said Newera Ellia is equally healthy in the 
wet as in the dry season ; the human frame seems to accommodate itself to 
these great vicissitudes without dificulty. ‘The most unhealthy times are | 
at the changes of the monsoons. 

Although there is some moist and even marshy ground near the station, 
ague 18 not common, though it is seen; the temperature is too low in the dry 
season, and the fall of rain too great a the wet. Enteric fever is seen, and | 
may be combined with periodic fever.? It is said that dyspepsia, hepatic 
affections, and nervous affections, are much benefited : phthisis is so to some - 
extent, but, it would appear, scarcely so much as European experience would — 
have led us to expect ; rheumatism does not do well, nor, it is said, chronic | 
dysentery ; but it would be very desirable to test this point, as well as — 
that of the influence on phthisis, carefully. The so-called “ hill-diarrhcea ” 
of India prevailed in 1865, though before this it was unknown. Dysen- 
tery has sometimes Se and is caused in some cases by bad water 
(Massy). 

The soil of Newera Ellia is chiefly decomposed gneiss ; it is described by 
Dr Massy as being as hygroscopic as a sponge; the contents of cesspools— 

easily traverse it, and the removal of excreta demands great care. 

The neighbouring Horton Hills are said to be even better than Newera | 
Ellia itself, Probably i in the whole of Hindustan a better sanitary station — 
does not exist. It is inferior, if it be inferior, only to the Neilgherries and | 
one or two of the best Himalayan stations. 


Sickness and Mortality? of Europeans per 1000 of Strength. 


Years. Deaths. Admissions. Ngan ou Beer 
1860-69 (10 years), . ‘4 23°75 1424°9 66°52 16°6 days 
1869-74 (6 years), : ; U2 1112°6 at he 
1875-80 (6 years), j ‘ 16°45 976°4 52°86 20°00 
1879-83 (5 ee) ‘ 5 16°234 1249°3 62°69 18°38 
1884, F ; F lay 1198°0 67°49 20°56 


1 Since 1875 all meteorological information about Ceylon has been dropped out of the Army | 
Medical Reports. 
+ EINE in Army Med. R Sisal vol. viii. p. 499. 
> In 1876 the death-rate was only 7°43, but this was exceptional ; in 1880 it was 265, they 
gree eat excess being due to dysentery in the Colombo garrison. 
4 Only 13°5 from disease. 
° Only 9°13 from disease. 


INDIA. 619 


Influence of Age on Mortality. 


| 


Year | Under 20 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and ; 40 ad 
| GENRE | years. under 25, | under 30. | under 35. | under 40. over. 
i | 
| 1864-73, . < : : | cif 15°89 28°81 26°50 50°25 173°91 
| 1874-83, . : 5 é 3°46 10°68 10°61 13°42 24°14 44°94 


Among the black troops, now reduced to about 100 altogether, in Ceylon 
(1860-69) the admissions averaged 1011, and the deaths 15:17, per 1000 of 
strength. In 1870 the total mortality was 9:44 (and, in 1880, 11°63) per 
1000. The chief causes of admissions were paroxysmal fevers, and of 
deaths cholera, dysentery, and paroxysmal fevers. “Continued fever ” also 
figures among the returns, but was less common in the later years. The 
ayerage number constantly sick was about 32, and the duration of the cases 
10 or 11 days. 

In Ceylon, therefore, the black troops were healthier than the white, 
contrasting in this remarkably with the West Indies. 

In conclusion, it may be said that much sanitary work still remains to 
be done in Ceylon before the state of the white troops can be considered 
satisfactory. 


SECTION VIII. 
INDIA. 


About 55,000 Europeans are now (1884) quartered in India, and there 
is in addition a large native army. In this place the Europeans will be 
chiefly referred to, as it would require a large work to consider properly the 
health of the native troops. 

The 55,000 Europeans are thus distributed :—About 34,000 are serving 
in the Bengal Presidency, which includes Bengal proper, the North-West 
Provinces, the Panjab, and the Trans-Indus stations. About 10,000 to 
11,000 are serving in the Madras Presidency, which also garrisons some 
parts of the coast of Burmah, and sends detachments of native troops to the 
Straits of Malacca. About the same number are serving in the Bombay 
Presidency.!_ The troops consist of all arms. 

These men are serving in a country which includes nearly 28° of lat. and 
33° of long., and in which the British possessions amount to 1,470,207 
square miles, and the population to 253,000,000. Stretching from within 
8° of the equator to 13° beyond the line of the tropics, and embracing 
countries of every elevation, the climate of Hindustan presents almost 
every variety; and the troops serving in it, and moving from place to place, 
are in turn exposed to remarkable differences of temperature, degrees of 
atmospheric humidity, pressure of air, arid kind and force of wind, &e. 

Watered by great rivers, which have brought down from the high lands 
vast deposits in the course of ages, a considerable portion of the surface of 
the extensive plains is formed by alluvial deposit, which, under the heat of 
the sun, renders vast districts more or less malarious; and there are certain 
parts of the country where the development of malaria is probably as 
intense as in any part of the world. A population, in some places thickly 
clustered, in others greatly scattered, formed of many races and speaking 


1 Por brevity, it is customary to speak of serving in Bengal, Bombay, or Madras, when 
speaking of the presidency, so that these names are sometimes applied to the cities, some- 
times to the presidencies ; but a little care will always distinguish which is meant. 


w 


620 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


many tongues, and with remarkably diverse customs, inhabits the country, | 
and indirectly affects very greatly the health of the Europeans. | 

Cantoned over this country, the soldiers are also subjected to the special | 
influences of their barrack life, and to the peculiar habits which tropical — 
service produces. 

We can divide the causes which act on the European force into four 
subsections— 

1. The country and climate. 

2. The diseases of the natives. 

3. The special hygienic conditions under which the soldier is placed. 

4. The service and the individual habits of the soldier. 


Sus-Section I.—Tue Country AND CLIMATE. 


The geological structure and the meteorological conditions are, of course, — 
extremely various, and it is impossible to do more than glance at a few of 
the chief points. 

1. Sozl.1—There is almost every variety of geological structure. In the — 
north-west, the vast chain of the Himalayas is composed of high peaks of | 
granite and gneiss; while lower down is gneiss and slate, and then sand- 
stone and diluvial detritus. Stretching from Cape Comorin almost to — 
Guzerat, come the great Western Ghauts, formed chiefly of granite, with 
volcanic rocks around ; and then, stretching from these, come the Vindhya — 
and Satpiira Mountains, which are chiefly volcanic, and inclose the two — 
great basins of the Tapti and Nerbudda rivers. Joining on to the © 
Vindhya come the Aravalli Hills, stretching towards Delhi, and having — 
as their highest point Mount Abi, which is probably destined to become _ 
the great health resort of that part of India. 

On the east side, the lower chain of the Eastern Ghauts slopes into the — 
tableland of the Deccan; and at the junction of the Eastern and Western 
Ghauts come the Neilgherry Hills, from 8000 to 9000 feet above sea-level, — 
and formed of granite, syenite, hornblende, and gneiss. But to enumerate — 
all the Indian mountains would be impossible. 

Speaking in very general terms, the soil of many of the plains may be © 
classed under four great headings :— 

(a) Alluvial soil, brought down by the great rivers Ganges, Indus, | 
Brahmapitra, rivers of Nerbudda, Guzerat, &c. It is supposed that about — 
one-third of all Hindustan is composed of this alluvium, which is chiefly — 
siliceous, with some alumina and iron. At points it is very stiff with clay— _ 
as in some parts of the Panjab, in Scinde, and in some portion of Lower — 
Bengal. Underneath the alluvial soil lies, in many places, the so-called 
clayey laterite. Many of the stations in Bengal are placed on alluvial soil. 

This alluvial soil, especially when, not far from the surface, clayey — 
laterite is found, is often malarious ; sometimes it is moist only a foot or 
two from the surface ; and, if not covered by vegetation, is extremely hot. 

As a rule, troops should not be located on it. Whatever be done to — 
the spot itself—and much good may be done by efficient draining—the | 
influences of the surrounding country cannot be obviated. Europeans can | 
never be entirely free from the influences of malaria. There is but one — 
perfect remedy; to lessen the force in the plains to the smallest number — 
consistent with military conditions, and to place the rest of the men on the — 
higher lands, 


1 See Carter’s ‘‘Summary of the Geology of India,” in the Journal of the Bombay Asiatic 
Society's Transactions, 1853. 


INDIA—SOIL AND CLIMATE, 621 


Somewhat different from the alluvial is the soil of certain districts, such 
as the vast Runn of Cutch, which have been the beds of inland seas, and 
now form immense level marshy tracts, which are extremely malarious. 
The Runn of Cutch contains 7000 square miles of such country. 

(b) The so-called “regur,” or “cotton soil,” formed by disintegrated 
basalt and trap, stretches down from Bundeleund nearly to the south of 
the peninsula, and spreads over the table-land of Mysore, and is common in 
the Deccan. It is often, but not always, dark in colour. It contains little 
vegetable organic matter (1°5 to 2°5 per cent.), and is chiefly made up of 
sand (70 to 80 per cent.), carbonate of lime (10 to 20 per cent.), and a 
little alumina. It is very absorbent of water, and is generally thought 
unhealthy. It is not so malarious as the alluvium, but attacks of cholera 
haye been supposed to be particularly frequent over this soil. 

(c) Red soil from disintegration of granite. This is sometimes loamy, at 
other times clayey, especially where felspar is abundant. The clay is often 
very stiff. 

(d) Calcareous and other soils scattered over the surface, or lying beneath 
the alluvium or cotton soil. There are, in many parts of India, large masses 
of calcareous (carbonate of lime) conglomerate, which is called kankar. It 
is much used in Bengal for pavements, footpaths, and roads generally. 

In Behar, and some other places, the soil contains large quantities of 
nitre, and many of the sand plains are largely impregnated with salts, 

2. Temperature.—There is an immense variety of temperature. Towards 
the south, and on the sea-coast, the climate is often equable and uni- 
form. The amplitudes of the annual and diurnal fluctuations are small, 
and in some places, especially those which lie somewhat out of the force 
of the south-west monsoon, the climate is perhaps the most equable in the 
world. 

At some stations on the southern coast the temperature of the sun’s 
zenith is lower than at the declination, in consequence of the occurrence of 
clouds and rain, brought up by the south-west monsoon. 

In the interior, on the plateaux of low elevation, the temperature is 
greater, and the yearly and diurnal fluctuations are more marked. On the 
hill stations (6000 to 8000 feet above sea-level), the mean temperature is 
much less; the fluctuations are sometimes great, sometimes inconsiderable. 

The influence of winds is very great on ‘the temperature ; the sea-winds 
lowering it, hot land-winds raising it greatly. 

The temperature in the sun’s rays ranges as high as 166° or 170°, but 
the mean sun-rays’ temperature is, with ereat differences in different places, 
between 130° and 160° at the hottest time of the year. 

The air temperature of a few of the principal stations is subjoined, 
merely to give an idea of the amount of heat in different parts of the 
country. Those of the hill stations are given under the proper headings. 

The increase and the amplitude of the yearly fluctuation is thus seen as 
we pass to the north, and ascend above sea-level. 

In several places there are great undulations of temperature from hot 
land-winds, or from sea or shore breezes, or from mountain currents, which 
give to the place local peculiarities of temperature. 

To get the same mean annual temperature as in England, it would be 
necessary that 9500 feet be ascended in places south of lat. 20°; between 


1 These are taken from Mr Glaisher’s very excellent report in the Indian Sanitary Com- 
mission, which must be consulted for fuller details. Very full meteorological returns are 
now being given in the Reports of the Sanitary Commissioners for the three presidencies, 
and these will ultimately supersede Mr Glaisher’s tables. 


622 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


lat. 20° and 26°, 9000 feet ; between lat. 26° and 30°, 8700 feet ; and north | 
of lat. 30°, 8500. 

The mean monthly temperatures ae ale however, at such elevations, | 
differ somewhat from those of England. Speaking generally, an elevation | 
of 5000 to 6000 feet will give over the whole of India a mean annual tem- | 
perature about 10° higher than that of England, and with a rather smaller | 
range. 

Mr Glaisher has calculated that in the cold months the decrease of tem- 
perature is 1°:05 for each 300 feet of ascent, but increases from March to ~ 
August to 4°'5, and then gradually declines. These results are not accordant | 
with the results of balloon ascents in this climate. 


Mean Temperature, and Height above Sea-Level, of some of the larger 


Stations. 
| = E eis | 
| c= o¢ é re i 
22 | 88 | 3 Bee eee on 
= om Wesia ieee eo a5 5 22 | 2s 
cart ere es eo |e ea ee 
S Sse ess leony ete 5 22 | $2 
| 422 a2 27 BS = Z os ne 
Months. o2 Bo <a) ay oe = a jae 
, 4 2 =m on = c 
ee eS eee aetna Spee 2s 
26 | Be | 28 ) 22 | 2s | 2 eal 
I, toc ae peace bes S Bo | ae 
haere 3 
° 2 2 ° 2 2 x 
_ Mean of year, : ; 82 73 74 32 76 80 18 74 
| January, . : 5 IP oo 54 52 76 69 74 72 12 
February, . : 3 75 60 55 78 73 76 75 75 
March, : ‘ 5 |) &B 68 65 80 79 80 79 78 
April, . : : 5 || tele, tl 75 84 79 83 83 81 
May, . : : : 89 86 88 87 82 86 85 78 
le Junes ss : , ? 87 89 91 88 WY 83 81 ae 
July, . : : : 85 87 91 85 77 81 WG 73 
| August, F 5 Sheree 86 88 85 75 81 76 72 
| September, . : Ja Hie ee 83 84 84 76 80 “Tf 74 
| October, ; : ; 84 76 73 82 75 82 79 74 
November, . és ‘ 78 61 64 79 73 79 76 72 
| December, . : MIS oD, 55 56 76 71 76 73 70 
' Amplitude of yearly fluctuation ) = | 
(difference between hottest 19 35 | 39 12 US a) 13 apt 
and coldest months), . : j | | 
| | 


Humidity.—The humidity of different parts of India varies extremely ; 
there are climates of extreme humidity—either flat hot plains, like Lower | 
Scinde, where, without rain, the hot air is frequently almost saturated, and | 
may contain 10 or 11 grains of vapour in a cubic foot ; or mountain ranges © 
like Dodabetta, in Madras, 8640 feet above sea-level, where, during the | 
rainy season, the air is also almost saturated; a copious rain, at certain | 
times of the year, may make the air excessively moist, as on the Malabar | 
coast, the coast of Tenasserim, or on the Khasyah Hills, where the south- | 
west monsoon parts with its vapours in enormous quantities. 

On the other hand, on the elevated tableland of the interior, and on the | 
hot plains of North-West India, during the dry season, or in the places | 
exposed to the land-winds at any part, the air is excessively dry. In the | 
Deccan the annual average of the relative humidity is only 55 per cent. of | 
saturation (Sykes). Mr Glaisher has given the humidity of many places, | 
A few stations are here given :— 


(3%) 


INDIA—CLIMATE. 62 


Mean Humidity per cent. 


lene ep cca! obs | | 
2 allt oe. Z : Al all See at rst 
E Slats la] ala) a & | 2 
| | 
Mean maximum, . | 81 | 79 | 85 | 94 | 84 | 73 | 76 | 84 | 79 | 80 | 84 
,, minimum, . | 59 | 61 | 67 | 44 | 54 | 41 | 40 | 40 | 42 | 48 | 43 
Yearly mean, . . | 68 | 72 | 73 | 69 | 67 | 55 BG) BA |e | 62) 
| | | | 


The mean relative humidity at Greenwich is 82, varying from 89 in 
December and January to 76 in July. Calcutta, therefore, with a mean 
yearly humidity of 68 per cent. of saturation, is, as far as relative humidity 
(i.e., evaporating power) goes, less moist than England, and the evaporating 
power is also increased by the higher temperature. 

Rain.—The amount of rain and the period of fall vary exceedingly in the 
different places. It is chiefly regulated by the monsoons. 

When the south-west monsoon, loaded with vapour, first strikes on high 
land, as on the Western Ghauts, on the Malabar coast, or on the mountains 
of Tenasserim, and especially on the mountains of the Khasyah Hills, at 
some points of which it meets with a still colder air, a deluge of rain falls ; 
as, for example, at Cannanore (Malabar), 121 inches; Mahableshwar, 253 
inches; Moulmein (Tenasserim), 180 inches; Cherrapunji (Khasyah Hills), 
600 inches. On the other hand, even in places near the sea, if there is no 
high land, and the temperature is high, scarcely any rain falls; as in Aden, 
on the south coast of Arabia, or at Kota, in Scinde, where the amount is 
only 1-8 anually, or Kurrachi, where the yearly average is only 4:6 inches. 
Or in inland districts, the south-west monsoon, having lost most of its water 
as it passed over the hills, may be comparatively dry, as at Nusserabad, 
where only 15-8 inches fall per annum, or Peshawar, where there are 13:7 
inches annually. 

The yearly amount of rain in some of the principal stations is— 


Average. z Average, 
Calcutta, : 3 Se BIONS Madras Presidency— 
Madras, : : Be hte 510) Bellary, . ‘ Sh IEC 
Bombay, ; ae leak Bangalore, : Beh 335) 
Bengal Pr esidency— Trichinopoly, . eoUso 
Dinapore, sip cle Secunderabad, . SBD 
Berhampore, 49°8 
Benares, O14 
Ghazipur, 41-4 Bombay ae 
Azimghar, . 40 Belgaum, 51-5 
Agra, 27°9 Poonah, 27°6 
Delhi, 25-1 Neemuch, ‘ 34:1 
Meerut, 18 Kampti, 21:8 
Panjab, 56°6 


Winds.—The general winds of India are the north-east monsoon, which 
is, in fact, the great north-east trade-wind, and’ the south-west monsoon, a 
wind caused by the aspiration of the hot earth of the continent of Asia 
when the sun is at its northern declination. During part of the year (May 
to August) the south-west monsoon forces back the trade-wind or throws it 


624 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


up, for at great altitudes the north-east monsoon blows through the whole. 
year, and the south-west monsoon is below it. But, in addition, there are) 
an immense number of local winds, which are caused by the effect of hills. 
on the monsoons, or are cold currents from hills, or sea breezes, or shore- 
winds caused by the contact of sea breezes and other winds, or by the first, 
feeble action of the south-west monsoon before it has completely driven 
back the north-east trade. The south-west monsoon is in most of its course! 
loaded with vapour ; the north-east is, on the contrary, a colder and drier 
wind, except when at certain times of the year, in passing over the Indian 
Ocean, it takes up some water, and reaches the Coromandel coast and 
Ceylon as a moist and rain-carrying wind. 

The hot land-winds are caused by both the south-west monsoon, after it 
has parted with its moisture and got warmed by the hot central plains, and 
the north-east monsoon; the temperature is very great, and the relative 
humidity very small, the ‘difference between the dry and the wet bulb being 
sometimes 15° to 25° Fahy, | 

Pressure of the Air.—On this point little need be said. The barometer is) 
very steady at most sea-coast stations, with regular diurnal oscillations, 
chiefly caused by alteration in humidity. An elevation of 5000 feet lowers: 
the barometer to nearly 26 inches. 

Electricity. —On this point few, if any, experiments have been made ; the 
air is extremely charged with electricity, especially in the dry season, and 
the dust-storms are attended with marked disturbance of the electrometer. Ty 

Effects of Climate.—The estimation of the effects of such various climates) 
is a task of great difficulty. Long continued high temperature, alterna- 
tions of great atmospheric dryness and moisture, rapidly moving and) 
perhaps dry and hot air, are common conditions at many stations ; at 
others, great heat during part of the year is followed by weather so cold 
that even in England it would be thought keen. When to these influences! 
the development of malaria is added, enough has been said to show that, | 
a priori, we can feel certain that the natives of temperate climates will not 
support such a climate without influence on health, and the selection of 
healthy spots for troops is a matter of the greatest moment as affects both’ 
health and comfort. This much being said, it must at the same time be 
asserted that, malaria excepted, the influences of climate are not the chief 
causes of sickness. 

The location of troops should be governed by two or three conditions mal 
military necessities ; 2, convenience: 3, conditions of health. The second | 
of these conditions is, however, a mere question of administration ; every 
place can be made convenient in these days of railway and easy locomotion. | 
Military necessity and health are the only real considerations which should. 
euide our choice. The vital military points must be held with the necessary 
forces, and then the whole of the remaining troops can be located on the’ 
most healthy spots. 

These spots cannot be in the plains. Let any one look at a geological 
map of India, and see the vast tract of alluvial soil which stretches from the 
loose soil of Calcutta, formed by the deposit of a tidal estuary, up past 
Cawnpore, Delhi, to the vast plains of the Panjab, Scinde, and Beltchistan. 
The whole of that space is more or less malarious, and will continue to be 
so until, in the course of centuries, it is brought into complete tillage, 
drained, and cultivated. Moreover, heat alone without malaria tells upon 


1 See Baddeley’s Whirlwinds and Dust Storms of India (1860), for a very good account of | 
these singular storms. 


INDIA—CLIMATE. 625 


the European frame, lessens the amount of respiration and circulation, and 
lowers digestive power. 

In looking for healthy spots, where temperature is less tropical, and 
malarious exhalations less abundant, there are only two classes of localities 
which can be chosen—seaside places and highlands. 

easide Places.—The advantages of a locality of this kind are, the reduc- 
tion in temperature caused by the expanse of water, the absence of excessive 
dryness of the air, and the frequent occurrence of breezes from the sea. All 
these advantages may be counteracted by the other features of the place ; 
by a damp alluvial soil, bad water, &c. 

It does not appear that many eligible places have yet been found, and as 
a substitute in Bengal, the Europeans from Calcutta sometimes live on 
board a steamer anchored off the sandheads, thus literally carrying out a 
suggestion of Lind in the West Indies a century ago. 

In the Bay of Bengal, Waltair, in the northern division of Madras, is one 
of the best.1 Cape Calimere (28 miles south of Nagapatam) also appears to 
have many advantages (Macpherson). On the opposite coast, Cape Negrais, 
on the Burmese coast, was pointed out as long ago as 1825, by Sir Ranald 
Martin, asa good marine sanitarium, and Amherst, in Tenasserim, and some 
of the islands down the coast towards Mergui, are beautiful spots for such a 
purpose, being, however, unfortunately at a great distance from the large 
military stations, and not well supplied with food. 

On the Bombay side, at Sedashagar or Beitkal Bay, between Mangalore 
and Goa, a spur of the Western Ghauts projects into the sea for upwards of 
a mile, and forms an admirable sea-coast sanitarium (Macpherson). 

All these sea-coast stations seem adapted for organic visceral affections 
and dysentery, but they are not so well calculated for permanent stations 
for healthy men. Probably they are rather sanitaria than stations. 

Highlands.—The location of troops on the hills or on elevated tablelands 
has long been considered by the best army medical officers as the most 
important sanitary measure which can be adopted. Not only does such a 
location improve greatly the vigour of the men, who on the hill stations 
preserve the healthy, ruddy hue of the European, but it prevents many 
diseases. If properly selected, the vast class of malarious diseases dis- 
appears ; liver diseases are less common, and bowel complaints, in some 
stations at any rate, are neither so frequent nor so violent. Digestion and 
blood nutrition are greatly improved. Moreover, a proper degree of exercise 
can be taken, and the best personal hygienic rules easily observed. 

Indian surgeons appear, however, to think the hill stations not adapted 
for cardiac and respiratory complaints ; it is possible that this objection is 
theoretical. The latest European experience is to the effect that phthisis is 
singularly benefited by even moderate, still more perhaps by great elevation ; 
that anzemia and faulty blood nutrition are cured by high positions with great 
rapidity, and that if the elevation be not too great (perhaps not over 3000 
feet) even chronic heart diseases are improved. In some of the hill stations 
of India bowel complaints were formerly so frequent as to give rise to the 
term “hill diarrhea.” The elevation was credited with an effect which it 
neyer produced, for, not to speak of other parts of the world, there are 
stations in India itself (Darjiling, for example), as high as any other, 
where the so-called hill diarrhoea was unknown. At Newera Ellia, in 
Ceylon, too, if the simple condition of mountain elevation could have pro- 
duced diarrhoea, it would have been present. The cause of the hill diarrhoea 


1 Evidence of Dr Maclean in India Report, p. 139. 
2R 


Ss 


626 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


was certainly, in many stations, unwholesome drinking water; whether or 

not this was the case in all is uncertain. Some of the hill stations are said | 
not to be adapted for rheumatic cases ; in other instances (as at Sabathia) | 
rheumatism is much benefited. From reading the reports from these stations, | 
it is more probable that damp barracks, and not the station, have been in | 
some cases the cause of the rheumatism. } 

But it must be noticed that the evidence given before the Indian 
Sanitary Commission shows, on all or almost all hill stations, a most lament- | 
able want of the commonest sanitary appliances. At great expense men | 
are sent up to the hills, where everything is, or was, left undone which 
could make that expense profitable. It appeared to be thought sufficient | 
to ascend 6000 feet to abandon all the most obvious sanitary rules, without 
which no place can be healthy. 

Admitting, as a point now amply proved, that stations of elevation are 
the proper localities for all troops not detained in the plains by imperative | 
military reasons, the following questions are still not completely answered :— | 

1. What amount of elevation is the best? We have seen that to reduce | 
the temperature to the English mean, 5000 to 6000 feet must on an/| 
average be ascended. But then such an elevation brings with it certain 
inconveniences, viz., in some stations much rain and even fog at certain’ 
times of the year, and cold winds. However unpleasant this may be, it yet 
seems clear, from the experience of Newera Ellia, in Ceylon, that damp and 
cold are not hurtful. But it must also be said that, with a proper selection, 
dry localities can be found at this elevation. 

From 3000 to 4000 feet have been recommended, especially to avoid the 
conditions just mentioned. Whether places of this height are equal in’ 
salubrity to the colder and higher points is uncertain. 

Even at 6000 feet there may be marsh land, though it is not vergl 
malarious. Malarious fever has been known during the rains at Kasauli: 
(6400 feet) and Sabathu (4000), and other Himalayan stations. Malaria 
may, however, drift up valleys to a great height,! but, apart from this, it 
seems likely that 5000 feet, and probably 4000, will perfectly secure from 
malaria. Probably, indeed, a less height will be found effectual. 

At no point do hot land-winds occur, or at any rate endure, at above 4000 
feet. On the whole, it would appear probable that the best localities are 
above 5000 feet, but below 7000. 

2. What stations are the best—the tops of solitary hills, spurs of high 
mountains, or elevated tablelands ? 

Ranald Martin has called especial attention to the solitary hills, rising as 
they do sometimes from an almost level plain to 2000 and 3000 feet. Such 
mountain islands seem especially adapted for troops if there is sufficient: 
space at the top. They are free from ravines conducting cold air from higher’ 
land, and are often less rainy than the spurs of loftier hills. 

The spurs of the Himalayas, however, present many eligible spots, and so. 
do some tablelands. And perhaps, on the w hole, if the elevation is sufficient, 
it is not a matter of much importance which of ‘these formations is chosen i! 
other circumstances, viz., purity of water, space, ease of access, and supplies, 
&c., will generally decide. 

In choosing hill stations, the points discussed in the chapter on Sorts. 
should be car refully considered, and it is always desirable to have a trial for 
a year or two before the station is permanently fixed. 

In all the presidencies of India elevated spots where troops can be 


1 It has drifted up even to the summits of the Neilgherries, 7000 or 8000 feet. Indian 
Sanitary Report, Mr Elliot’s Evidence, vol. i. p. 250, 


INDIA—DISEASES OF THE NATIVES. 627 


eantoned exist in abundance.! The following table (p. 628), copied from Dr 
Macpherson’s work, gives some of the principal hill stations. Fresh stations 
are, however, being constantly discovered, and it seems now certain that 
there is scarcely any important strategical point without an elevated site 
near it. 

Near Naini Tal, in Kumaon, are Almorah (5500 feet) and Hawalbagh 
(4000 feet), both well spoken of. Kanawar (5000 or 6000 feet), in the 
valley of the Sutlej, has a delicious climate ; and Chini (about 100 miles 
from Simla) is a most desirable spot. 

Passing down from the north-west towards Calcutta, Dr M‘Clellan found 
elevated land within 100 miles of Allahabad; and in the south there are 
the Travancore Mountains, with numerous good sites. 

If, then, the mass of the troops are cantoned on elevated places, the dis- 
advantages of climate are almost removed. The Indian Sanitary Commis- 
sioners recommended that one-third of the force shall be in the hills, and 
that enfeebled men and recruits especially shall be sent there. But it is to 
be hoped that not only one-third, but a large majority of the troops will 
eventually be placed there. 


Sus-Secrion I].—Disrases or THE NATIVES. 


It is impossible that Europeans can be perfectly isolated from the nations 
-among whom they serve; they have suffered from the pestilential diseases 
of the Hindus, but still it is wonderful that they have not suffered more. 

Cholera is the chief disease, which, arising in the native population, scourges 

their conquerors. Some fevers also—relapsing fever, perhaps a “ febris 
icterodes,” or bilious remittent, which has attacked KEuropeans—have had 
their origin, or at any rate their conditions of spread, in the dense popula- 
tions of native cities. Happily the Black Death (the Maha Mari, or Pali 
plague) has never yet spread to the troops, and has indeed been confined 
within narrow limits. Still these pestilences among the native population 
are an ever-present menace to Huropeans, and, as in the case of cholera, may 
pass to them at any time. Cholera, certainly, will never be extirpated until 
fattacked in its strongholds, among the miserable dwellings which make so 
‘large a part of every Oriental city. In 1867 there were some cases among 
‘the troops of the contagious fever which has caused so much mortality in 
many of the Bengal jails. The exact influence on Europeans of the customs 
and modes of life of the natives of India has not been made an object of 
special study, but it cannot be inconsiderable. In many places the Euro- 
/peans and the natives are in close neighbourhood, and the air at all times, 
‘and often the water, must be influenced by the social life of the native races. 
‘The proximity to large cities or bazaars is indeed often alluded to by army 
officers as influencing the health of their men ; it would be very interesting 
| 0 know the precise effect. The sanitary condition of almost all the large 
| tative towns, and the sanitary habits of the country people, are as bad as 
| van be. Bad water, feetid air, want of sewage removal, and personal habits 


__1See the evidence in the Indian Sanitary Report (vol. i.) of Sir R. Martin, Mr Elliott 
Or Maclean, Dr Alexander Grant, Mr Montgomery Martin, and others. Also most 
‘astructive reports by Mr Macpherson, Indian Report, vol. ii. p. 622; and by Dr Alexander 
) ‘rant, Indian Annals. On the location of troops reference may also be made to the late 
_urgeon-General Dr Beatson’s very decided opinion on the necessity of placing on the hills 
ll the men who can be spared from the military posts in the plains. No more valuable opinion 
Kt /ould be given on such a point than that of an officer who had the largest possible experience, 
- nd the best opportunities of ferming a correct judgment. (See his Report in the Army 
| led. Report, vol. viii. p. 347.) Sir William Muir also urged this point, and the result is that 
radually more and more troops are being located on the hills. 


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INDIA—HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE TROOPS. 629 


of uncleanliness abound everywhere. The Report of the India Sanitary 
Commission, and the activity of the Indian officials in the Sanitar y Depart- 
ments, are now beginning a series of changes in this respect, which will 
probably change, zz toto, the medical history of India. 


Sus-Section []].—Sprecrat Hycerentc Conpirions. 


The special hygienic conditions (apart from locality) under which the 
soldier serves in India have been the main causes of excess of disease. This 
subject has received a searching inquiry from the Sanitary Commissioners.! 
They declare, and after reading the station reports and the evidence given 
before them no one will doubt the assertion, that while malaria, extremes 
of temperature, moisture, and variability of temperature cause a certain 
amount of sickness, “there are other causes of a very active kind, connected 
with stations, Tanracks) hospitals, and the habits of the men, of the same 
nature as those which are known in colder climates, to occasion attacks of 
those very diseases from which the Indian army suffer so severely.” 

And the Commissioners enumerate a list of causes connected with un- 
healthy stations, bad barracks, overcrowding, impure air and water, bad 
drainage, imperfect ablution, inferior rations and cooking, &e. 

In fact, no doubt can exist in the minds of all who have studied the 
subject that these form the most potent class of causes which affect health. 


Sup-Section TV.—Hasits AnD CusTOMS OF THE TROOPS. 


The habits of the men and the customs of service were, however, also 
great causes of diseases, and are still so to some extent. 

The men were, as a rule, intemperate, great smokers, and indisposed for 
exertion. It has, indeed, been pointed out with truth, that in proportion to 
their amount of exercise the men were much overfed, and some diseases of 
the liver appear to result directly from this simple condition. 

The want of exercise is not always the fault of the men. The early morn- 
ing hours, and often the evening, are occupied with parades ; in the period 
between, the men used to be confined to barracks, and are still sometimes 
so. Here, listless, unoccupied, and devoured with ennui, they passed the 
weary day, lying down perhaps for hours daily, or lounging on chairs 
smoking. 
This forced confinement to barracks is indeed an evil often greater than 
that it is intended to remove. To prevent men from passing out into the 
sun they are compelled to remain in a hot, often ill-ventilated room, worse 
for health than the intensest rays of the sun,” that scape-goat of almost every 
fault and vice of Indian life. 


i Fonort of the Commissioners on the Sanitary State of the Army in India, 1863, Report, 
_p. 79, published in 1864 in small bulk. 
_ 2 The late Dr Parkes wrote—‘‘I shall never forget the sufferings of the men in the old 
‘barracks at Madras. We arrived there from Moulmein, where the men had never been con- 
‘fined to barracks, and where, during two hot seasons, no injury had resulted from allowing 
them to go out when they liked. Onarrivalat Madras, in accordance with invariable ¢ ustom, 
the men were confined to barracks. They lay all day on their beds, reeking with perspira- 
tion; the place was so small and v entilation so bad, that the heat was perfectly intolerable 
in the barracks, though the sun’s rays were quite bearable. The sufferings were extreme. 
When the afternoon came, more injury had been done by the hot and impure air than ex- 
/Posure to the sun’s rays could have caused. 

“At Moulmein, in Tenasserim, at one time, two European regiments served together. The 
barracks of each were perfectly healthy ; the food and duties were the same ; yet one showed 
‘a sick list and mortality always much ereater than the other. Serving in the station shortly 
afterwards, I was so struck by this difference that I went over all the returns and reports in 


630 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


All these causes have been summed up by Miss Nightingale in some of 
those telling sentences which have done more than anything else to force 
attention to these vital questions. 

Of late years a great change has taken place in the habits of the men,— 
more open air exercises of all kinds ; and in the cooler stations athletic sports 
and cricket have been encouraged; in some of the hill stations the troops have 
been employed in making roads and public works, and the practice of trades 
“has been promoted. Were the troops chiefly on ‘the hills, as much exercise 
as at home would be possible, and the men would preserve their European 
vigour and appearance. But even in the plains exercise is necessary, and if 
it be taken at proper times (7.e., with avoidance of the three or four hottest 
hours), and with proper precautions, such as keeping the head and spine 
well covered and cool, putting on after profuse sweating dry and thin mixed 
cotton and woollen underclothes, and protecting the loins and abdomen with 
a silk or flannel sash, and avoiding stimulants before and during the exercise, 
all men would be benefited even by very great exercise. 

The pale, feeble appearance of persons who keep much in the darkened 
houses is really owing more to the absence of light and to the unhealthy and 
sedentary life than to the effect of the climate. 

The subject of clothing has been already referred to. In Algeria, as in 
India, much good has been ascribed to the use of very large flannel belts, 
which the French suspend from the shoulders, a plan better adapted for 
comfort than the so-called cholera belts of India. 

With regard especially to diet, two points must be considered :— | 

1. What amount of food should be taken? In India, as in all parts of — 
the world, food should be taken in proportion to the mechanical work done 
by the body, and to the equivalent of mechanical energy, viz., animal heat. 

High temperature, as lessening the loss of the body heat, must pro tanto | 
lessen the need of food to supply the temperature ; and it has been supposed — 
that the diet of men in cold countries (Arctic regions) and in hot contrasted — 
remarkably in respect of the amount of carboniferous food taken by each, 
But although it is certain that large quantities of meat and fat are taken by | 
men living in or arriving in cold countries, it is now known that the natives — 
of some of the hottest parts of the world take immense quantities of both 
fats and starches. In fact, both these substances are taken to supply — 
mechanical energy directly, as well as animal heat. It is not, in fact, yet 
known what amount of lessening of food, or what kind of lessening, the 
increased heat of the tropics demands, or whether any is demanded, for exact 
experiments are wanting. Our best guide at present for the quantity of | 
food to be taken in the tropics is to apportion it to the amount of mechanical | 
work done, as in temperate climates. In India, as elsewhere, it must be in 


the staff-surgeon’s office to make out the cause; the only difference I could detect was, that 
in the sickly regiment the men were confined to barracks, in the other they were allowed to 
go about as they pleased. Many years afterwards I met with a medical officer who had | 
served in the sickly regiment, and learned from him that he had always considered the con- 
finement to barracks, and the want of exercise, and the impure air breathed by that system | 
almost night and day, to have been the cause of a disparity so striking. No one would re- | 
commend imprudent exposure to the sun; men may be trusted to avoid its intensest rays; 
but to reduce men to enforced idleness for many hours, and to confine them in the small space 
of a barrack-room, is not the way of meeting the evil. (On this point see also Dr Clark’s 
observations on want of exercise as compared with exposure to the sun on the West Coast of | 
Africa.) On this point, as in many others, the statements of Dr Kenneth Mackinnon are | 
deserving of great attention. His remarks on the desirability of exercise, even in the trying © 
climate of Tirhoot in Bengal, are very striking. (A Z'reatise on Public Health, by Kenneth | 
Mackinnon, M.D., Cawnpore, 1848, pp. 27 and 145.) He strongly recommended open sheds 
and gymnasia, and these are now being adopted.” 
1 How People may Live and not Die in India, by Florence Nightingale, 1863. 


INDIA—-FOOD AND EXERCISE. 631 


balance with exercise. The points then to be considered are the amounts of 
daily food and of daily exercise, and, by means of the tables formerly given, 
and by knowing the habits of the men, little difficulty will be found in 
determining the proper ration quantity of food with accuracy. 

In considering the amount of food, it must be remembered that the soldier 
almost always buys additional food, and often eats much more than his 
ration. Some years ago Dr Macnamara found the troops in Bengal taking 
no less than 76 ounces of food (¢.e., water-containing food), while the regu- 
lation ration was only 52 ounces, so that these men were largely over- 
feeding. And Dr Dempster! states that the majority of the recruits from 
Scotland and England eat in the hot weather in India much more animal 
food than in the coldest seasons in their native countries.” 

It would therefore seem that illness may arise in India from excess of 
food, but it is not the regulation ration which produces it, but the additional 
purchased food, which is often of bad quality, or the extreme idleness of the 
men, in which case even the regulation ration is too much. The only 
remedy is instruction of the men in what is good for them, and no men are 
so stupid as not to perceive what is best for their own comfort and happiness 
when it is once pointed out to them. 

In addition, the soldier in India had till very lately the spirit ration (now 
lessened to one-half), which has the effect of lessening the power of appro- 
priation of food, though not always the appetite, and thus indirectly may 
cause over-feeding. 

2. Admitting (till better observations are made) that men in the tropics, 
undergoing as much exertion as at home, will demand as much food, and in 
the same proportions, as far as the four classes of aliment are concerned (and 
all physiological evidence goes to show that this must be the case, and that 
not external temperature, per se, but the work of the body, is the chief 
measure of food), the next question is whether the different articles of the 
diet should be altered ; whether, for example, the same amount of nitrogen 
being given, it should be contained in vegetable or animal food ? 

It has been stated by several of the best observers in the tropics that those 
who eat largely of animal food are less healthy than those who take more 
vegetable food ; and Friedel, in his work on China, has again directed atten- 
tion to the fact? that the amount of digestive and hepatic disease is much 
greater among the English than among any other European settlers in China. 
But whether this is owing to excessive animal food, or excess generally in all 
food, and to too much wine, beer, and spirits, is not certain. The diet is 
probably too rich as a whole. 

Supposing meat is taken in proper but not excessive quantity with farin- 
aceous food, as at home, is it less healthy than a quantity of vegetable food 
containing an equivalent amount of nitrogen? On this point strict scientific 
evidence has not been produced, With regard to excess of animal food there 
is no doubt ; but animal food in moderation has not been shown to be more 
active in causing liver complaints in India than at home. 

Considering, indeed, how important it is, when the digestive organs have 
been accustomed to one sort of diet, not to change it suddenly and com- 
_ pletely, it seems very doubtful whether it would be desirable for the Kuropean 
arriving in India at once to give up all previous habits, and to commence an 
entirely different kind of diet. 


| 1 Indian Sanitary Report—Evidence. 
_ * Colonel Sykes long ago directed particular attention to this point, stating with perfect 
_ truth that the soldier in India is over-stimulated by food and drink and under-stimulated 
_ by bodily and mental exercise. 

* Already noticed as regards India and the Mauritius 


632 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


It is possible, however, that the meat standard of England might be some- 
what reduced, and the bread, flour, and leguminosz increased. This is not 
the opinion, however, of some of those who have lately paid particular atten- 
tion to Indian rations (Dr C. A. Gordon and Dr Inglis),! and who believe 
that the amount of meat is even too small. 

It has often been said that Europeans in India should imitate the 
natives in their food, but this opinion is based on a misconception. The 

‘use of ages has accustomed the Hindu to taking large quantities of rice, 
with pulses or corn ; put an European on this diet, and he could not at first 
digest it ; the very bulk would be too much for him. The Hindu, with this 
diet, is obliged to take large quantities of condiments (pepper, &c.). The 
European who did the same would produce acute gastric catarrh and hepatic 
congestion in a very short time ; in fact, as already stated, one great fault 
of the diet of Europeans arriving in India is too great use of this part of the 
native diet. 

Two points about the diet of India seem quite clear. One is, that spirits 
are most hurtful, and that even wine and beer must be taken in great 
moderation. Of the two beverages, light wines (clarets), which are now 
happily coming into use in India for the officers, are the best. For the 
men good beer should be provided, but it is important to teach the men 


moderation. The allowance per man per diem should never be more than | 


a quart, and men would find themselves healthier with a single pint per day. 
But it would seem probable that, especially in the hot stations and seasons, 
entire abstinence should be the rule, and that infusions of tea and coffee are 
the best beverages.” 

The other point is, that in the tropics there is perhaps even a greater 


tendency to scurvy than at home; the use of fruits, then, is of great im- _ 


portance, and, whenever practicable, the growth of fruit trees should be 
encouraged in the neighbourhood of stations. In some stations (Mialtan) 
lime juice has been issued with the greatest benefit when vegetables were 
scarce. 


Health of the Troops. 


India presents in many respects the same history as our other tropical 


possessions. In former years there was a large mortality among Europeans, — 


attributed usually to the climate, instead of being put down to its proper 
causes, viz., a reckless mode of living amidst the most insanitary conditions. 
As years have passed, the same gradual improvement has occurred in India 


as in the West Indies. Habits have improved, and the conditions of life 
have been slowly altered for the better. This change has been going on | 


for years, and there has been an astonishing progress since the Mutiny. 


Much, no doubt, remains to be done, but the fall in mortality and in sick- — 
ness has been so marked in all the Presidencies as to lead us to hope that _ 


in a few more years the Indian service will, like the West Indian, be almost 


as healthy as the home service. It cannot be rash to anticipate such a 


result, since so great an improvement has already taken place, for the 


mortality even now has fallen two-thirds, compared with that of thirty 


years ago. 


1 Op. cit., and Army Medical Reports, vol. v. p. 380. 
2 The drinks which the private soldier often buys in the bazaars in India are of the worst 
description ; arrack mixed with cayenne and other pungent substances, or fermented toddy 


mixed with peppers and narcotics, or drugged beer, are common drinks. It would’be easy to © 


put a stop to this by legislative enactment. 


) 


INDIA—MORTALITY OF EUROPEANS. 633 


The following table shows this :— 


Earlier Years.—Mortality of Europeans per 1000 of Strength. 


é mn Bengal Bombay Madra: 
Years and _<uthorities.* Bresrdeuey: Bieeidency: Piesideney: 
1845-54 (Chevers), . 63°38 60°20 | 59:20 
1838-56 (Queen’s troops alone— "9 +9 : 6s 
Balfons) 79°20 61°10 62°90 
1806-56 (Company’s troops alone’ 
—Indian Sanitary Commis- 74:10 66-00 63°50 
sioners, . 


In 1812-16, in the Bengal Presidency, the deaths averaged 96°5 per 1000; 
in the Bombay Presidency, in 1819-20, the deaths were 80 per 1000. 

The above mean mortality includes every loss; in some years it was, of 
course, greater, in some less; but on the whole, large every year, with a few 
exceptions, till the year 1856. After the Mutiny, about the year 1860, 
the sanitary improvements and the greater care of the troops which had 
been gradually taking place received an immense impulse. The results 
are shown below. 


Later Years.— Mortality of Europeans per 1000 of Strength. 


Bengal Madras Bombay 


Presidency. -| Presidency. Presidency. 
Years and Authorities. 
Total Total Total 
Mortality. Mortality. Mortality. 
1860-9 (10 years—Balfour), . Bl D7 22S 22°58 
1870-79 (10 years—A, ID. Reports) 20°17 18°97 16°37 
1879-83 (5 years), 2 : 20°71 12°43 15°49 


Causes of Sickness and Death. 


The causes of diseases and deaths of Europeans are given in the follow- 


1 The chief statistics of the forces in India are contained in— 

1. Numerous scattered papers in the various Indian medical periodicals for the last sixty 
years, referring chiefly to the health of one Presidency or of regiments or forces occupying 
small districts. 

2. Summaries of the whole, by Colonel Sykes (for twenty years ending 1847, Statistical 
Journal, vol. x.) ; Sir Ranald Martin (Influence of Tropical Climates, 2nd edition) ; Mr Ewart 
(Vital Statisties of European and Native Armies, 1859); Drs Waring and Norman Chevers 
(Indian Annals, 1858-1862) ; and, as far as: officers and civilians are concerned, by Colonel 
Henderson (Asiatic Researches, vol. xx.) and Mr Hugh Macpherson. 

3. Official documents, the most important of which are contained in the Indian Sanitary 
Report ; in the yearly Army Medical Department Reports since 1860 ; in the various Reports 
of the Sanitary Commissioners in the three Presidencies, in the invaluable Returns of the late 
Dr Bryden, and in the municipal and other official reports sent in from towns or districts. 
At present the most valuable information is being collected and published in India of the 
health, not only of the European and native armies, but of the civil population ; and records 
of population and of births and deaths are now systematically made. For the first time the 
Indian Government is gradually obtaining a view of the state of health of the numerous 
nations it controls. 

The Reports from Bengal (Annual Reports of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Govern- 
ment of India) and those from Madras and Bombay are models of their kind, and must have 
a great effect on the health of the inhabitants of all India. The information given in these 
excellent Reports is so copious, that it is impossible to give any adequate account of it in 
this short chapter. Only the most striking points are noticed. 

* Including deaths of Invalids. 


634 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


ing table! During the period of five years there was some cholera in 


Bengal in the years 1879, 1880, and 1881 :— 


Admissions and Deaths per 1000 of Strength. 


Bengal. Madras. Bombay. 
Causes. 1879-83. 1884, 1879-83. 1884, 1879-83. 1884, 
Adm. |Died.| Adm. |Died.| Adin. |Died.|} Adm. |Died.| Adm. |Died.| Adm. |Died. 
Sie : 4:5] 3-46) 2-1| 1-33 2-0 1-141 1-1] 1-02| 0-7] 0-44| 6-2] 4-Bal. 
Paroxy smal fevels, 3 582°0| 1°34) 564-3) 0°36) 204-3) 0°34) 80-1) ... 702-2) 1°72] 365-2] 1:30 
Enteric fever, 778} 3°00 12°5| 3°29 3°6| 1°48 11-9] 1°66 4°3) 2-04 9-0) 2:05) 
Other continued fevers, 139-4] 0°16} 109-5] 0°06) 77:7) 0°21) 84-2) ... 113°6) 0°16) 112-6) 0°84 
Small-pox, 1:0] 0-68 1°5|} 0718 0°5| 0°04 1:8} 0°09 0°3) 0-04 0°8) 0-09 . 
Other eruptive fevers, y 2-1) 0:01 0-8 0:5 |e 1-2 x 0-3] ... 0-7| ... 
(including Heneve),)| ; 
Rheumatism, : 58°1] 0°02 34°8| 0°06 29-6] 0°02 EN oe, 34°8) 0°14 PA AL . 
Syphilis, primary, RFI 0 SOc 7m 105°9| ... 101°4| ... 83°) 0°02} _ 90-1) ... 
e secondary, 23-9) 0°03) 24-4)... 2371) 0:06) 25:2) ... 22°5 19-0] 23 
Gonorrhea, . 12971} 0-01) 149°5} ... | 114°6) ... | 133-6] ... | 113-6) ... | 148-4) 
Phthisis, Scrofula, &e., 7-0) 1°45 7-2) 1-09 6-5) 0°97 5-4} 0°55 7-2) 1-21 8-1) 1°03 
pee ais 0| 0 1 6-3} 1°30 
Pneumonia, . ; Re = 4:0| 0°47 3 ol si : i 
Bronchitis, &c., } ie 130) { 418 peal oe! oraz { 25:3 0-09) } oy 156|{ 34-1) 0°36 
Circulatory :— reeves an | 
Heart, &., . : F 145) 0° x : :2|| 
Aneurysm, |, h noe 0-63) { 0-2 0-03] } 1875) 1078) 4-6) 0TS) 6:8 0567 { 16-7| 0°37 
Nervous, . . : 20°3) 2°43; 19-5) 1°33)” 15:4] 1°41) 14-8} 0°93) 15-3} 1°80} 17-8} 1°68 
Eye, . > - 15°6] ... 16-8) ... 15°3 12°6| «+. 14°9 14°5| can 
Digestive :—Liver, ) 31°2} 1°00 ) 44°] aan ( 26°6 i 
Dysentery C Bear : 21°6| 0°18) [ : 2 56°0| 9° y 2 25°3) 0° 
ee Diarrhea, 256°9) 4:08 50-8} 0-03] 7 239-9) 3 33) 42-)| 0:09 210°7| 3°41 46-2 0-19 
ee Other, 121-8) 0°27 j 87-1 ) 115°5| 0-74 
Urinary (excluding f 
gonoirhea),.  . 10-6] 0:23) 11-9] ... 8-0] 0:25 14-0] 0-19} 9-7] 0-24} 11-8] 0-19 
Injuries and poisons, 104-9} 1°80} 132-4) 1°40) 105-2} 1°73} 116-1) 1°29] 109-6} 1:64) 122-7| 2°24 
All other causes, 5 188°8} 0°48) 184°8) 0°45} 192-8} 0°20) 101-2} 0°51) 188-1] 0°50} 190-4) 0°47 
Total, . 1671°7| 20-71 1644-6) 12°10] 1195-5! 12°43| 1106-2| 9-25] 1699-9| 15-59| 1415-3) 19°76 


The following table shows the distribution of mortality according to 
age :— 


Deaths per 1000 of Strength at the Ages named. 


All India. Under 20| 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and 
years. under 25. | under 30. | under 35. | under 40. | upwards. 


17°59 24°63 34°17 44°13 60°88 


1860-9 (10 years—Balfour), “25 
65 14°79 16°95 22°14 28°17 52°01 
70 

1 


9 
1870-9 (10 years), . , 6° 
1874-83 (10 years), . : a 
TE a aa 4 


15°10 14°75 19°35 21°25 43°42 


“Al 15°20 11°56 11°00 12°58 13°95 


If these numbers are compared with those of men serving at home, it will 
be seen that the mortality at every period is greater in India. If the 


average for the corresponding years in England be multiplied by three for 
the earlier ages and by two for the older, the result comes close to the 


average Indian numbers. At the ages above 30 the rate in India is dis- | 


tinctly diminishing. 


These facts are an argument against the view that age, per se, increases | 
the total mortality faster than it does at home ; and the ‘statistics of officers 


confirm the inference drawn from the argument. The mortality of the 
members of the Military and Medical num in Madras and Bengal has been | 
evel determined i, actuaries, and the folios table proves that 


1 Army pitapai Ree “All XXVi, 


INDIA—MORTALITY ACCORDING TO SERVICE. 635 


mortality among officers does not increase with age in anything like the 
proportion it does among non-commissioned officers and privates. ‘The 
large mortality in the earlier ages is owing to the statistics running back to 
long periods, when the deaths were more numerous. 


Mortality in Officers (in Service Fund) according to Age,' per 1000 of 
respective Ages. 


| Under 20.| 20-25. | 25-30. | 30-35. | 35-40. | 40-45. 
| Brahe fu ao al eee Ra) 
Madras Military Fund ; / : : 
cee 29 | 326 | 316 | 32 a9:4 | 28-4 
Bengal Military Fund, . 12 22°3 24°5 27°5 29 28°9 
| Madras Medical Fund ; a f : 
| 1807-1866, . ‘ 14°2 35°1 34:1 33°4 34-1 


The mortality among officers of 30 to 35 years of age was, therefore, 
nearly the same as among privates, but at 35 to 45 it was very much less. 
Mere climatic conditions, acting more and more as age advances, can there- 
fore not account for the greater mortality of the private soldier, for they 
would act equally on the officer. No doubt the officer had a more frequent 
furlough to England; but would this be capable of giving him such an 
advantage? We must conclude that other conditions apart from, or at any 
rate superadded to, climate, must have given rise to the larger mortality 
of the private soldiers. 


Mortality according to Service. 


The question can be further considered by taking into account the effect 
of service. The following table from Dr Bryden shows the effect of service 
for three years at the different ages :— 


Death-rate per 1000 in the European Army of Bengal, excluding Cholera. 


| ; 

| Unde: AS tee 20-24. 25-29, | 80 and over. 

| Whole army of 1865-70, . : 7°61 13°67 17°41 29°94 
First year of service, . : 6 12°93 24°87 39°32 47°08 
Second year of service, 5 5 3°95 15°84 23°08 3561 
Third year of service, . 6 . 2°87 9°92 17°64 PU 


This table brings out very forcibly the great mortality of the first year of 
service at all ages; the older men suffer as much as the younger; the 
mortality falls during the second year of service, and in the third is below 
the mean mortality of the army at large. To determine how far this is 
owing to climate, we must analyse the causes of this mortality. The careful 
statistics of Dr Bryden enable us to answer this point with some accuracy.” 


ie Beeeies from the Report for 1871 of the Sanitary Commissioner (Dr Cornish) for Madras, 
372, p. 7. 

2 See Appendix C, in Bengal Sanitary Report for 1870, p. 255 et seq., and for 1871, p. 213; 
also Vital Statistics of India, vol. v. Dr Bryden’s statistics, as given in the Reports of the 
Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India, and in the separate Blue Books (Vital 
Statistics of the Bengal Presidency, 1870 and 1878), are so much more complete than any other 
that they have rendered obsolete all the older records. Dr Cornish’s statistics, as contained 
in the Madras Sanitary Reports, are also most valuable. 


636 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


Deaths in the first Two Years of Indian Service and the Death-rates at 
different Ages (1871-75).} 


Died per 1000 of Strength in the Biennial Period. 
Causes of Death. 35 
Under 24.2 25-29. 30-34. ke, 

Cholera, ae 5-34 5°87 477 13°86 
Remittent and continued fevers, ; 2°10 3°84 Yl 3°73 
Enteric fever, . : : : 9°77 10°16 1°59 0°53 
Apoplexy, . : : 211 271 4°77 12°26 
Dysentery and diarrhoea, ‘ ; 1-80 3°39 3°82 11°20 
Hepatitis, . } ; : 1°88 5°42 4°45 12°26 
Phthisis pulmonalis, ; : : 2710 1°58 3°82 8°53 
Heart diseases, - ‘ : ; 0°15 2°26 3°82 9°06 
All other causes, . : : 3 6°00 7°00 8-27 22°39 
All causes, . 31-25 42-23 36°58 | 93-82 

All causes, excluding cholera, 25°91 36°36 31°81 79°96 


100 Deaths made up at different Periods of Residence in India (1871-76).? 


lin first four er Sih, Above the | Above the 
Years. 


Disease. ist Year. | 2nd Year. ae 7th Year. | 10th Year! 

Enteric fever, 32°9 16°8 222 52 09 0°5 
Hepatitis, 1071 17°6 14°0 18°9 160 157 
Heat-apoplexy, 12-7 7 11°8 ES 10°3 a 
Phthisis, . heli 10°9 9-0 81 8:2 7°8 
Dysentery, 9°6 10°4 9-0 1071 13°3 13°7 
Other fevers, 8°9 83 7°8 73 6°0 4°6 
Heart disease, A Fes GS 5°8 11-2 16°2 17°6 
Respiratory diseases, - 4-1 4-1 4-4 59 6°8 6°6 
Suicidal deaths, 12 37 271 61 5-2 61 
All other causes ( ‘exeluding 

cholera, smallpox, and WE 11°0 13°9 15°3 nia | 1769 

accidents), ; ( 

Total, .: : : 100 100 100 | 100 | 100 100 


These tables are instructive on several points :— 

1. As regards Fever: the most serious mortality is from enteric fever, 
which attacks the young soldier, especially in his earliest term of service. 
The mean mortality below 30 years of age is, in round numbers, 10 per 
1000 of strength, from 30 to 35 less than one-sixth of that proportion, and 
above 35 only one-thirtieth. With reference to length of service, the first 
year in India shows that about 33 per cent. of the total deaths are due to — 
enteric fever, and in the first four years 22 per cent.; from the fifth to the 
seventh the proportion is reduced to 5 per cent., whilst after seven years it © 
is merely fractional. The other feyers show much less difference. 

2. Heat-Apoplery.—This formidable disease is most severe in the earlier — 
years, and attacks especially the o/d soldier: the mortality above 35 years 
of age is 124 per 1000, szz times the ratio below 24, and jive times that — 
below 30. 


1 Vital Statistics of India (Bryden), 1878, vol. v. p. 56. 
2 The number of soldiers under 20 is now very sinall—little over 2 per cent. 
® From Bryden’s Vital Statistics of India, vol. v., 1878. 


INDIA—MORTALITY ACCORDING TO SERVICE. 637 


3. Dysentery and diarrhea are more fatal to old soldiers, and in the later 
years of service. 

4. The same is very markedly the case with hepatitis, which is markedly 
a disease of deterioration. 

5. Phthisis is rather more fatal in the earliest years of service, but (in 
the period 1871-75) shows most mortality among the older soldiers. This, 
however, does not appear to be uniformly the case, if we compare previous 

years, 
: 6. Heart diseases show, as might be expected, an increasing mortality 
with age and length of residence in India. 

The most dangerous disease, therefore, which young newly arrived soldiers 
have to face in India is (putting aside cholera for the present) enteric fever ; 
next to that, but at a considerable distance, dysentery and diarrhea. These 
diseases, but most especially enteric fever, are so completely under the 
coutrol of sanitary measures that their continuance is a slur upon the 
application of our sanitary knowledge. There is no reason to believe that 
proper preventive means should be less successful in India than at home. 
For old soldiers, that is, men over 30 years of age, newly arrived in India, 
the diseases to be feared are heat-apoplery, dysentery, hepatitis, and heart 
disease, all diseases of deterioration, and favoured and aggravated by in- 
temperate habits. With careful medical selection of men much might be 
prevented, and hygienic precautions, such as free ventilation against heat- 
apoplexy, might do a great deal towards a diminution of the mortality. 
But drinking habits are the most dangerous enemy the soldier, particularly 
as he advances in years, has to contend with. The abolition of the sale of 
spirits to European soldiers, either in canteens or elsewhere, would be a 
great advantage. : 

Troops should be stationed in the hills as much as possible, so as to 
remove them from the influences of excessive heat, malaria, and choleraic 
poison, and also it might be hoped to some extent from enteric fevers. 
More efforts ought to be made to provide employment and recreation for 
the troops, who suffer greatly from enforced idleness, ennui, and the foul 
air of their barrack-rooms, to which they are still too much confined for 
fear of exposure to the sun. Undue exposure is unadvisable, but it may 
be safely said that its consequences are smaller evils than those undoubtedly 
arising from the mistaken steps taken for their prevention. 

The men ought also to be spared as much as possible from unnecessary 
night duty. 

As regards age of arrival in India, men cannot now be sent out under 
20 years of age, for, as they are not taken into the army before 19, their 
preliminary training will not be over before that age: there is also now an 
order against it. Above that age the younger they go the better. For the 
first years, if protected from enteric fever, cholera, and dysentery (which is 
quite possible), their health will be as good, if not better, than at home. 
It seems pretty clear, on the other hand, that men ought not to remain 
beyond 30 years of age, if possible, unless they are non-commissioned 
officers: the best period would appear to be between 21 and 28 years, 
After 30 years of age the private soldier is an old man in India (Bryden, 
Roberts), and this is partly due to the work he has had to do (particularly 
night guards—Roberts), but also very largely to habits of drinking. When 
we find, as in the army of Bengal, 30,000 men yielding 10,000 cases of 
drunkenness in the year, we cannot but consider it a deplorable condition 
of things, knowing as we do what a large amount of unrecorded excess 
this represents. 


638 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


Cholera in the Bengal Presidency. 


During fifty years (from 1818 to 1867) the mean annual mortality from 
cholera per 1000 of European strength in Bengal was no less than 9-4. It | 
was the great cause of variation in the percentage of mortality from year 
to year. The cholera mortality was not owing, as might have been sup-— 
posed, to service in the stations in Bengal proper (the so-called endemic 
home of the cholera), for the mean mortality in Bengal proper was below 
that of the Panjab, where cholera is occasional, 7.e, prevails only at certain 
seasons and in certain years. If we compare Bengal proper with two other 
military districts, Agra (with Central India) and the Panjab, two facts — 
come out very clearly—(1) that in Bengal proper the mortality is more 
steady, but on an average of years is lower than in the other two districts, — 
where the mean mortality is heightened by occasional tremendous out-_ 
breaks unknown in cholera’s endemic home ; (2) that in Bengal proper the — 
Sepoy mortality is higher than in Europeans, while in the other stations it 
is much lower.” 


Table to show the Mortality from Cholera per 1000 of Strength in Europeans | 
and Sepoys. 


Bengal Proper. Agra and Central India. Panjab. 
Year. —————— | ia 
3 Europeans.| Sepoys. |Europeans.| Sepoys. | Europeans.| Sepoys. 
1861, : : 6 6°51 6°38 41°21 0°25 36°10 6°88 
1862, - 0 5 611 5°44 26°90 1:30 12:74 3°99 
1863, c : Z 3°17 4°25 3°82 0°40 0°13 0°90 
1864, ; : 5 2°50 6°40 0°62 509 0°06 0°09 
1865, : : : 6°40 9°20 7°20 3°10 0°14 me 
1866, : 0 : 1:90 7°03 0°23 naD Bei ae 
1867, 5 5 5 2°50 3°50 3°30 0°90 20°70 3:90 
1868, : c 5°34 2°51 3°36 0°16 307 aoe 
1869, : , . 0°53 4°43 30°18 7°25 16°86 7°33 
1870, : : ¢ 1:00 3°03 0°47 oo 908 
1871, . : : 0°51 15) 0°24 a: Ban 
1872, : : : © iil 2°70 4°75 be 13°86 2°80 
1873, : C x 0°53 2°76 0°97 1:05 550 
1874, : 3 > 0°50 4°74 500 0:26 0°09 0:07 
1875, < 6 3 et 2°76 5°57 ILy7/ 2°27 1°50 
1876, . - 2°49 2°01 0°25 : 4°48 1°80 
Means, . ; DA. 4°27 7°46 1°01 5°63 1°83 


This table is most instructive, and proves beyond doubt that while 
cholera has never (until lately) been absent from Europeans in Bengal 
proper ® (the endemic home), it has never attained the destructive prevalence 


1 The statistics referred to in this section are those given by Bryden in his valuable 
Reports (Vital Statistics of the Bengal Presidency, 1870 and 1878), and Appendices from Dr 
Cuningham’s Annual Report. 

2 Tt has been wrongly stated that the excessive mortality from cholera of Europeans in 
the Bengal Presidency is an effect of race; the statistics of Bengal proper (as shown in the 
next table) and of the Madras Presidency entirely disprove this. In the Madras Presidency, 
in 1860-66, the annual European cholera mortality was 3°1 per 1000 of strength, and the 
Sepoy mortality was 3°07, or virtually the same. 

* Since 1876 the ratio of deaths from cholera among European troops has been very small 
in the Presidency division (including Bengal proper) :— 


WEY = , : 5 4 0°49 per 1000. 
His, 12 ; : 2 : : : i ; 0:97 5 
S795 ae : ; : , ; : : : nil. ‘3 
1880, . - 5 : : : : 5 : nil. 53 
1881, . ; : : : : : 3 ; 2°08 55 
1882, . ‘ ‘ , : ; ; é : 0:47 30 
1883, . ; ; : : F : , ; 0°48 3 


SBA We. topee 320 ody. 0 cd a eer): ee 


INDIA—CHOLERA. 639 


which occurs in Central India and the Panjab, where it is sometimes entirely 
absent for years, and yet the severity of the outbreak, where it does occur, 
makes the mean Panjab and Central India cholera mortality of sixteen years 
far greater than the cholera mortality of Bengal proper. 

Among Sepoys the mortality in Bengal proper is actually greater than in 
Europeans, while it is far less in the Upper Provinces, and in some out- 
breaks (as in Central India in 1861) the Europeans have suffered frightfully, 
while the Sepoys have been scarcely touched. 

What, then, is the cause that, while in Bengal proper, where the condi- 
tions of cholera always exist, the mortality should be comparatively low, 
there should be such terrible outbreaks in up-country stations where cholera 
is only a visitor, and why should these outbreaks affect the Europeans so 
particularly? To answer this question we may select a few of the worst 
stations in Upper India, and see what the mortality was in the epidemics 
_ of 1861—2—7-9-7 2-5-6. 


Mortality per 1000 of Zuropean Strength in different Epidemics. 


1861. 1862. 1867. 1869. 1872. 1875. 1876. | 
Meerut, . : 34°32 15°70 70°30 704 32°62 7°35 eee 
Mean Meer, - | 245°63 | 49°93 50°49 ao: 86°87 1°90 ee | 
Peshawar, . ; ae 49°24 92°93 | 120714 21°53 s0¢ 23°06 | 
Agra, : : 56°56 | 42°50 c0C 2p 15°57 900 ogo | 
Morar, . HOUT OMeMoweeo 11°52 82°89 17°05 17°05 


This table shows that the outbreaks are very variable in intensity ; a sta- 
tion may be quite free from cholera in one epidemic and suffer frightfully in 
another. In Agra, in 1861-62, there were seven outbreaks; in 1867 and 
1869 there was no case, though the disease was all round. 

If we analyse the station statistics themselves, the remarkable fact comes 
out that some of the severest outbreaks involved only a portion of the 
Europeans. 

At Meerut, in 1867, while the 3rd Buffs were literally more than decimated, 
the hussars and Sepoys were as healthy as if they had been in England. 

These facts show that the hypothesis of an epidemic influence produced 
by something floating in the air is incredible, and for such a partial distribu- 
tion as is shown above would be impossible. If these figures prove anything, 
it is that the cause of the tremendous loss in these stations is not a generally 
diffused cause, but a well-marked local development, having narrow limits, 
and sometimes involving only a single barrack. 

The figures also show that the supposition that the difference in mortality 
between the Europeans and Sepoys is owing to difference of social habits 
(especially as regards latrine arrangements) is unlikely, for different bodies 
of Europeans in the same station suffer as diversely as Europeans and 
Sepoys. 

The localising conditions, which give the intense spread to what is, no 
doubt, an imported agent, must be referable to either soil, water, air, or food. 
Faulty latrine arrangements, if they exist, must act through one or other of 
these media, poisoning the ground, or air, or water. The inquiry into the 
local spread of cholera, if concentrated on the locality, and carried to the ex- 
haustion of every possible factor, must surely solve this problem. It is as in 
enteric fever at home, where everything often seems a mystery until a 
minute search is made, and then what seemed inexplicable is found to be 
simple. 


640 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


But, without waiting for the solution of the cause of these localisations of 
cholera, the fact of the localisation points out preventive measures which, as 
a matter of reasonable precaution, ought to be taken in every barrack in 
Upper India where these great outbreaks have occurred. These measures — 
should be adopted on the ground of removing every possible local cause, 


even though the particular precaution may not have been proved to be. 


necessary. 

1. The influence of the ground should be excluded by the most thorough / 
paving and cementing everywhere, and by careful examination and cleansing © 
under every floor. When possible ground floors should not be occupied as 
sleeping rooms. 

2. A fresh water supply should be obtained at any cost, be from an un- 
doubted source, and be kept solely for the use of the barrack. During an 
epidemic all water should be boiled before use, or, better still, distilled. 

3. The cooking arrangements should be entir ely remodelled, and the supply 
of every article of food carefully considered. 

4. The latrine arrangements should be remodelled, the places changed, and 
the system at every point scrutinised to see if soil, air, or water can in any 
way be contaminated by percolation or emanation. 

If, after adopting these measures, and carrying them out fairly in their 
integrity, an outbreak still occurs, this cannot throw doubt on the correct-_ 
ness of the view which attaches so much weight to localisation ; it will only | 
show that we have not solved the problem of the localising agency, and if - 
no other local sanitary measures can be adopted the barrack should alto- 
gether be abandoned. But this will hardly be found to be necessary. 

With regard to Mean Meer, which has suffered so severely and so often 
from cholera, it is a very important fact that enteric fever has from time to_ 
time prevailed at that station, as in 1860-69-70. In the two latter years a 
careful examination of the water supply was made by Surgeon-Major Skeen, | 
of the 85th Regiment, who formally gave evidence on the point that in both 
these years the water was the medium of introduction. The fact of enteri¢ 
fever being thus introduced by well water (temporarily used in the absence 
of canal water), the chemical analysis showing feecal impregnation of this 
well water, and the existence of sources of feecal contamination of water, all 
seem strongly to indicate that cholera evacuations would also, in all proba- 
bility, pass into the water, and might account for the fearful outbreaks at 
Mean Meer. At any rate, there can be no doubt that means should be taken 
to entirely close the wells, which are occasionally used, and if the canal water 
which is ordinarily used does not give a sufficient supply at all times of the 
year, that a fresh source should be brought down at any cost. The strong’ 
facts given by Dr De Renzy respecting Peshawar prove that the same | 
course , should be adopted in that station. ‘These measures are imperatively 
demanded as a matter of precaution, and no theoretical arguments that the 
water is not to blame ought to be allowed to override them, The diminu-- 
tion of cholera at Calcutta among Europeans since the introduction of a pure 
water supply and improved drainage is very encouraging for the strenuous 
application of local measures. 


Phthisis in India. 


The amount of phthisis in India is a highly interesting question, and in 
the following table the admissions, deaths, and invaliding from this cause are 
given for successive periods :— 


INDIA——PHTHISIS. 641 


Phthisis, including Hemoptysis per 1000 of Strength. 


Admissions. Deaths. Invalided.} Ue er 
- BENGAL. 
4 years—(1863-66), 75 IEZAl 2°73 4-44 
4 years—(1807-70), 1071 175 3°64 5°39 
6 years—(1869-74), 101 1:87 ane bbs 
6 years—(1875- 80), 78 1:48 
BomBay. 
4 years—(1863-66), att 1-52 3°28 4°81 
4 years—(1867-70), 9-2 1:28 3°58 4°81 
6 years—(1869-74), 10:0 1:67 bE 
6 years—(1875- -80), 67 1:25 we 
MADRAS. 
4 years—(1863-66), ial 5) 1°46 3°66 SIL 
4 years—(1867-70), ites) 1°34 4-74 6°07 
6 years—(1869-74), 13°0 1°62 wie ss 
6 years—(1875-80), 81 1:37 
Means, 18 years (1863- 80), 
Bengal, . : 8-7 1:68 2-97 4°64 
Bombay, 8-2 1°40 O74 5:08 
Madras, 10°8 1:44 3°73 502 
1884, Bengal, 7:2 1:09 2°64 3°73 
Madras, 5:4 0°50 rok 286 
Bombay, 8:1 1:03 3°26 4:29 
1884, India generally, 7:0 0°97 2°68 3°65 


How regularly the causes of phthisis must be acting is seen in the fact 
that in four years, 1863-66, 74 men died from phthisis in the Bombay 
Presidency, and 73 in the Madras Presidency, the mean number of troops 
being in each case almost precisely the same (12,119 and 12,512). In the 
next four years, with a smaller number of troops, 53 and 55 died in the two 
Presidencies. The means of deaths (for 18 years) and invaliding (12 years) 
are practically identical for Madras and Bombay as shown above. In the 
Bengal Presidency the deaths are higher, but the invaliding is less, so that 
the slight difference is compensated. More men died, and fewer were sent 
away. 

The table seems to show clearly that the immense range and variation of 
climates in which the troops serve in India produce no effect whatever on 
the production of phthisis ; and this inference is again strengthened by the 
fact that the mortality in Bengal from phthisis is precisely the same as in 
Canada (1:71 per 1000). The means for 12 years (1869-1880) were— 

| Bengal, 1:37 ; all India, 1°30; Canada, 1°37. 

If the Indian mortality and invaliding are compared with the table already 
given of phthisis in the home army, it will be seen that there is decidedly 
less phthisisin India. The mortality is less, and the invaliding is far below. 
_ There can be no doubt, then, that the causes of phthisis are less active in 
- India than at home ; and if these causes are not climatic, must the difference 
not be found in the larger breathing space and greater lateral separation men 
have in India? 

It would be interesting to have some certain statistics of the amount of 
phthisis in former years, when men were more crowded ; Ewart ? gives the 
deaths in the Bengal Presidency, from 1812 to 1831, as 2°6 per 1000 of 
strength, and from 1832 to 1851-52 as 1°8 per 1000. In the Bombay 


i 1871-74 and 1877-88 omitted. 
2 Vital Statistics of the Armies in India, 1859, p. 164. 


28 


oI 


642 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


Presidency, from 1803 to 1827, they were 1:6, and from 1828 to 1852, 1:4 

per 1000. Ewart thinks this indicates a large decrease, but doubts whether | 
this may not be owing to more accurate diagnosis. The table just given 
shows, however, that in Bombay at any rate the deaths in the years 1863-80 | 
were as great as in 1828-52. In Bengal there is a diminution, but it is very 
slight. In the early period, however, there may have been less invaliding. | 
In the absence of reliable statistics, the question of the relative amount of © 
phthisis now and formerly seems impossible to be answered. 

With respect to the cure and prevention of phthisis, it seems a great pity 
to send phthisical invalids to England, where they die at Netley, or are cast © 
out to die miserably among the civil population, when in the Himalayas there — 
are elevated localities which must be particularly adapted for the successful 
treatment of consumption. When means of communication are improved, it — 
is possible that we may see phthisical invalids going from Europe to the high 
peaks of the Himalayas, and why should not the European soldier, who is 
actually in India, benefit by the mountain ranges? A phthisical sanitarium, — 
at an altitude of 10,000 feet, would be likely to cure the disease in many 
cases, if it were diagnosed early, and then if the men were afterwards kept 
on the lower hill stations, they would probably become perfectly strong. To | 
send these men home to England is condemning them to almost certain 
death. Formerly the distance in India would have been fatal to such a plan, | 
but now, by proper arrangements, even weakly men could be brought from } 
all parts of India. Dr Hermann Weber, who has paid great attention to the 
effect of altitude on phthisis, holds very decided views as to the beneficial 
effect of such an arrangement, and has already urged this point on the atten- 
tion of the authorities. 

The other diseases of the lungs are not unknown in India. Pneumonia 
gives a mortality in Bengal of about 0:5 per 1000 of strength, or a little less 
than at home (=0°571); while in the other two presidencies it is not half 
thisamount. Acute bronchitis also causes in all the presidencies a mortality 
almost precisely the same as at home (0°27 and 0-285 per 1000). 


Loss of Service— European Troops. 


The admissions have been already given. The mean daily sick (1874-83) 
are ;— 


1884. 
Bengal, : : , 63°51 70°86 
Madras, ; : : 58:16 59-14 
Bombay, : Bi ie 60°19 | 64:70 
All India, . j : 61°78 66:07 


As compared with home service, a larger number of admissions, a greater | 
daily number of sick, and a shorter duration of cases and a larger mortality | 
indicate not only more sickness, but the presence of very rapid mortal dis- | 
eases, which shorten the mean duration of all cases. 

The chief causes of admissions are ‘ paroxysmal and continued fevers,” — 
venereal disease, dysentery, rheumatism, integumentary diseases, and 
digestive affections (not hepatitis), Hepatitis and cholera cause few ad- 
missions, but a large mortality. : 

It is most satisfactory to find that the sickness and mortality are both 
rapidly falling, owing to the energetic means now being adopted by the — 


INDIA—INVALIDING. 643 


Government and to the increased sanitary powers and improved curative 
means ef the medical officers. 

The prevalence of venereal disease demands as much attention in India as 
in England, but the preventive measures will be much easier. Police regu- 
lations and proper surveillance are now being enforced, and Lock hospitals 
are established in many places. 


Invaliding of European Troops. 

For some years the invaliding statistics of Bengal were given with great 
care by the late Dr Bryden.! The invaliding ratio, from all causes, in 
the Bengal European army varied in ten years (1861-70) from 28-09 to 
53°98 per 1000 of strength, the mean being 38-9; and in the next ten years 
(1871-80) from 29°88 to 47:14, the mean being 40°6. 

In the Bengal army the ratios were, per 1000 strength— 


Years. Under 25. 25 to 30. 30 and upwards, 
1865-70, _ . . 26°55 39°74 78°34 
1871-75, . . 24°60 30°92 58:17 

Army of India. 

Years. Under 25. 25 to 34. 35 aud upwards. 

1871-75, . . 25°84 37:07 91°34 


Bryden remarked that there was but little change in the invaliding rate 
from 25 to 34 years of age, and he therefore put the ten years in one class. 

The invaliding was high during the early years of service, as shown by 
the following table :— 


Invaliding per cent. of the total Invaliding at the different Periods of 
Indian Service, 1871-75. 


Ist and 2nd years, ’ _ 98:5 

3rd and 4th _,, : 99-3 \ dt 48-1 

a // Dayo 

| above 7 28-7 
100-0 


The chief causes of invaliding were phthisis, heart affections, hepatitis, and 
general debility, and the following table, calculated from Bryden, shows the 
ratio of these classes (1871-5) :— 


Chief Causes for Invaliding. 1 to 4 Years. 5 to 7 Yeais. | Above 7 Years. 
Phthisis, . ; ; 3 1 9 6 
| Heart affections, . j 15 10 6 
| Hepatitis, . , 2 c 15 17 16 
General debility, 3 b 15 20 29 
Per cent. of total invaliding | 
at each period, Mm ae on 


The total invaliding is made up of those sent home for discharge and for 
shange of air. From about 30 to 60 per cent. of all invalids are in the latter 
category. In the ten years 1870-79 the mean number of invalids sent home 


1 Vital Statistics of the Bengal Presidency, 1870 and 1878; and Reports of the Sanitary 
nmissioner (Dr Cuningham) with the Government of India. Reference must be made to 
e elaborate reports for the full details. 


644 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


was 42°44, and those finally discharged were 16-08 per 1000 of strength. 
Those sent home for change were thus 62 per cent. of the whole. In 1880 
29°88 per 1000 were sent ‘home and 21-40 discharged, the percentage sent 
home for change being thus only 284. In 1884 the total sent home were 
31-9 per 1000 and 14:30 discharged, “55 per cent. of the whole being sent 
home for change. 


{i 


Mortality of Native Tr oops. 


Colonel Sykes gave the mortality for 1825-44 as 18 per 1000 of strength | 
for all India; and for Bengal, 17:9; Bombay, 12:9; Madras, 20°95. 

In Madras, from 1842 to 1858, the aver age Was 18 per 1000 (Macpherson), 
of which 6 per 1000 each year were deaths from cholera. 

Ewart gives the following numbers per 1000 of strength—Bengal (1826- — 
1852), 13" 9; Bombay (1803- 54), 15°38; Madras (1827- 52), Ace, 

Taking successiv e quinquennial per iods, there has been a slight progressive | 
decrease in mortality, but this is less marked than in Europeans. 

The excess of mortality is chiefly due to cholera, dysentery, and fever. __ 

In Bengal, in the years 1861-67, the annual mortality per 1000 of men | 
present with the regiments was 14°57. In Madras the average aoe in 
six years, 1860-66, was 12-6. 

The following table gives the mortality of native troops per 1000 of strength _ 
for the period 1867- 76, from Bryden’s tables :— 


Mortality of Sepoys (1867-76) per 1000 of Strength, 


Diseases. Bengal. 
Cholera, . 5 ; ; : j 212 
Fevers, : ; : : 2 é 2°84 
Heat- apoplexy, : ; : : 0°22 
Dysentery and diarrhea, : ; ; 2°01 
Hepatitis, : : . . 0°15 
Spleen diseases, ¢ 2 : : 0-28 
Respiratory diseases, . : . ; 2°57 
Heart disease, . : : ‘ : 0°20 
Phthisis pune j : : : 0°77 
Dropsy, . : ; : : 0°09 
Scurvy, . : : 5 O14 
Atrophy and anemia, é c 0 One: 
All other causes, ; : F 1A9 
Violent deaths, . ; : : ‘ 0°74 
Total deaths, . ; : : : 13°84 
Deaths, excluding cholera, : ‘ 11°72 
Total deaths, including those in absence, 17°25 


SECTION IX. 
CHINA. 


Hone-Kone. 

Although the English have occupied Canton, Tientsin in the north, and 
several other places, yet, as their occupation has been only temporary, it 
seems unnecessary to describe any other station than Hong-Kong. 


CHINA. 645 


Garrison of Hong-Kong about 1000, but differing considerably according 
to the state of affairs in China. 

The island is 27 miles in circumference, 10 long, and 8 broad at its widest 
part. 

Geology.—The hills are for the most part of granite and syenite, more or 
less weathered. In some parts it is disintegrated to a great extent, and 
clayey beds (laterite) are formed, in which granite boulders may be embedded. 
Victoria, the chief town, stands on this disintegrated granite. As in all other 
cases, this weathered and clayey granite is said to be very absorbent of water, 
and, especially in the wet season, is considered very unhealthy. 

Climate.—Mean annual temperature, 73° Fahr.; hottest month (July), 
86°25 ; coldest month (January), 52°°75 ; amplitude of the yearly fiuctua- 
jions, 33°°5. 

The humidity is considerable,—about 80 per cent. of saturation as an 
average. 

The N.E. monsoon blows from November to April; it is cold, dry, and is 
usually considered healthy and bracing; but if persons who have suffered 
from malaria are much exposed to it, it reinduces the paroxysm. The 8.W. 
monsoon blows from May to October ; it is hot and damp, and is considered 
enervating and relaxing. The difference in the thermometer between the 
two monsoons has been said to be as much as 46°, but this seems excessive. 

The rainfall is about 90 to 100 inches with the 8.W. monsoon. 

In addition to Victoria, there are two or three other stations which have 

been occupied as sanitaria, viz., Stanley, seated on a peninsula on the south 
end of the island, and about 100 feet above the sea; and Sarivan, 5 miles 
east of Victoria. Neither station seems to have answered ; the barracks are 
very bad at Stanley, and are exposed too much to the N.E. monsoon, which, 
at certain times, is cold and wintry; during the 8.W. monsoon it is healthy. 
Sarivan has always been unhealthy, probably from the neighbourhood of 
rice fields. Since the close of the last war a portion of the mainland, Cow- 
loon, opposite Victoria, has been ceded, and has been occupied by troops. 
It is said not to be, however, even so healthy as Hong-Kong,! but there are 
differences of opinion on this point. 
_ Hong-Kong has never, it is said, been considered healthy by the Chinese. 
‘The chief causes of unhealthiness appear to be the moist laterite and 
weathered granite, and the numerous rice fields. Indeed, to the latter cause 
s ascribed by some (Smart?) the great unhealthiness, especially when the 
‘ice fields are drying in October, November, and December. 

Local causes of unhealthiness existed till very lately in Victoria. In build- 
ng the barracks the felspar clay was too much cut into, and, in addition, 
he access of air was impeded by the proximity of the hills. The S.W. 
nonsoon was entirely shut out. ‘Tull lately sewerage was very defective. 
Owing probably to these climatic and local causes, for many years after 
fs occupation in 1842 Hong-Kong was excessively unhealthy. Malarious 
evers were extremely common, and not only so, but it is now known that 
nteric fever has always prevailed there (Becher and Smart). Dysentery 
as been extremely severe, and has assumed the peculiar form of lientery. 
‘his was noticed in the first China war, and appears, more or less, to have 
ontinued since. In addition to these diseases, phthisis appears to have 
een frequent. 


) 1 See Report of Surgeon Snell, Army Medical Report, vol. v. p. 360, for the causes of the 
nhealthiness of Cowloon. 

2 Transactions of the Epid. Soc., vol. i. p. 191. This paper should be consulted for an 
‘xcellent account of Hong-Kong, and of the diseases among sailors especially. 


< 


646 FOREIGN SERVICE. 


For some years there were such frequent wars in China that the exact 
amount of sickness and mortality due to the climate of Hong-Kong could | 
not be well determined. But it is becoming much healthier than in former — 
years, owing to the gradual improvement in sanitary matters which goes on — 
from year to year. In 1865 there was, however, much sickness, owing — 
apparently to overcrowding and to bad accommodation. | 

In the Statistical Reports, the troops serving in Hong-Kong, Cowloon, 
Canton, Shanghai, and the Straits Settlements are classed together, so that 
the influence of Hong-Kong er se can only be partially known. 

In the years 1859-66, which include years of war, the admissions in South 
China averaged 2131, and the deaths 56°25, or, exclusive of violent deaths, 
52-63 per 1000 of strength, and there was in addition a large invaliding. 
Paroxysmal fevers gave 609 admissions and 7:77 deaths ; continued fevers, 
25:25 admissions and 4:17 deaths ; and dysentery and diarrhoea, 249 admis- 
sions and 16°3 deaths per 1000. In later years the mortality was less; in 
1869-70 it was 16°02, and in 1871 only 5°82 per 1000 of strength, and of 
these only 3°88 was from disease. In the five years 1871—5 it was 11°73; 
and in 1876-80 it was 8°61, giving for the ten years a mean of 10°17.) 
This contrasts very favourably with the mean of the previous ten years” 
(1861-70), which was 39°84, or nearly four times as great. In 1884 the 
admissions were, at Hong-Kong, 859°7 per 1000, deaths 8-47, invalided 
44:26, average daily sick 44°84. In the Straits Settlements, admissions 
1117:7, deaths 5-4, invalided 31°32, average daily sick 49°23 per 1000. 
The death-rate of the two stations taken together was 7:04, of which only 
5-43 were from disease. The mean of five years (1879-83) was 7°59, of | 
which 6°71 were from disease. It is evident that the causes of sickness and 
mortality are now being brought under control. 


f 


SECTION X 
EGY PT. 


We have now a garrison of 6,468 men (in 1884) in this country. The 
climate is very dry, subtropical in Egypt proper, but with increasing tem- 
perature as the Nile is ascended. Mean temperature at Abbasich. (near 
Cairo) in 1884 was 69°-9 F.; mean maximum 77°°6, mean minimum 58°:9 > 
absolute maximum 112°-6 in J une, absolute minimum 43°-7 in March. Rain 
for the year 2°35 inches, number of rainy days 11; relative humidity 5771 
per cent.; maximum humidity 73 in January, minimum 43 in April; mear 
barometer 29°895. The admissions in 1884 were 1266-2 per 1000, and the 
deaths 11:59, of which 8-81 were from disease, the rest being violent deaths 
The most numerous admissions were from syphilis (primary) 229-4, (second 
ary) 37:1; digestive system (including diarrhcea, dysentery, liver disease 
&c.) 206-9; continued fever 156°8. The chief cause of death was enterit 
fever, 4°95 out of 8°81 from disease, or 57 per cent. of all deaths 
In 1883 the death-rate was 34°82, but 17°60 of this was due t 
cholera; the death-rate, therefore, omitting cholera, was 17°22, or 
omitting violent deaths (2°16), it was 15- 06; of this, 6°33, or 42 pe. 
cent., were due to enteric fever. Diseases of the eye, for whic) 
Egypt had formerly such a bad name, are numerous (in 1884 they wer 
52-6 per 1000, against 14:7 at home), but, considering their prevalence’ 
among the native population, it is perhaps surprising there are not more 
None have been very serious, for out of 340 cases 90 per cent. were simpl 


EGYPT. 647 


conjunctivitis, and only 1 case of purulent ophthalmia is recorded. It is 
clear that, with ordinary hygienic precautions, Egypt is a healthy station. 
Enteric fever, quite preventible, is (in 1884) responsible for 32 deaths out 
of 74;! sunstroke, due to the imprudence of the men themselves, 4 deaths; 
1 fatal case of small-pox, pneumonia 2, pleurisy 1, cedema of glottis 1, abs- 
cess of larynx 1, phthisis 2, heart disease 3, dysentery 2, hepatic abscess 3, 
acute atrophy of liver 1, recto-vesical fistula (result of injury) 1, prostatic 
abscess 1, poisons 2 (alcoholic), injuries 11, killed in action 5. There is 
hardly one of those cases that is not preventible, and that might not have 
occurred at home.? 


1 75 including the death of 1 invalid. 
2 Australia and New Zealand.—The withdrawal of the troops from these colonies renders 
it unnecessary to give any statistical details. 


CHAPTER V. 
SERVICE ON BOARD SHIP. 


SERVICE on board ship must be divided into three sections, corresponding to 
three different kinds of service. 

1. Transport ships, for the conveyance of healthy soldiers, their wives — 
and children, from place to place, or for conveying small parties of troops in | 
charge of convicts. : 

2. Transports for conveyance of sick from an army in the field to an) 
hospital in rear, or from a foreign station to a sanitarium, or home. 
Although the term is a little odd, it is convenient to call these ships Sick | 
Transports. 

3. Hospital ships, intended for the reception and treatment of the sick. 


SECTION I. 
TRANSPORTS FOR HEALTHY TROOPS.? 


The use of Government transports has very much altered the duty of | 
medical officers on board. The transports are really men-of-war, 2.¢., officered 
by the Royal Navy, and under naval regulations. The medical officer of} 
troops has therefore nothing to do with the vessel and itsarrangements. If 
hired transports are used, the Queen’s Regulations (1885) (section 17, Move-| 
ment of Troops by Sea) and the Medical Regulations (part i. section iii, 
sub-section iii. paras. 83-107; part vi. section vii. paras. 1110-1122) have’ 
to be carried out. 


SECTION II. 
TRANSPORTS FOR SICK TROOPS. 


No specific regulations are laid down with respect to these hired ships, 
but it would be very desirable to have some set rules with respect to space, 
diet, and fittings. Invalids are now carried from India and the Colonies in. 
Government transports ; occasionally hired transports are used. At present, 
the diet of invalids on board the hired transports is not good. In respect, 
of fittings, the use of swinging cots for feeble men, and well-arranged closets! 
for dysenteric cases, are very important. So also with the cooking ; the 


| 


1 See Rattray’s paper read to the Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1872; also the 5th edi-) 
tion of this work; and Naval Hygiene, by Professor Macdonald, R.N., M.D., F.R.S. (Smith,| 
Elder & Co.), 1881. j 

2 The following note is given in the Queen’s Regulations, 1885, section xvii. para. 1 (note):—| 
“4 Troop-Ship is one of Her Majesty’s ships commissioned as a troop-ship. A Z'ransport is) 
a private ship wholly engaged for the Government service on monthly hire, or one wholly| 
engaged by the Government to execute a special troop service, though not hired by the 
month. A Troop Freight Ship is a ship in which conveyance is engaged by Government for 
troops, but which is not wholly at the disposal of the Government.” 


SICK TRANSPORTS—HOSPITAL SHIPS. 649 


coarse ship cooking is a great trial to many patients. If there is need of 
Government transports for healthy men, the necessity is still greater for 
sick men. 

As far as possible, the sick should be treated on deck in fine weather, a 
eood awning and a comfortable part of the deck being appropriated to 
them. It would be a good plan not to send home officers and sick men 
in the same ship, but to have officers’ ships, so as to give up the poop to 
the men in the ships which carried them. This division would be a gain to 
both. 

In time of war, sick transports are largely used to carry troops to hospitals 
in rear. For this purpose good roomy steamers must be chosen. For 
economy’s sake they will generally be large, and probably with two decks; 
they should never have more, and indeed a single deck is better. But if 
with two decks, each space should be separately ventilated by tubes, so as, 
as far as possible, to prevent passage of foul air from the lower to the upper 
deck. All the worst cases should be on the upper deck, especially surgical 
cases. 

The decks of these vessels should be as clear as possible, so that men can 
be treated on deck. An apparatus should be arranged for hoisting men on 
deck from below. 

It has been proposed to fit these ships with iron bedsteads, and no doubt 
this gives the men more space; but a better plan still would probably be to 
have short iron rods, to which every cot could be suspended. The sick men 
might be carried in their cots on board, and again removed. If the rods 
are made about 14 inches high, and bent in at the top so as to form a hook, 
a cot is hung easily, and will swing. There is space enough below to put 
a close-stool or pan under the man without stirring him, if a flap is left 
open in the canvass, and a hole left in the thin mattress. 

Fixed berths are not so good, but some must be provided. Some cots can 
swing from the top, and some men can be in hammocks. Probably every 
sick transport should have all these, viz., iron bedsteads at some points 
fastened to the deck, iron standards for swinging cots, cots swinging from 
the roof, low berths, and hammocks. 

In these sick transports the kits and clothes must be stowed away; and 
as they are often very dirty and offensive, and sometimes carry the poison 
of typhus and other diseases, the place where they are put should be 
constantly fumigated with nitrous and sulphurous acid alternately. Robert 
Jackson mentions that dirty clothes and bedding may be soon washed 
sweet by mixing oatmeal with salt water. 

Directly a sick transport has landed the sick, the whole place should be 
thoroughly washed and scraped, then the walls and ceiling should be lime- 
washed, and the between-decks constantly fumigated till the very moment 
when fresh sick embark. 


SECTION III. 
HOSPITAL SHIPS. 


These are ships intended for the reception and treatment of the sick,— 
floating hospitals, in short. Whenever operations are undertaken along a 
seaboard, and especially when a force is moving, and places for fixed 
hospitals cannot be assigned, they are indispensable. They at once relieve 
the army from a very heavy encumbrance, and, by prompt attendance 
which can be given to the sick, save many lives. They should always be 


650 SERVICE ON BOARD SHIP. 


organised at the commencement of a campaign. In the Abyssinian war | 


three hospital ships were used. Their fitting out was carefully super- 


intended by Deputy Inspector-General Dr Massy, and appears to have | 
answered admirably. A full account of one of these ships (“‘Queen of | 


the South”) was given by the late Staff-Surgeon Charteris, to which refer- 
ence may be made. The ventilation, as shown by the amount of carbonic 
acid (0-708 per 1000 volumes) was very good. The superficial space between 
decks per man was on the night of the experiment 154 feet, and the cubic 
“space no less than 1076. During the Ashanti war (1873-4) the line-of- 
battle ship ‘‘ Victor Emanuel” was used as an hospital ship, and was most 
successful, A very full and detailed account of it is given by the late 
Brigade-Surgeon T. M. Bleckley, C.B., in medical charge.!_ The floor space 
per head was generally about 50 square feet, and the cubic space about 480, 
although it was originally intended to be less. Hospital ships were also 
used during the Egyptian campaigns of 1882 and following years. For 
a good description of the hospital ship “Ganges,” by Brigade-Surgeon 
G. C. Gribbon, M.B., Medical Staff, see Army Medical Reports, vol. xxvi. 
p: 327. 

However convenient, and indeed necessary, they are, it must be clearly 
understood that they are not equal to an hospital on shore. It is impossible 
to ventilate and clean them thoroughly. The space is small between decks. 
The wood gets impregnated with effluvia, and even sometimes the bilge is 
contaminated. Dr Becher, late pathologist in China, stated that even in 
the very best of the hospitals used there, it was quite clear that in every 
wound there was evidence of a slight gangrenous tendency. In fact, it is 
perhaps impossible to prevent this except by the freest ventilation and the 
most vigorous antiseptic treatment. 

The principle of separation should be carried out in these ships—one ship 
for wounded men, another for fevers, a third for mixed cases; or if this 
cannot be done, separate decks should be assigned for wounded men and fever 
cases. In fine weather the sick should be treated on deck under awnings. 
The between-decks must be thoroughly ventilated, and all measures of fumi- 
gation, frequent lime-washing, &c., must be constantly employed. Charcoal, 
also, in substance should be largely used. Warming by stoves must be used 
in damp and cold weather, and, if so, advantage should be taken of this 
source of heat, and of all lights, to improve ventilation. 

Ships of one deck are better than two; but as they will hold a very small 
number of sick, two decks are commonly used. But not more than two 
decks should be used; and if there be a third or orlop deck, it should be 
kept for stores. Sometimes, if there are two decks, the upper deck is used 
for officers and the lower for troops, but the reverse arrangement should be 
adopted. 

The ventilation of the between-decks, in addition to Edmond’s plan, should 
be carried on by tubes, which, if the central shaft is acting, will be all inlets, 
and can be so arranged as to cause good distribution of the air. 

The fittings of an hospital ship should be as few and simple as possible, 
and invariably of iron. Tables should be small, and on thin iron legs. 
Swinging cots are indispensable for wounded men, and the appliances for 
the receiving and removing the excreta of dysenteric and febrile patients 
must be carefully attended to. Berths should not be of wood, but of iron 
bars, which are much more easily laid bare and cleaned. 

The supply of distilled drinking water should be as large as possible, and 


1 Army Medical Reports, vol. xv. p. 260. 


HOSPITAL SHIPS. 651 


a good distilling apparatus should be on board, whether the vessel be a 
steamer or not. 

The laundry arrangements are most important, and it would be a good 
plan, on a large expedition, to have a small ship converted eutirely into a 
laundry. It would not only wash for the sick, but for the healthy men 
also. So also a separate ship for a bakery is an important point, so as to 
have no baking on board the hospital ship. 

On board the hospital ship there should be constant fumigation ; lime- 
washing, whenever any part of the hospital can be cleaned for a day or two, 
and, in fact, every other precaution taken which can be thought of to make 
the floating hospital equally clean, dry, well aérated and pure as an hospital 
on shore. 

On board hospital ships it is often easy to arrange for sea-bathing and 
douching ; it should never be forgotten what important curative means 
these are. 

In case pyeemia and erysipelas, or hospital gangrene occur, the cases must 
be treated on deck, no matter how bad the weather may be. Good awnings 
to protect from wind and rain can be put up. 

If cows or goats are kept on board to supply milk, their stalls must be 
kept thoroughly cleaned. But generally it is better to obtain milk from 
the shore. 


CHAPTER VI. 


WAR. 


Tue trade of the soldier is war. For war he is selected, maintained, and 
taught. As a force at the command of a government, the army is also an 
agent for maintaining public order; but this is a minor object, and only 
occasionally called for, when the civil power is incompetent. 

In theory, an army should be so trained for war as to be ready to take the 
field at literally a moment’s notice. The various parts composing it should 
be so organised that, almost as quickly as the telegram flies, they can be 
brought together at any point, prompt to commence those combined actions 
by which a body of men are moved, fed, clothed, kept supplied with muni- 
tions of war, maintained in health, or cured if sick, and ready to undertake 
all the engineering, mechanical, and strategical and tactical movements 
which constitute the art of war. 

That an organisation so perfect shall be carried out, it is necessary that all 
its parts shall be equally efficient ; if one fails, the whole machine breaks 
down. ‘The strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest link, and this 
may be said with equal truth of an army. Commissariat, transport, medical, 
and engineering appliances are as essential as the arts of tactics and strategy. 
It is a narrow and a dangerous view which sees in war merely the move- 


ments of the soldier, without recognising the less-seen agencies which insure _ 


fo) 


that the soldier shall be armed, fed, clothed, healthy, and vigorous. 

During peace the soldier is trained for war. What is meant by training 
for war? Not merely that the soldier shall be taught to use his weapons 
with effect, and to act his part in that machine where something of mech- 
anical accuracy is imprinted on human beings, but that he shall also know 
how to meet and individually cope with the various conditions of war, which 
differ so much from those of peace. 

It is in the nature of war to reinduce a sort of barbarism. The arts and 
appliances of peace, which tend, almost without our care, to shelter, and 
clothe, and feed us, disappear. The man reverts in part to his pristine con- 
dition, and often must minister as he best may to hisown wants. No doubt 
the State will aid him in this; but it is impossible to do so as completely as 
in peace. Often, indeed, an army in war has maintained itself in complete 
independence of its base of supplies, as in almost every campaign there is 
more or less of this independence of action. 

In peace the soldier, as far as clothing, feeding, shelter, and cleanliness 
are concerned, is almost reduced to the condition of a passive agent. 
Everything is done for him, and all the appliances of science are brought 
into play to save labour and to lessen cost. Is this the proper plan? 
Looking to the conditions of war, ought not a soldier to be considered in 
the light of an emigrant, who may suddenly be called upon to quit the 
appliances of civilised life, and who must depend on himself and his own 
powers for the means of comfort and even subsistence ? 

There is a general impression that the English soldier, when placed in 
unaccustomed circumstances, can do nothing for himself, and is helpless. 
If so, it is not the fault of the man, but of the ‘system, which reduces 


| 
| 


PREPARATION FOR WAR DURING PEACE. 653 


him to such a state. That it is not the fault of the man is shown by 
the fact that, however helpless the English soldier may appear to be in the 
first campaign, he subsequently becomes as clever in providing for himself 
as any man. The Crimean war did not perhaps last long enough to show 
this, but the Peninsular war proved it. The soldier there learned to cook, 
to house himself, to shelter himself from the weather when he had no house, 
to keep himself clean, and to mend and make his clothes. Was it not the 
power of doing these things, as well as the mere knowledge of movements 
and arms, which made the Duke of Wellington say that his army could go 
anywhere and do anything? And the wars at the Cape and in New Zea- 
land have shown that the present race of soldiers, when removed from the 
appliances of civilised life, have not lost this power of adaptation. 

The English soldier is not helpless; he is simply untrained in these 
things, and so long as he is untrained, however perfect he may be in drill 
and manceuvre, he is not fit for war. The campaign itself should not be 
his tutor ; it must be in the mimic campaigns of peace, in which the stern 
realities of war are imitated, that the soldier must be trained. Our present 
field-days represent the very acme and culminating point of war,—the few 
bright moments when the long marches and the wearisome guards are re- 
warded by the wild excitement of battle ; but the more common conditions 
of the campaign ought also to find their parallel. Since the Crimean war 
much has been done to instruct the soldier in the minor arts of war. The 
establishment of camps has to some extent familiarised him with tent life ; 
the flying columns which go out from Aldershot show him something of the 
life of the bivouac, and the training in cooking which Lord Herbert ordered 
is teaching him how to prepare his food. The Autumn Manceuvres have 
extended this system, and are now making him familiar with the chief 
conditions of the life in campaign. 

A campaign can never be successful unless the men are healthy. How 
are men to be trained so as to start in a campaign in a healthy condition, 
and to be able to bear the manifold trials of war? ‘The answer may be 
given under three heads— 


1. Preparation for war during peace. 
2. Entry on war. 
3. Actual service in war. 


SECTION I. 


PREPARATION FOR WAR DURING PEACE. 


The various conditions of war, which are different from those of peace, 
are :— 

1. Exposure to the Weather.—It is a constant observation that men who 
have led outdoor lives are far more healthy in war than men whose occupa- 
tions have kept them in houses. The soldier’s life should be, therefore, an 
outdoor one. This can only be done properly by keeping him in tents 
during the summer. It would be well, in fact, to tent the whole army from 
the middle of May to the end of September every year. The expense should 
be looked on as a necessary part of the military establishments. Wooden 
huts are too like ordinary barracks. As the soldier has often to sleep out 
_ in war, he should be accustomed to this also in peace—warm summer nights 
_ being first selected to train him. It will soon be found that he will very 
soon acquire the power of resistance to cold. This plan will also test the 


654 WAR. 


utility of his clothes! It has been found by experiment that, by careful 
training, even delicate persons can bear sleeping out at night, even in | 
tolerably cold weather, without injury, provided there be no rain. At the | 
latter end of the summer, it would be well to expose the men even to rainy 
nights, their clothes being adapted for this by the supply of waterproofs ; 
and in the very useful Autumn Manceuvres this plan might be tried with | 
advantage. 
_ At the same time, it is important to have the men raised off the ground, | 
both when in tent and lying in the open air, in all countries where the 
ground may be moist, or cools rapidly during the night. A very useful field 
hammock has been invented by Captain M‘Quire ; it consists of a strong 
woollen material, which is suspended on two sticks by means of guide-ropes. — 
It makes a comfortable bed, and keeps the body very warm. 

It may be thought that training of this kind is needless, and that it may — 
be left to the campaign to accustom the men to exposure, but this is not the 
case ; a number of men are rendered inefficient at the commencement of a 
campaign simply by the unaccustomed exposure. 

2. Tent and Camp Lvfe.2—The pitching, striking, and cleansing of tents ; 
the digging trenches round the tents, and providing for general surface | 
drainage ; the arrangement of the interior of the tent, &c., should all be 
carefully taught. So also the camp life of the campaign should be closely 
imitated, and the rules of conservancy most strictly carried out as a means © 
simply of teaching what will be of such importance in war.? 

3. Cooking of Food.—No doubt, in future wars, all governments will | 
endeavour to supply prepared and cooked food, so as to lessen the cost of 
transport and the labour of the soldier. But as this cannot always be — 
depended upon, the soldier must be trained to cook his ordinary rations. — 
This should not be done for him ; he ought to do it himself merely with the ap- 
pliances he would have in war, viz., his camp-kettle, canteen, and tin plate. 

At the commencement of a campaign many men lose flesh and strength, or 
suffer from diarrhcea, from the food being badly cooked and indigestible. 

In the Peninsular war the men became admirable cooks. At first very 
large camp-kettles, intended for half a company, were used, and were carried — 
on horses. They did not answer, and the men left them behind. After- 
wards smaller camp-kettles were supplied, one for each mess of six or eight. — 
Luscombe mentions that the supply of salt was found to be a very important | 
point ; he says he had no idea of the value of this condiment till he saw the 
way in which the men saved every little particle ; without it, in fact, animal _ 
and even vegetable food is unsavoury. 

In the French army on service 8 or 10 men form a corporal’s detachment _ 
or escouade. They have between them one kettle and cover (marmite, | 
weight 1:7 kilog.), one large bowl (grande gamelle, weight 1 kilog.), and one | 
large drinking vessel (grand bidon, weight 1-5 kilog.). Each man has for his | 
personal use a small bowl (petite gamelle) and a small drinking vessel (petet © 
bidon). They are all of tinned iron. All these vessels are carried by the | 
men, the larger vessels being taken in turn by the men of the mess. 


1 Tn reference to what was said of the great importance of a hood to the greatcoat for nen 
who sleep out at night, an old observation of Donald Monro is of interest. He states that in | 
1760 the greater health enjoyed by the Austrian hussars over the other troops was owing to — 
the half-boots and the large cloaks with hoods carried by these men.—On the Means of 
Preserving the Health of the Army (2nd edit., 1780, p. 7). 

2 Reference may be made for fuller details to some excellent treatises on camps published _ 
in Germany and Russia, especially by Dr Roth (Das Zeltlager auf der Lockstddter Heide in 
Holstein, 1866) and by Dr Heyfelder (Das Lager auf der Krasne-Selo, 1868). 

3 Reference has already been made to the very useful Soldier’s Pocket-Book, by Sir Garnet 
(now Lord) Wolseley, which gives full details on all these points. 


ENTRY ON WAR. 655 


It may be concluded, with regard to this very important matter of cook- 
ing utensils, that a man should have a small but very strong canteen, made 
of unsoldered tin, and with a good deep lid, with a handle which may serve 
as a frying-pan or second vessel, as well as a cover. The shape of the 
canteen should be long and flat, and not deeper than is necessary for cook- 
ing, so that it may be easily carried. Then all the other vessels, the 
camp-kettles, for each mess, and the large water-vessels, should be carried 
for the men. They should be made of thin steel, which is very light for its 
strength, very durable, and is not acted on by the food. 

The different kinds of camp cooking to be taught are stewing, boiling, 
and making soup, making tea and coffee, cooking preserved vegetables, 
making cakes of flour, and oatmeal porridge. 

Reference has already been made to the great importance of not keeping 
men too long without food. By a little arrangement men can always carry 
food, and the proper organisation of supplies and regimental transport would 
always enable a commanding officer to have some food for his men. In 
almost all marches, with large bodies of men, and in many actions, there are 
long periods of inaction during which men could eat food which has been 
already cooked. The effect of this upon their strength, endurance, and even 
courage is remarkable. Some instances have been related by officers in 
which failures resulted entirely from the exhaustion of the men produced 
by want of food. Surely it is useless to supply ammunition for guns if the 
men who are to work them have no supply of energy issued also to them. 

4. Water Supply.—As impure water is a great cause of sickness in war, 
the soldier should be taught how to recognise impurity, and how to use the 
simple methods of purification with charcoal, alum, tea, boiling, &e. 

5. Mending Clothes.—Kvery soldier carries a hold-all, but many cannot 
use it properly. It may be suggested whether, in the workshops which are 
now being established, it would not be well to let every recruit have a 
month’s practice in repairing clothes, and especially boots ; simple plans of 
repair being selected, if it be possible. 

6. Cleanliness.—In war a source of disease is the want of cleanliness. 
Very soon the person and clothes get covered with lice; all the garments, 
outer as well as under, get impregnated with sweat, and become very filthy. 
The best generals have always been very careful on this point, and have 
had frequent washing parades. As washing clothes is really an art, the 
soldier should be taught to do it, not by machinery, but in the rude 
fashion he must practice during war. Clothes can be partially cleaned by 
drying and beating. 

The hair should be cut short. In the absence of water for washing, the 
best plan is the small-tooth comb, to keep the hair free from vermin, and it 
may be a question whether one should not be supplied to every soldier. 

Washing the whole body in cold water, whenever it can be done, is not 
only bracing and invigorating, but strengthens it against vicissitudes of 
weather, and against dysentery.! 


SECTION II. 
ENTRY ON WAR. 


When actual war commences some further steps become necessary. 
_ All experience shows that men under twenty or twenty-one years of age 


1 Both Donald Monro and Lind notice this. 


656 i WAR. 


cannot bear the fatigues of war.! If possible, then, all men below twenty- 
one, or at any rate below twenty, should be held back from the campaign, 
and formed into depdts, whence they may be draughted for active service 
on occasion. Of course, every means should be taken during their service . | 
at the depéts to strengthen and harden them. | 

All weakly men should also be held back, and every man thus retained 
should come under the surgeon’s superintendence, not in hospital, but while | 
doing his duty. 

The men who are about to enter on the campaign should at once com- | 
mence a more severe training. If there be time to do it, this should be 
carried to an extent even greater than will be demanded in war, in the 
manner of the Romans, who trained their soldiers so severely in peace that 
war was a relief. Footsoreness is very common at the commencement of a 
campaign, and often gives great trouble. 

Certain changes in the food of the men should be made. 

The exertions of war, bodily and mental, are often very great, and 
demand an increased quantity of food, especially in the nitrogenous and 
fatty elements ; an increased amount of meat and bread, with the addition 
of fat bacon, cheese, and peas or beans, should be given, so as to bring the 
daily amount of nitrogen to 375 or 400 grains, and of carbon to 5000 
grains daily. During the war every effort should be made to get bread and | 
flour supplied in lieu of biscuit, and to supply red wine. As one of the — 
perils of war is the occurrence of scurvy, the supply of fresh vegetables 
should be increased ; if these at all fail during the campaign, the preserved © 
vegetables must be issued, and the other precautions taken. Considering — 
the benefit apparently derived in Captain Cook’s voyages from wort made — 
from malt, it might be worth while to try the effect of introducing this as | 
a beverage ; it can be readily made. 

Donald Monro mentions that at Bremen, in 1762, when no vegetable 
could be got, and fresh meat was dear, and scurvy broke out, infusion of © 
horse-radish was found to be useful. Spruce beer was also used. 


SECTION IF¥I. 
ACTUAL WAR? 


Experience has showed in hundreds of campaigns that there is a large | 
amount of sickness. The almost universality of this proves that, with every 


1 The examples are numerous, but the following are often quoted. In 1805 the French | 
army broke up at Boulogne, and marched 400 leagues (French) to fight at Austerlitz ; the | 
youngest soldier was twenty-two years old; they left scarcely any sick or wounded en route. | 
In 1809 the French marched from the German provinces to Vienna; not half the army were | 
aged twenty years ; the hospitals were filled with sick. In 1813 and 1814 the despatches of | 
Napoleon are filled with complaints of the “boys” who were sent him; he said—‘*‘ I must | 
have grown men: boys serve only to encumber the hospitals and roadsides.” 


2 Sanitary Rules of the Romans during War. 

Vegetius (De Re Militari, lib. iii. cap. 2) says the Romans took great care that the nen. 
should be well supplied with good water, good provisions, firewood, sufficient quantity of: 
wine, vinegar, and salt. They endeavoured to keep their armies in good health by due 
attention— 

1. To Situation ; avoiding marshes and dry uncovered ground in summer ; in having tents, 
frequently changing camps in summer and autumn. 

2. To the Water ; for bad water was considered to be very productive of diseases. 

3. To the Seasons ; not exposing men to heat. In winter, taking particular care that the 
men never were in want of firewood or of clothing. 

4. To Food and Medicine ; the officers saw that the men had their regular meals, and were 
well looked after by the commissariat. 


ACTUAL WAR. 657 


care, the conditions of war are unfavourable to health. The strenuous 
exertions, the broken rest, the exposure to cold and wet, the scanty, ill- 
cooked, or unwholesome food, the bad water, and the foul and overcrowded 
camps and tents, account for the amount of disease. 

The amount of illness varies with the nature of the campaign and the 
genius of the commander. 

If the records can be trusted, it would seem that the English have been 
more unhealthy than the French in their wars, but there is no great trust 
to be placed in war statistics. In the Peninsula the mean daily number of 
sick was never below 12 per cent. except for a short time in the lines of 
Torres Vedras, when it fell to 9 or 10. Sometimes it amounted to 15, 20, 
or 25 per cent. In the Crimea the immense sickness of the first winter is 
but too well remembered. 


Army Medical Regulations.) 


Before an army takes the field, the Director-General may appoint a 
medical officer to act as Field-Inspector under the Principal Medical Officer, 
but not to act as Sanitary Officer. The Director-General prepares lists of all 
medicines, stores, &c. The amount of transport and of stores is laid down. 

The Director-General also, on requirement by the War Office, gives an 
account of everything in the proposed scene of operations which may affect 
the health of the men. He appoints a Sanitary Officer to be attached to the 
Quartermaster-General’s department. He issues instructions to the Principal 
Medical Officer and Sanitary Officer on all matters connected with rations, 
clothing, shelter, precautions for preventing disease, Wc. 

The Sanitary Officer inspects all proposed encamping ground, quarters, &c., 
and supervises the sanitary arrangements of all camps, towns, hospitals, cc. 
The Principal Medical Officer advises the Commander of the Forces on all 
matters affecting health, such as rations, shelter, clothing, &c., and may, 
with the sanction of the Commander of the Forces, issue instructions on such 
matters to the medical officers. 

The Sanitary Officer inspects the camp daily ; accompanies the Quarter- 
master-General on the march, and gives his advice on all sanitary points. 
He is supplied with information to aid him in his work from all Principal 
Medical Officers of general hospitals, divisions, and brigades in the field. He 
transmits a weekly sanitary report to the Principal Medical Officer. 


Causes of Sickness and Mortality in War, 


The chief causes of sickness and mortality in the English army have been, 
in order of fatality— 
1. Diseases arising from improper and insufficient food, viz., general 


5. To Hxercise ; by keeping the troops during the day-time in constant exercise,—in dry 
weather in the open air; in time of rain or snow under cover; for exercise was believed to 
do a great deal more for the preservation of health than the art of physic. 

_ The Prefectus-Castrorum (Quartermaster-General), an officer of high rank in the Roman 
army, looked after the sick, and provided everything required by the surgeons. Both Livy 
and Tacitus mention that the commanding officers used to visit the sick and wounded 
soldiers, to inquire if they were well taken care of. The great health of the Roman soldiers 
was evidently owing to their great temperance; their excellent warm tents made of hides ; 
their carefully kept camps ; the warm war dress or sagum, and their constant exercise. 

_ Fiules of the Macedonians.—The only notice of the means by which Alexander the Great 
‘preserved so wonderfully the health of his small army seems to be a statement that he fre- 
‘quently changed his encamping grounds (Quintus Curtius, lib. v. 32). This great soldier 
“nust certainly have been acquainted with the art of Hygiene. 

1 Army Medical Regulations, 1885, part 6, section viii. paras. 1123-46, 
7 


658 WAR. 


feebleness and increased liability to malarious fevers, dysentery, diarrhea, 
&c., and production of scurvy and scorbutic dysentery. ) 

2. Malarious disease from unhealthy sites. 

3. Catarrhs, bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, rheumatism, dysentery (?), 
produced by inclemencies of weather. 

4. Spotted typhus, kept up and spread (if not produced) by overcrowding 
and uncleanliness. 

5. Contagious dysentery, arising from foul camps and latrines. 

6. Enteric and perhaps other fevers, produced by foul camps. 

7. Exhaustion and debility, produced by excessive fatigue—a very great 
predisposing cause of almost all other diseases. 

8. Cholera, in India especially, but liable to occur anywhere. 

9. Yellow fever in the West Indian and West African campaigns. 

10. Plague in Egypt, now very unlikely, but the possibility of it not to 
be lost sight of. 

11. The exanthemata occasionally. 

12. Ophthalmia. 

13. Venereal diseases. 

Of these diseases the most fatal have been scorbutic dysentery and typhus. 
It is indeed curious to see how invariably in all wars the scorbutic taint — 
occurs, and frequently in how early a period of the campaign it can be — 
detected. There almost seems to be something in the fatigues and anxieties 
of war which assists its development. It frequently complicates every other — 
disease, impresses on them a peculiar character, and renders them very 
intractable to treatment. This is the case with dysentery, enteric fever, 
malarious fever, and spotted typhus. With the last disease, especially, it 
has intimate relations, and contributes apparently to its propagation by 
rendering the frame more easily attacked by the specific poison. 

One of the most important preventive measures to be adopted in war is 
the prophylactic treatment of scurvy. But with a full knowledge of this, 
the disease cannot always be avoided. The Federal Americans were fully 
aware of the necessity of combating it, and made immense efforts to do so. 
They did not succeed, and so marked and so general was the scorbutic taint | 
in their army, that its combinations with enteric fever and malaria have - 
been looked upon as new diseases. ; 

If scurvy could be prevented, every other war disease ought to be com-. 
paratively trifling. Inflammations from exposure, exhaustion from fatigue, 
and gastro-intestinal affections from improper food and atmospheric vicissi- 
tudes, would still occur; but the ravages of typhus, enteric fever, malaria, - 
and dysentery ought to be trifling, and easily prevented. 

To prevent scurvy, then, is one of the most important measures. 

If scurvy be absent, typhus fever is readily treated ; isolation and the 
freest ventilation are certain to stop it. The only great danger would be in. 
a besieged and crowded fortress. Insucha place it may be beyond control, 
but early recognition and prompt isolation, as far as it can be done, and as 
free ventilation as possible, may perhaps stop it. It is in such cases that we 
should freely use the nitrous acid fumes and other disinfectant vapours. __ 

Enteric (typhoid) fever and contagious dysentery, in the same way, ought 
with certainty to be prevented ina camp. Recent experience, however, in 
Affghanistan, South Africa, and Egypt has shown what ravages enteric fever, 
can make, and how rapidly it is generated and spread among troops in cam- 
paign, especially when the men are mostly young. ‘This is certainly due to 
the “neglect of proper hygienic measures. The first case even should make 
us take urgent measures for the cleansing of latrines, or, better still, the 


> 


DUTIES OF A SANITARY OFFICER DURING WAR. 659 


closing of all the old and the opening of fresh ones. But the best plan of 
all is to shift the encamping ground, and we should remember the old 
Roman maxim, based doubtless! on observation of enteric fevers, that this 
must be done more often in the autumn. 

The exanthemata, measles, and scarlet fever sometimes spread largely 
through an army ; the only plan is to separate all cases, and send them one 
day’s march on the flank of the army, if it can be done, not in the direction 
of the line of supplies. 

Plague probably demands the same measures as typhus. 

The measures for cholera have been already sufficiently noted. 

The diseases of exposure can hardly be avoided, but may be lessened by 
warm clothes and waterproof outer coverings. Flannel should be used 
next the skin all over the trunk and extremities, and is indispensable. 

One of the most important means to enable troops to stand inclemencies of 
weather, and indeed all fatigues, is hot food. Coffee and tea are the best; 
and hot spirits and water, though useful as an occasional measure, are 
-mouch inferior, if indeed they do any good at all apart from the warmth. 
‘But the supply of hot food in war should be carefully attended to, especially 
in the case of breakfast, after which men will undergo without harm great 
exposure and fatigue. 

It is unnecessary to enter at greater length into the measures to prevent 
the diseases of war, for the proper plans have been all enumerated pre- 
viously. We may conclude only that much can be done to prevent disease, 
but we must also remember that the course of campaigns sometimes is too 
violent and overpowering for our efforts, and that wars, like revolutions, 
will never be made with rose water. 


Recapitulation of the Duties of a Sanitary Officer during War. 


To go forward with the officers of the Quartermaster-General’s depart- 
ment, to choose the camping ground; arrange for surface drainage ; if 
necessarily in a malarious place, make use of all obstacles, as_ hills, trees, 
&c., to throw off the malaria from the tents; place the tents with the 
openings from the malarious quarter. If possible, never take low hills 
(100 to 250 feet) above marshy plains. Arrange for the water supply, and 
for the service of the men, animals, and washing. As soon as possible fix 
the sites for the latrines ; have them dug out, and make dry paths to them. 
As soon as the tents are pitched, visit “the whole camp, and see that the 
external ventilation is not blocked in any way, and that the tents are as 
far off each other as can be permitted. Assign their work to the scavengers, 
and mark out the places of deposit for refuse. It is of the greatest im- 
portance that all refuse should be immediately and éompletely destroyed 
by fire. The destruction of the stools of enteric, dysenteric, and choleraic 
‘patients by the same means would probably prove a most important pre- 
aution. The daily inspection should include all these points, as well as 
che inspection of the food and cooking, and of the slaughter-houses. If 
the camp be a large one, a certain portion should be selected every day 
| For the careful inspection of the individual tents, but it should be made 
| n no certain order, that the men may not prepare specially for the 
| Inspection. 
| A set of rules should be drawn up for the men, pointing out the necessity 
of ventilation, cleanliness of their persons, tents, and ground around them, 
ind ordering the measures which are to be adopted. This will have to be 
) promulgated by the general in command. 


660 WAR. 


In the daily work, a certain order and routine should be followed, so that 
nothing shall be overlooked. 

The Sanitary Officer of a large camp can never perform his duties with- 
out the most unremitting support from the medical officers attached to 
regiments, who are the sanitary officers of their respective corps. Not only 
must they inspect their own regimental camps, but by an immediate report 
to the Sanitary Officer of any disease which can possibly be traced to some 
camp impurity, they should render it possible for the commencing evil, of 
whatever kind, to be detected and checked. 

As early as possible every morning the number of men reported sick 
from each regiment should be made known, and a calculation made of sick 
to strength, and then, if any regiment showed any excess of sick, the 
sanitary state of its camp should be specially and thoroughly investigated. 


Hospitals in War. 


With an army in the field, hospitals are of several kinds. 

1. The principal General Hospital at the base of operations. 

2. The Intermediate Hospitals, divided into— 

a. The Field Hospitals stationed at the base or on the line of com- 
munication. 

b. The Field Hospitals proper, which move with the corps, and include 
the dressing stations and regimental stations. 

The old Regimental Hospital is now definitely abolished, but medical 
and surgical assistance is provided by a medical officer with one or two 
attendants, accompanied by bearers, with stretchers when required, as in 
action in the field. The sick are treated in the field hospitals first, and 
then passed on to the intermediate hospitals in rear, which are again 
evacuated, as occasion requires, by transfer of patients to the principal 
general hospital at the base. This last will be in a convenient station on 
the frontier, or, in case of an insular nation like ourselves, on some sea- 
coast easily accessible. It is from it that men will ultimately be invalided 
home if unfit for further service. 

For each army corps (of nominally 36,000 men) 25 field hospitals are 
appointed—12 to move with the corps, and 13 to be stationed at the base 
and along the lines of communication ;? each is equipped for 200 sick, and 
may be divided into half hospitals for 100 each, if necessary. Slight cases 
would be treated in the field hospitals, but all cases likely to take any time 
should be sent to the rear of operations as soon as possible. Cases of fever 
(typhus and enteric) ought to be removed as soon as possible far from the 
field force. It is of great importance that they should not be put near 
surgical cases, which ought to be kept separate, or mixed only with non- 
communicable diseases. This (the separation of fever from surgical cases) 
was a Peninsular rule of Sir James M‘Grigor, and should never be for- 
gotten. Ophthalmic cases ought also to be isolated. | 


1 Sir James M‘Grigor, in the Peninsula, established divisional hospitals in front, and 
convalescent hospitals in the rear, where the men were received en route to the depot. 
Although he does not describe his system fully in his paper in the Medico-Chirwrgical 
Transactions (vol. vi.), it is evident from his autobiography that his constant practice 
was to send off the sick as soon as possible. This is shown by his narrative of the retreat 
from Burgos, when he saved Lord Wellington from the mortification of abandoning his sick — 
and wounded to the enemy. Professor Sir T. Longmore, in his most instructive work on trans- | 
port, has detailed at length the means of transport of the sick and wounded, and other 
important matters of the kind. | 

* For full details of the new hospital organisation in the field, see Professor Sir T. | 
Longmore’s work, Gunshot Injuries (1877), sect. ix. chap. 1; also Army Medical Regulations 
(1885), part 2, sect. ix. 


| 
| 


HOSPITALS IN WAR. 661 


The hospitals in rear may be at some distance, but connected either with 
a railway or by water carriage. It is of great importance to keep con- 
tinually sending patients from the division and general hospitals with the 
army to the hospitals in rear. It is not only to keep the hospitals in front 
empty for emergencies, and to facilitate all movements of the army, but it 
has a great effect on the army itself. A great hospital full of sick is a 
disheartening spectacle, and often damps the spirits of the bravest men. 
The whole army is higher in hope and spirits when the sick are removed, 
as was shown remarkably by the Austrian experience of 1859. The sick 
themselves are greatly benefited by the removal; the change of scene, of 
air, of ideas, has itself a marvellous effect, and this is another great reason 
for constantly evacuating the sick from the hospitals in front. 

The men who are reported for hospital in war must be divided into 
several classes— 

1. Slightly wounded should be treated in the field or intermediate 
hospitals, and then return to duty. 

2. Severely wounded at first in the field hospitals, then sent to the 
intermediate hospital, and then to the rear, as convalescence is always 
long. 

3. Slight colds, diarrhoea, &c., treated in the field hospitals. 

4. Severer colds, bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, dysentery, &c., should 
be sent at once to the intermediate hospital, and then to the rear as soon 
as they can move with safety. 

5. Typhus fever at once to the hospitals in rear, if possible without 
entering the field hospitals. 

6. Enteric cases, also, should be sent to the rear, and, in fact, all severe 
cases. The field hospitals should be always almost empty, and ready for 
emergencies. 

These hospitals in rear may be even two or three days’ journey off, if 
conveyance be by water, or one or two days if by rail. Sick and wounded 
men bear movement wonderfully well, with proper appliances, and are 
often indeed benefited.+ 

The proper position for the hospitals, at the base of operations, must be 
fixed by the commander of the forces at the commencement of the campaign, 
as he alone will know what point will be the base of supplies, and it is of 
importance to have these great hospitals near the large stores which are 
collected for the campaign. 

It seems now quite clear that these hospitals should not be the ordinary 
buildings of the country adapted as hospitals. Such a measure seldom suc- 
ceeds, and the mere adaptation is expensive, though probably always imper- 
fect.2, Churches should never be taken, as they are not only cold, but often 
damp, and there are often exhalations from vaults. 

The French, Austrian, and American experience is in favour of having 
the hospitals in rear made of tents or wooden huts. The huts are perhaps 
the best, especially if the winter be cold. They were very largely used by 
the Federal Americans, who gave up entirely converting old buildings into 
hospitals. The best huts which were used in the Russian war of 1854—56 
were those erected at Renkioi from Mr Brunel’s design; each held fifty men 


1 On this and other points of the like kind, see Report on Hygiene in the Army Medical 
Report for 1862, pp. 549, 350. 

2 Donald Monro says that, in 1769, the houses in Germany taken for the sick were improved 
by taking away the stoves and putting in open fire-places. In the Peninsula the Duke of 
Wellington appeared to have a dread of fever attacking the army. Luscombe tells us that 
the Duke asked the principal medical officer every day as to the appearance of fever. He 
also improved the hospitals by ordering open fire-places.—Luscombe, p. 6. 


662 WAR. 


in four rows. This plan, however, is not so good a one as having only two 
rows of beds. Hammond! states that in the American war the best size has 
been found to be a ward for fifty men with two rows of beds; length of 
ward, 175 feet; width, 25; height, 14 feet; superficial area per man, 87 
feet ; cubic space per man, 1200 feet. Ventilation was by the ridge, an 
opening 10 inches wide running the whole length, and by openings below, 
which could be more or less closed by sliding doors. Some of the American 
hospitals held from 2000 to 2800 beds.? It is probable, however, that 
smaller wards (for 25 men) would be better. The huts used at Suakim are 
described in the Army Medical Department Reports, vol. xxvi. They were of 
wood, the upper half of the walls moveable, or provided with bamboo chicks 
or matting. Roof of cork, covered with Willesden waterproof paper, and 
ventilated by means of metal cowls. Number of beds, 12; with 850 cubic 
feet each. 

An hospital constructed of such huts can be of any size, but there must 
be several kitchens and laundries if it be very large. If space permit, 
however, it seems desirable to have rather a collection of smaller hospitals 
of 500 beds each, separated by half a mile of distance, than one large 
hospital. 

The arrangement of the huts must be made according to the principles 
already laid down. Dr Hammond writes thus of these hospitals :— 

“Tt will, perhaps, not be out of place again to insist on the great || 
advantages of these temporary field hospitals over those located in per- | 
manent buildings in towns. Nothing is better for the sick and wounded, © 
winter and summer, than a tent or a ridge-ventilated hut. The experience | 
gained during the present war establishes this point beyond the possibility | 
of a doubt. Cases of erysipelas or of hospital gangrene occurring in the old 
buildings, which were at one time unavoidably used as hospitals, but which | 
are now almost displaced for the ridge-ventilated pavilions, immediately | 
commenced to get well as soon as removed to the tents. But in one | 
instance that has come to my knowledge has hospital gangrene originated | 
in a wooden pavilion hospital, and in no instance, as far as | am aware, in a | 
tent. Hospital gangrene has been exceedingly rare in all our hospitals, but | 
two or three hundred cases occurring among the many wounded, amounting 
to over 100,000 of the loyal and rebel troops, which have been treated in | 
them. Acain, wounds heal more rapidly in them, for the reason that the | 
full benefit of the fresh air and the light are obtained. Even in fractures | 
the beneficial effects are to be remarked.” ? 

Baron Larrey, in his useful work,* describes the plans adopted by the | 
French in the Italian war of 1859. At Constantinople, during the Crimean | 
war, the French were apparently very well installed; the best buildings in |} 
Constantinople were assigned to them, and they were arranged with all the ]}. 
accuracy of organisation which distinguishes the French. The results were |}, 
not, however, favourable, especially in the spring of 1856, when typhus | 
spread through many of the hospitals and caused great mortality.2 Taught | 


1 On Hygiene, p. 355 

2 See Report on Hygiene, in the Army Medical Report for 1862, p. 845 et seq., for a fuller | 
description. 

3 On Hygiene, p. 397. 

4 Notice sur V Hygiene des Hopitaux Militaires, 1862. 

5 Larrey mentions some striking instances of the effects of overcrowding. At Rami- | 
Tchifflick the hospital was fixed for 900 by the surgeon in charge, who allowed no more; it | 
remained healthy. His successor increased the beds to 1200 and then to 1400. Typhus | 
became most severe, and spared no one (ni infirmiers, ni seurs, ni médecins). In the | 
hospital at Pera there was the same mistake, and the same results. Typhus caused 50 per | 
cent. of the deaths. At the hospital of the Kcole Militaire no crowding was permitted, and | 


HOSPITALS IN WAR. 663 


by this experience, in the Italian war of 1859 the French distributed their 
sick in small hospitals whenever they could find a building, and in this way 
the extension of the specific diseases was entirely stopped. 

In the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 the Germans made great use of 
temporary hospitals, and distributed their sick and wounded over almost 
the whole of Germany. The plans were very similar to those used in the 
Crimean and American wars. In some of the large cities, as at Berlin, 
immense hospitals, with railways and every appliance, were fitted up. 
The experience as regards hospital gangrene and erysipelas was favourable, 
but there were many cases of pyzemia in some of these hospitals. 

To sum up, the hygiene of field hospitals in war (the rules are derived 
from our own Crimean experience, and that of the wars which have taken 
place since) is as follows:—The field, including the intermediate, hospitals 
to be made of tents; the tents being well constructed, of good size, 
thoroughly ventilated, the flaps being able to be raised so as almost, 
if desired, to make the tent into an awning. The most convenient and best 
are the hospital marquees of the new pattern, except for their considerable 
weight. The new double circular tents will now be used: they are a great 
improvement on the old bell-tent, and lighter than the marquee. Each 
weighs 100 tb dry, and four patients are put in a tent. For operating 
purposes, the central pole can be removed and a tripod support substituted, 
so as to leave the centre free. 

The ground round the tents to be thoroughly drained, kept very clean, 
and replaced from time to time. The tent floor to be covered with clean, 
and, if possible, dried earth, or charcoal, and to be then covered with a 
waterproof cloth, or boarded, if the camp be one of position. In either 
case the greatest care must be taken that the ground does not get soaked 
and filthy. Every now and then (if possible every ten days or so) the tents 
should be shifted a little. 

If it can be done, the sick should be raised off the ground. Iron bed- 
steads are cumbrous, but small iron pegs stuck in the ground might carry 
a sort of cot or hammock. The advantage of a plan of this kind is, that 
by means of holes in the sacking, wounded men can have the close-stool 
without much movement. For fever cases it permits a free movement of 
air under the patient. 

The stationary general hospitals in rear should be of tents or wooden 
huts, but never of converted buildings, or of hospitals used by other nations. 
Here, of course, iron bedsteads, and all the appurtenances of a regular hospi- 
tal, are brought into play. 

Whenever practicable, the rear hospital should have water-closets and 
sewers. At Renkioi, in Turkey, Mr Brunel supplied square wooden sewers 
about fifteen inches to the side; they were tarred inside, and acted most 
admirably, without leakage, for fifteen months, till the end of the war. The 
water-closets (Jennings’ simple siphon), arranged with a small water-box 
below the cistern to economise water, never got out of order, and, in fact, the 
drainage of the hospital was literally perfect. Dr Parkes had little doubt 
such well-tarred wooden sewers would last two or three years. 

There is one danger about wooden hospitals, viz., that of fire. The huts 
should, therefore, on this ground alone, be widely separated ; each hut 
should have, about ten feet from it, an iron box for refuse. Wooden boxes 
do not answer, as in the winter live cinders get thrown in, and there is 


typhus caused only 10 per cent. of the deaths. In the French ambulances in the Crimea the 
same facts were noticed. Double and treble numbers were crowded into some, and they 
were ravaged by typhus; others were not allowed to be crowded, and had little typhus. 


664 WAR. 


danger of fire. These boxes should be emptied every morning by the scaven- 
gers, and the contents burned as soon as possible. Water must be laid on 
into every ward. 

The arrangement of the buildings is a simple matter, but must partly be 
determined by the ground. Long open lines are the best. An hospital of 
this kind, completely prepared in England, can be put up at a very rapid 
rate,! supposing there be no great amount of earth-work, and that the 
supply of water and of outlet for sewage be convenient. So that, if com- 
menced at once at the beginning of a campaign, accommodation would soon 
be provided. 

Circumstances may of course render it necessary to take existing buildings 
for hospital purposes, but it ought always to be remembered that it is 
running a very great risk, and nothing but rigid necessity ought to sanc- 
tion it. 


Laundry Establishment. 


This part of an hospital must be organised as early and as perfectly as 
possible. The different parts must be sent out from England, viz., boiler, 
drying-closet, washing-machines, and wringing-machines. The washing in 
war can never be properly done by the people among whom the war is carried 
on. Every appliance to save labour must be used, and after calculating 
what amount of laandry work has to be done for a presumed number of sick, 
just twice the amount of apparatus should be sent out, partly to insure against 
breakage, partly to meet moments of great pressure. The drying-closet, 
especially, is a most important part of the laundry, as its heat can be used 
to disinfect. 


Amount of Hospital Accommodation. 


This must not be less than for 25 per cent. of the force, with reserve tents 
in rear in case of need. 

Cemeteries in war must be as far removed as possible; the graves dug 
deep, and peat charcoal thrown in if it can be procured. Lime is generally 
used instead, but is not quite sogood. If charcoal cannot be got, lime must 
be used. If the army is warring on the sea-coast, burial in the sea might 
be employed. But cremation would be best, and forms of ambulatory 
furnaces have been proposed. 


Sanitary Duties connected with a War Hospital. 


In addition to the usual sanitary duties of an hospital, there are one or 
two points which require particular attention in the field. 

The first of these is the possible conveyance of disease by the exceedingly 
dirty clothes, which may perhaps have been worn for weeks even without 
removal, in the hard times of war. Typhus, especially, can be carried in 
this way. 


1 The hospital at Renkioi, in Turkey, in the Crimean war, was made of such large huts 
(50 men in each) that its rapidity of erection is no guide to others ; yet it was marvellously 
soon put up. The first beam was laid on the 24th May 1855; on the 12th July it was reported 
ready for 300 sick, every ward having water laid on, baths and closets, and an iron kitchen and 
laundry being also ready; on the 11th August it was ready for 500, and on the 4th December | 
for 1000 sick. In January 1856 it was ready for 1500 sick, and in a short time more 2200 could | 


have been received. The number of English artisans was only forty, but we had native work- 
men, and if we had had eighty English artisans it would have been ready for 1000 sick in three 


months. Smaller huts could be put up in much less time if the ground requires no terracing. 


SIEGES. 665 


To provide for this, every hospital should have a tent or building for the 
reception of the clothes; here they should be sorted, freely exposed to air, 
and the dirty flannels or other filthy clothes picked out. Some of these are 
so bad that they should at once be burnt, and the Principal Medical Officer, 
at the beginning of a campaign, should have authority given him to do this, 
and to replace the articles from the public store. 

The articles which are not so bad should be cleansed. The cleansing is 
best done in the following way :—If the hospital have a laundry and drying- 
closet, they should be put first in the drying-closet for an hour, and the heat 
carried to 220° Fahr. Then they should be transferred into the fumigation 
box ; this is simply a tin-lined box or large chest. The clothes are put in 
this, and sulphur placed above them is set on fire, care being taken not to 
burn the clothes; or nitrous acid fumes should be used. After an hour’s de- 
tention in the fumigating box, they should be removed to the soaking tubs. 
These are large tubs with pure water, put in a shed or tent outside the 
laundry. A little chloride of lime can be added to the water. They should 
soak here for twenty-four hours, and then go into the laundry and be washed 
as usual. This plan, and especially the heating and fumigation, will also 
kill lice, which often swarm in such numbers. 

Another point of importance is to bathe the men as soon as possible. The 
baths of a war hospital at the base of operations should be on a large scale, 
and the means for getting hot water equally large. The men’s heads, if 
lousy, should be washed with a little weak carbolic acid, which kills the 
lice at once. The smell is not agreeable, but that is not of real conse- 
quence. 

Ina war hospital, also, the use of charcoal in the wards, antiseptic dressings, 
the employment of disinfectants of all kinds, is more necessary than in a 
common hospital. 

As a matter of diet, there should bea large use in the diet of antiscorbutic 
food, vegetables, &c., and antiscorbutic drinks should be in every ward, to be 
taken ad libitum—citric acid and sugar, cream of tartar, &c. The bread 
must be very good, and of the finest flour, for the dysenteric cases. 


Steges. 


The sanitary duties during sieges are often difficult. Water is often 
scarce, disposal of sewage not easy, and the usual modes of disposal of the 
dead cannot, perhaps, be made use of. If sewage is not washed away, and if 
there is no convenient plan of removing it by hand, it must be burnt. Mix- 
ing it with gunpowder may be adopted if there is no straw or other com- 
bustible material to put with it. 

If food threaten to run short, the medical officer should remember how 
easily Dr Morgan’s process of salting meat can be applied, and in this way 
cattle or horses which are killed for want of forage, or are shot inaction, can 
be preserved. For sieges, as vegetables are sure to fall short, a very ample 
supply of lemon-juice and of citric acid, citrates, and cream of tartar should 
be laid in, and distributed largely. 

One other point should be brought to the notice of the general in command. 
In times of pressure, every man who can be discharged from the hospital is 
sent to the front. This cannot always be avoided. But when there is less 
pressure, the men should go from the rear hospitals to a depot, and while 
there should still be considered under medical treatment, so that they may 
not too soon be subjected to the hardships of war. They should, in fact, be 


666 WAR. 


subjected again to a sort of training, as if they were just entering on the wai. 
If this is not done, a number of sickly or half-cured men get into the ranks, 
who may break down in a moment of emergency, and cause great d“ficulty 
to the general in command. Some officers think that a man should either 
be in hospital or at his full duty ; this seems a misapprehension both of the 
facts and of the best way of meeting them. ‘To transfer a man just cured, 
from the comforts of an hospital at once to the front, is to run great danger. 
A depét, which should be a sort of convalescent hospital, though not under 
that term, is the proper place to thoroughly strengthen the man just re- 
covered for the arduous work before him. 


BOOK IIL. 


——>— 


CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


CHAPTER LIL 


EXAMINATION OF WATER FOR HYGIENIC PURPOSES. 


THE analysis of water for hygienic purposes has for its object to ascertain 
whether the water contains any substances either suspended or dissolved 
which are likely to be hurtful. There are some substances which we know 
are not likely to do any harm, such as carbonate of sodium, calcium, and 
magnesium in small quantities. Others are at once viewed with suspicion 
as indicating an animal origin, and therefore being probably derived from 
habitations or resorts of men or animals, or from decaying bodies. Jn other 
cases substances in themselves harmless, such as nitrates, nitrites, and am- 
monia, are suspicious from implying the coexistence of, or the previous 
contamination of the water by, nitrogenous substances. The difficulties in 
the hygienic examination of water are not inconsiderable. A judgment 
must be generally come to from a collation of all the evidence, rather than 
from the results of one or two tests. 


Collection. 


Great care must be taken that a fair sample of the water is collected in 
perfectly clean glass vessels (not in earthenware jars)—Winchester quarts, 
which hold about half a gallon, and can be obtained of most chemists, are 
most convenient ; they should be repeatedly washed out with some of the 
water to be examined. In taking water from a stream or lake, the bottle 
ought to be plunged below the surface before it is filled. In drawing from 
a pipe a portion ought to be allowed to run away first, to get rid of any 
impurity in the pipe. In judging of a town supply, samples should be 
obtained direct from the mains, as well as from the houses. The bottle 
should be stoppered ; a cork should be avoided, except in great emergency, 
but if used it should be quite new, well tied down, and sealed. No luting 
of any kind (such as linseed meal and the like) should be used. 

For a complete sanitary investigation half a gallon is necessary, but with 
a litre or a couple of pints a pretty good examination can be made if more 
cannot be obtained. If a detailed mineral analysis is required (which will 


1 W. O. Circulars, clause 82, June 1876; clause 12, Jan. 1877; and clause 81, April 1878, 
direct water to be sent in stoppered glass bottles. See also Medical Regulations, 1885, para. 
1107, and Appendix 8. 


668 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


only be seldom) a gallon ought to be provided. It is always advisable to 
have a good supply in case of breakage or accident. The W. O. Circulars 
direct two Winchester quarts of each sample to be sent.! The examination 
ought to be undertaken immediately after collection, if possible. If this 
cannot be done, then as short a time as may be should be allowed to elapse, 
for changes in the most important constituents take place with great rapidity.” 
Pending examination, it ought to be kept in a dark cool place. 

‘The fullest information ought always to be furnished with the sample, the 
following being the most important particulars :— 

1. Source of the water, viz., from tanks or cisterns, main or house pipe, — 

spring, river, stream, lake, or well. 

2. Position of source, strata so far as they are known. 

3. Ifa well; depth, diameter, strata through which sunk, whether im- 
perviously steined in the upper part, and how far down. Total 
depth of well and depth of water to be both given. If the well be 
open, furnished with cover, or with a pump attached. 

4. Possibility of impurities reaching the water: distance of well from 
cesspools, drains, middens, manure heaps, stables, &e. ; if drains or 
sewers discharge into streams or lakes ; proximity of cultivated land. 

5. If a surface-water or rain-water, nature of collecting surface and con- 
ditions of storage. 

6. Meteorological conditions, with reference to recent drought or excessive 
rainfall. 

7. A statement of the existence of any disease supposed to be connected 
with the water supply, or any other special reason for requiring 
analysis. 

Any further information that can be obtained will always be useful. Each 
bottle should also be distinctly labelled, so as to correspond with the official 
letter or invoice. 

When it is possible, it is most desirable that the medical officer or analyst 
should visit the locality itself whence the water is obtained ; in this way he 
may obtain information which might otherwise escape him. If the analysis 
can be made immediately on the spot, it will be all the more valuable. 


SECTION I. 
Physical Examination of Water. 


The following points are to be noted :— 


1. Colour. 4. Lustre. 
2. Clearness. 5. Taste. 
3. Sediment. 6. Smell. 


1. Colour.—This may be judged of by allowing any sediment to settle, 
and then pouring off the supernatant water into a tall glass placed upon 
a piece of white paper. Ora horizontal tube of colourless glass with glass 
ends may be used. The stratum should be of sufficient thickness, if 
possible two or three feet, but a fair idea of the colour may be obtained 
with 18 inches or even a foot. The Society of Public Analysts recom- 


! Frankland recommends from one Winchester quart of the worst waters to three of 
the purest. 

* For some interesting experiments on this point, see Hehner, in the Analyst, vol. iii. 
p- 177. 


oS 


PHYSICAL EXAMINATION OF WATER, 669 


mends 24 inches. If a tube be used, it may either be half full, and the 
tint compared with the colour of the air in the upper half when directed 
against a well illuminated white surface ; or, better still, it may be filled, 
and the comparison made with a second tube placed alongside, filled with 
pure distilled water. Perfectly pure water has a bluish tint, but most ordi- 
nary waters have either a greyish, greenish, yellow or brown appearance. 
The best samples are those coloured bluish or greyish. Green waters owe 
their colour to vegetable matter, chiefly unicellular alge, and are usually 
harmless. Yellow or brown waters are most to be feared, as their colour is 
often due to animal organic matter, chiefly sewage. It is sometimes, how- 
ever, owing to vegetable matter, such as peat, and under those circum- 
stances it is not generally hurtful. It may also be caused by salts of iron, 
although in most cases the iron is precipitated as ferric oxide in the sedi- 
ment. 

2. Clearness.—The presence or absence of turbidity may be judged of in 
the same way as the colour, only the water should be shaken up, so as to 
distribute the suspended matter and simulate its condition when drawn. 
The depth necessary to obscure printed matter may be used as a measure. 
Occasionally water remains hazy or turbid even after standing for some 
time ; in such a case the suspended matter is in very fine division, such as 
is sometimes found with sulphate of calcium, minute scales of mica, We. 

3. Sediment.—The nature of the sediment may be roughly judged of by 
the eye, as to whether it is mineral or vegetable, or stained with iron or the 
like. The larger living forms, such as Anguillule, water-fleas, leeches, &c., 
may also be detected. But the only satisfactory examination is to be made 
with the microscope. 

4, Lustre.—The lustre or brilliancy (éclat) has been recommended as a 
good physical indication of the amount of aération (Gérardin). The different 
degrees may be noted in any convenient way, such as nil, dull, vitreous, 
adamantine, which is an ascending scale from zero to the maximum bright- 
ness. 

5. Taste-—Taste is an uncertain indication. Any badly tasting water 
should be rejected or purified before use. Suspended animal organic matters 
often give a peculiar taste, so also vegetable matters in stagnant waters. 
Some growing plants, as demnia and pistia, give a bitter taste ; but most 
growing plants have no taste. Dissolved animal matter is frequently 
quite tasteless. As regards dissolved mineral matters, taste is of little 
use, and differs much in different persons. On an average !— 


Sodium chloride is tasted when it reaches 75 grains per gallon, 
Potassium as A be 20 - ie 
Magnesium _,, _ - 50) tO. 5B op ie 
Calcium sulphate, . s AD) oO B10) cg 

», carbonate, , 3 LOxcomE2 5 

» nitrate, + se 15) 7) ZO) os 
Sodium carbonate, - - GURtTONGON aes i 
Iron, ” ” ” 0-2 ” ” 


Iron is thus the only substance which can be tasted in very small 
quantities. A permanently hard water has sometimes a peculiar fade, or 
slightly saline taste, if the total salts amount to 35 or 40 grains per gallon 
and the calcium sulphate amounts to 6 or 8 grains. The taste of good 


1 Dr F. de Chaumont, Army Medical Report for 1862, vol. iv. p. 355. 


670 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


drinking water is due entirely to the gases dissolved ; water nearly free from 
carbonic acid hardness, such as distilled water, is not so pleasant as the 
brisk well-carbonated waters; it may be called flat, but it is difficult to 
define the kind of taste or absence of it.t 

6. Smell.—The water may be warmed, or distilled, when the odour of 
feecal matter is often brought out clearly both in the distillate and residue. 
If the water is put in a stoppered bottle, which it half fills, and is exposed 
to light, and then opened and smelt after a few days, commencing putre- 
faction, or the formation of butyric acid, or something similar, can sometimes 
be detected. Tiemann recommends that the water should be heated to 110° 
or 120° Fahr. (42° to 49° C.); if hydrogen sulphide be present, add a little 
copper sulphate, which precipitates it, and permits any putrid smell to be 
perceived. 

The Society of Public Analysts? recommends heating the water in a 
wide-mouthed stoppered bottle to 100° F. (38° C.). This maybe done by 
immersing it in warm water. Any particular smell should be recorded, if 
distinctly recognised,—with its degree of intensity, such as nz/, very slight, 
slight, marked, &c., as the case may be. Sometimes an offensive smell is 
detected on bowling, which is not otherwise perceived.’ 

Although the physical characters give only an imperfect idea of the value 
of a water, they are yet important when no further examination can be 
made. If a water be colourless, clear, free from suspended matter, of a 
brilliant (or adamantine) lustre, devoid of smell or taste, except such as is 
recognised to be the characteristic of good potable water, we shall in the 
large majority of cases be justified in pronouncing it a good and wholesome 
water ; whilst, according as it deviates from these characters, we shall be 
proportionately justified in regarding it with suspicion. Suspended matter 
is probably the most dangerous, but it may well be that minute particles, 
the “resting spores” of disease-causing organisms, may exist without reveal- 
ing themselves by any visible turbidity (or even to a cursory microscopic 
examination) ; these can only be detected by biological tests ; nor must we 
shut our eyes to the possibility of hurtful dissolved substances, so that, 
when our opinion of a water is based only on its physical characters, the 
fact ought to be duly recorded. 


SECTION II. 


EXAMINATION OF SUSPENDED MATTERS. 


The suspended matters may be either mineral (sand, clay, chalk, fine 
films of mica, iron peroxide), or dead animal or vegetable matters, or living 
creatures (plants and animals). 


T'o determine the Nature of the Suspended Matters. 


Pour some of the water into a long glass as already described, and observe 
its appearance. Suspended sand or clay give a yellow or yellow-white 
turbidity ; vegetable humus and peat give a darkish, sewage gives a light 
brown colour ; but the colour or turbidity alone is a very insufficient test. 


1 Arguing from the apparent preference many persons have for water containing some saline 
matter, Wanklyn has suggested the addition of sodium chloride to drinking water, to the 
extent of 5() grains per gallon. 

* N.B. Where the letters 8.P.A. occur, they mean ‘‘ Society of Public Analysts,” and refer 
to rules published in the Analyst, July and August 1881. 

3 See Dupré, Analyst, 1878, p. 265. 


Ps mats 
(a 


TALL, 


DESCRIPTION OF Puate I. 


Sediment from South Wing Well, Netley, drawn with the Camera lucida at the 
distance of 10 inches from the centre of eye-piece to paper. 


The presence of infusoria and animals of low type indicates the presence of 
organic matter, animal or vegetable, and it is therefore important to note their 
presence ; but it has not at present been shown that they are in themselves at all 


hurtful. 


aaa Actinophrys Sol, early and complete stages, x 260. 
b Supposed decomposing amceba-like expansions of Gromia fluviatilis, 
x 435. 

c Fragment of carbonate of lime, x 435. 

d Navicula viridis, x 435. 

e Grammatophora marina? x 435. 

jf Supposed encysted stage of Euglena viridis, x 435. 

g Pinnate conferva, x 780. 

hhh Fragments of decaying vegetable matter, x 65. 
w Fragments of carbonaceous substance. 
j Part of conferva filament, Conferva floccosa? showing the various 
conditions of the protoplasm in the old and new cells, x 435. 

k Part of leaf of Sphagnum or bog-moss, x 108. 

1 Grammatophora marina, x 435. 
m Minute spores with zoospores? x 435. 

nm Diatoma hyalinum, x 435. 

o Cell with dividing protoplasm, x 435. 

p Oxytricha lingua, x 260. 

q Rotifer vulgaris, small, x 108. 

ry Anguillula fluviatilis x 108. 

s Peranema globosa, x 108. 

¢ Statoblast of a fresh-water zoophyte ? x 108. 

uw Arthrodesmus incus, x 435. 

v Minute Desmidize, Scenedesmus obtusus, x 780. 

w Oscillaria (oscillatoria) levis, x 780. 

xz Homeeocladia filiformis? x 435. 

y Ankistrodesmus faleatus, x 435. 

z Minute moving particles, x 435.—(?) Zoospores. 


(Lo Binder—To face Plate I.) 


DESCRIPTION OF PLATE IL. 


Sediment of Ditch Water, drawn with the Camera lucida at the distance of 10 inches 
from eye-prece to pauper. 


a Decaying vegetable matter, cellular tissue, x 108. 
b Pleurosigma formosum, before dividing, x 170. 
c Oxytricha gibba, x 108. 

d Amphileptus anser, x 170. 

e Euglena viridis, x 285. 

Ff Supposed urceola of some rotifer, x 108. 

g Surirella gemma, x 108. 

h Do. do. x 65. 

7 Foraminifera, x 65. 

j Trachleocerca linguifera, x 65. 

k Small Planaria? ovisaes distended, x 65. 

1 Navicula viridis, x 285. 

m Paramecium aurelia, x 170. 

nm Coleps hirsutus, x 285. 

o Pleuronema crassa, x 285. 

p Monura dulcis, x 170. 

q Surirella splendida, x 170. 

7 Biddulphia pulchella, x 285. 

s Surirella striatula, x 170. 

t Rotifer, Monolabis conica? x 108. 

u Aregma, spore cases, x 285. 

v Stentor ceruleus? do. v. x contracted, x 170. 
w Trinema acinus? x 170. 

x Pinnularia grandis, x 170. 

y Gyrosigma angulatum before dividing, x 170. 
# Alyscum saltans? x 170. 
aa Synedra ulna, x 170. 

bb Amphiprora alata, x 285. 

cc Gyrosigma Spencerii, x 285. 
dd Nitzschia sigma, x 170. 

ee Brachionus angularis, x 170. 

ff Young Vorticella? x 170. 

gg Gyrosigma fasciola, x 285. 
hh Trachelius strictus, x 285. 

ii Cocconema Boeckii, x 170. 

jj Confervoid cell? with divided protoplasm, x 285. 
kk Euplotes Charon, x 170. 


(To Binder—To face Plate IL.) 


, 


- 


PLE. 


PLOT 


= we TAY Mate SS 
Se MTT = ee 


ie 


DESCRIPTION OF PLATE III. 


Drawing of Sediment in Thames Water, taken just above Teddington Lock, in April 
1878. Notice the evidence of impurities from men, viz., epithelium, woollen, 
cotton, and flax fibres. 


Fig. 1. Coleps hirsutus. 
. Bodo grandis. 
. Actinophrys Eichornii. 
. Epithelium (tessellated). 
. Leucophrys striata. 
. Anguillula fluviatilis. 
Paramecium chrysalis, dividing (? sexual stage). 
. Vorticella microstoma. 
. Kerona, young ? 
. Vorticella microstoma (stemless), 
. Paramecium aurelia. 
12. Conferva. 
13. Cocconema lanceolatum. 
14, Synedra splendens. 
15, Gyrosigma attenuatum. 
16. Gomphonema acuminatum. 
17. Wool fibre, dyed. 
18. Cotton fibre, dyed. 
19, Conferva floccosa. 
20. Hair, barbed, of ? 
21. Kerona mytilus. 
22. Siliceous spicule. 
23. Diatoma vulgare. 
24. Fungi (? Torula). 
25. Flax fibre. 
26. Arthrodesmus quadricaudatus. 
27. Stylonichia ? histrio, dividing, 
28. Paramecium caudatum. 
29. Woody fibre,? rootlets. 
30. Pollen. 
31. Vegetable tissue and mycelium, with spores. 
32. Decaying vegetable matter. 
33. Gomphonema curvatum. 
34, Spores of Fungi (? Aregma). 
35. Antherozoid of ? 
36. Encysted spore. 
Decaying vegetable matter and infusoria abundant. 


OID OP w pe 


a 
— © 


(To Binder—To face Plate II.) 


INE 


References. 


aaa Brown Vegetable cells. (probably Sporangiad.) probably disengaged goridiay 


a bean Ge ee. of kchens. (Leighton) 
C. Glaucoma scutillarms. 
d. Monas lens. 


ee. Aspidusca dentiulata, or Cocudina . 
CP! Oaytrichy gibba fF young. 

g. Vorticella’ Convalaria 

h. Bacterumm termo.imn a broad sheet. 


e. 


Localized groups of a larger form 


kh. Orystaliine paruces, probably quartz. 


MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION OF WATER. 671 


Then boil the water, and pour it back into the long glass. Sand, chalk, and 
heavy particles of the kind will be deposited ; finely suspended sewage and 
vegetable matter is little affected, unless it be a chalk-water, when the deposit 
of calcium carbonate may carry down the suspended matter. When the 
water is commencing to boil, smell it to see if there is any trace of sewage. 


Microscopic EXxAMINATION.! 


The examination with the microscope can, however, alone give accurate 
information of the nature of the suspended matters. Very high powers 
(1000 or 1200 diameters) are necessary for a complete examination, though 
lower powers will give much information. 

If the matter is entirely suspended, a drop of the water must be taken at 
once ; but when it can be obtained, a little of the sediment is more satisfac- 
tory. To get a sediment, the water should be placed in a conical glass (the 
space of which ought to be rounded, not pointed, at the bottom), carefully 
covered and allowed to stand for a few hours; and the upper part of the 
water is then poured away or siphoned off. In special cases, where it is 
important to know the exact condition of the suspended matters before they 
undergo change by the action of the atmosphere of the room or laboratory 
where they may be kept, they should be collected in vacuum tubes and 
sealed. A very small amount of sediment can be thus got at. An immense 
number of dead and living things are often found in water, which it would 
be impossible to enumerate, but which may be conveniently considered 
under two great and several minor divisions. The best kind of pipette for 
taking up the sediment for transfer to the glass slide is a plain straight 
tube, without bulb and without any narrowing to a point at either end; 
the diameter may be from ;4, to $ of an inch (14 to 3 millimetres). 


1. Inanimate Substances. 


(a2) Mineral particles may be easily known ; sand appears as large angular 
particles, often showing distinct conchoidal fracture ; clay and marl as round 
smooth globules unaffected by acids; carbonate of calcium (chalk) sometimes 
smooth, but often crystalline, soluble in acids with effervescence. Iron 
peroxide appears in reddish-brown masses of an amorphous character ; it is 
easily dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and strikes a deep blue with the ferro- 
cyanide of potassium (yellow prussiate). 

(b) Vegetable matters: portions of wood, leaves, bits of the veins, 
parenchyma, or ducts are easily recognised. When vegetable tissue is more 
decomposed nothing is seen but a dark, opaque, structureless mass. Any 
dark formless mass of this kind in water is almost certainly decayed vegetable 
matter. Bits of textile fabrics (cotton, linen) are not uncommon, and are 
important as indicating that the water is contaminated with house refuse. 
So also the cells of the potato, or spiral threads of cabbage and other 
vegetables used by man, are of value as indications of the same kind. 
Spiral cells are very indestructible, and are often found in river water to 
which sewage gains access.2_ Carbonaceous masse8 also occur, either portions 
of soot from coal smoke, or bits of charred wood. Sometimes fragments of 


1 For a good resumé of this part of the examination, reference may be made to Professor 
Macdonald’s excellent work, A Guide to the Microscopic Examination of Drinking-water, by 
J. D. Macdonald, R.N., F.R.S., Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets, Professor of Naval 
Hygiene, Army Medical School, 2nd edition, Churchill. ’ 

2 See Tidy’s evidence, Report of Royal Commission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge. 


672 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES, 


paper are met with, probably washed into the water from drains or cess- 
pools. 

(c) Animal matters, consisting of bits of wool, hair, and remains of animals 
of all kinds, such as wings and legs of insects, spiders and their webs, 
portions of the skin of water animals, or of fish, &c., are not uncommon. 
Sewage matters having a darkish-brown or reddish colour, and often in 
globular masses, and thus distinguishable from the flatter and more spread- 
out vegetable matter, are sometimes seen. In the London water, as supplied 
thirty years ago, Hassall recognised these little “ochreous” masses, and 
found that nitric acid brought out a pink tint. He thought them to be 
portions of muscular fibre, tinged with bile. Epithelium (from the skin of 
man)! and hairs of animals are not unfrequent. The identification of these 
matters is of moment, as indicating the particular source of the contamina- 
tion. Anything which can be unequivocally traced to the habitations of 
man must always cause the water to be regarded with suspicion, as, if one 
substance froma house can find its way in, others may do so too. 


2. Living Organisms.” 


These are often found in the sediment, but sometimes also float in the 
water above the sediment. They are almost innumerable, and as immature 
forms and various stages of development are seen, it is often difficult or 
impossible to name all of them. 

(d) Bacteria, vibriones, or microzymes.—Under these terms are meant the 
small points or jointed rods, sometimes moving rapidly, sometimes slowly or 
motionless. Distinctions are made between these three by some, while by 
others the three terms are used as synonyms.? High powers (and prefer- 
ably with immersion lenses) are required to see them properly. When they 
appear in water it is necessary, as Lex* has shown, that besides oxygen 
three conditions must be present—(1) an organic carbonaceous substance ; 
(2) a nitrogenous substance, which need not be organic—a nitrate, for 
example, will well nourish bacteria, and is reduced to nitrite by their 
erowth ;° (3) a phosphate, which, however, may be in exceedingly small 
quantity. The bacteria may either originally exist in the water, or be 
introduced. Burdon-Sanderson’s experiments, however, are not favourable 
to the introduction of bacterza from the air, though large numbers of cells 
which seem to belong to the same class can be obtained from the air. It 
appears from Burdon-Sanderson’s observations that the germs (if the term 
be allowed) of bacteria may exist in water and be indetectable by the highest 
microscopic powers, or even by Tyndall’s test of the electric beam. To 
detect these the test by cultivation, or what may be called the microzyme 
test for water, can be employed. Take a little recently prepared clear 
Pasteur’s fluid,® boil it, and put one or two c.c. into a test-tube previously 
strongly heated to 356° Fahr. (180° C.), drop in three or four drops of the 


1 Epithelium from the skin breaks down slowly in water; soakage for many months does 
not destroy it. Epithelium from the mouths of cattle is sometimes found. This was the 
case in some water examined at Netley, got from a catch-pit in Parkhurst Forest. 

2 Numerous plates of the various organisms found in the Thames water have been given by 
Hassall. (Microscopic Examination of the Water supplied to London, by A. H. Hassall, 
M.D., 1860. Food and its Adulteration, by the same author, 1876.) 

3 Frequently spoken of as Bacteroids, and smaller forms as Bacteriform puncta. 

4 Centralblatt fiir die Med. Wiss., No. 20, 1872, p. 305. 

5 Eventually the nitre disappears, nitrogen being liberated. 

6 Pasteur’s fluid is composed of 10 grammes of crystallised sugar; 5 grammes of ammonium 
tartrate ; 0°1 of well-burnt yeast ash, and 100 c.c. of distilled water. It should be quite 
clear. It is a capital breeding-ground for microzymes or fungi. 


MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION OF WATER. 673 


water, and close the mouth of the tube with cotton wool. If microzymes 
or their germs exist in the water, in a few days the liquid becomes milky 
trom countless bacteridia. 

As, however, even distilled water and the purest ice-water may contain 
bacteridia, the test cannot be used as a positive indication of good or bad 
water, except in connection with others, and with due regard to tempera- 
ture, which has a great effect. All it will show is, that the greater or less 
rapidity of appearance of opalescence will prove that microzymes are more 
or less abundant. 

At present there seems no reason to think that common (putrefactive) 
bacteria and vibriones are in themselves hurtful, but they indicate the 
existence of putrefactive organic matter, which is adanger. But there may 
be, and probably are, forms of bacterva which are more dangerous, and which 
may hereafter be distinctly differentiated by careful cultivation. For this 
purpose a sample of the water must be examined by mixing a small 
measured portion with gelatine (specially prepared) or other nutrient 
medium. This, when fluid, is poured over a glass plate, and set aside 
in a cultivating apparatus. In a day or two, colonies of minute organisms 
will show themselves. These can be counted by the microscope, and stated 
as so many per cubic centimetre. Note may also be taken of the char- 
acters of each, and whether or not they liquefy the medium. Separate pure 
cultivations can then be made in tubes to determine the exact nature of 
such as are doubtful. The significance of the different forms is as yet 
very obscure. 

Both spirillum and bacillus can also be often detected in water. In 
addition to microzymes the water will always contain various allied protista, 
which are usually termed monads or zooglea, and which seem to have the 
same significance as bacteridia.1 

(ec) Fungi.—In any water which contains nitrogenous matter (of animal 
nature, at any rate), sugar, and a little phosphate, fungi will soon appear, and 
the spores, no doubt, enter from the atmosphere. Spores, spore-cases, and 
delicate mycelium can be seen, and often bacteridia coexist. If fungi are 
found in water they indicate impurity, and such water should not be used if 
it can be avoided, or should be purified.2 Boiling does not kill the fungi, 
according to Heisch; charcoal filtration does so, according to the same 
observer, though later experience has shown that this is not always the case. 
Animal charcoal adds some phosphate to the water, and in this way aids 
the growth of fungi. Spongy iron gives off no phosphate, and water filtered 
through it is quite free from fungz. 

Heisch ? states that sewage matter in water gives rise, when sugar is added 
to the water, to a peculiar fungus, which he describes as formed of very small, 
perfectly spherical transparent cells arranged in grape-like bundles; they grow 
rapidly into mycelia, and are attended with the special character of producing 
the odour of butyric acid. The mycelium soon disappears. 

Dr Frankland doubts whether fungz, which are readily produced by adding 
sugar to sewage water, are distinctive of sewage, as apparently similar cells 
are caused by other animal matters. 


1 According to Dr Macdonald, ‘ All analogy would go to indicate that the Zoogloea form of 
Bacterium termo may be regarded as the primary or normal state of this organism, the 
surrounding gelatinous matter being simply the representative of that which forms the 
indefinite frond of Microhaloa, or Palmella, for example” (op. cit., p. 14). 

2 Tn the cases of malarious fever at Tilbury Fort (Army Med. Reports, vol. xvii.) fungoid 
structures were found in the water whose use was coincident with the fever, but were absent 
from the water following on whose use the fever ceased. 

3 Chemical News, June 1870, 

2U 


674 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES, 


The identification of the spores of fungi, and even of the mycelium as seen 
in water, is so extremely difficult that it would be at present rash to affirm 
that any fungoid elements are distinctive of feecal matter. The butyric acid 
smell also is given off by so many impure waters that it could hardly be used 
as a test for feeces. 

(f) Alge, Diatoms, and Desmids are found in almost all running streams, 
and are also seen in many well waters. They cannot be held to indicate any 
great impurity ; and to condemn water on account of their presence would 
be really to condemn all waters, even rain, in which minute algoid vesicles 
(protococct) are often found. 

The forms of the various conferve in water are very numerous ; some being 
coloured green, whilst at other times they are quite colourless, round, isolated, 
or clustered vesicles. The immature forms may not be easy of identification. 
The Diatoms are always readily recognised and identified. It may be stated 
generally that organisms of a grass-green colour, such as the green alge, need 
not be objected to; but the bluish-green, such as the Oscillatorians, Nostoc, 
&c., are less desirable ; not that they are probably directly injurious, but as 
indicating an impure water, and as being apt to give rise to an unpleasant 
(“pig-pen”) odour. Leptothrix ochrewa, which was at one time thought to 
be connected with a special disease poison, is really harmless, and is mostly 
found in waters containing a good deal of iron peroxide ; such waters are 
usually singularly free from noxious organic matter. 

(9g) Rhizopoda, especially amebe and similar forms, may often be detected 
with high powers. They appear to indicate, like bacteridia, the existence of 
putrefying substances, but this is not yet certain. They are not found in 
first-class waters. 

(h) Euglene (of different species, such as #. viridis, H. pyrum, &c.) are 
found in many waters, especially of ponds and tanks! Ciliated, free, and 
rapidly moving infusoria, belonging to several kinds of common protozoa, 
such as kolpoda, paramecium, coleps, stentor, kerona, stylonychia, oxytricha, 
&c., are also found. The peculiar red colour of some waters, such as that of 
the river Itchen at Southampton in summer, is due to Peridinium fuscum, as 
first pointed out by Professor Macdonald, F.R.S. The abundance of these 
bodies indicates, of course, that the water contains food for them, and this 
must be either vegetable or animal organic matter, but the mere presence 
of these infusoria will not show which it is. Hassall noticed, however, in 
1850, that the Thames water below Brentford, where it was mixed with 
sewage, swarmed with paramecia, while at Kew, where the water was freer 
from sewage matters, they had almost disappeared. Subsequent observa- 
tions have not, however, proved the relation between paramecia and animal 
matter in the water to be sufficiently constant to allow the former to be 
used as a test of the latter. Fixed or slow moving imfusoria, as the vorti- 
celle, are also often seen in river waters. 

In many waters the living objects in the above five classes comprise all 
that are likely to be seen, but in the other cases there are animals of a larger 
kind. 

(i) Hydrozoa, especially the freshwater polyps, are common in most still 
waters, and do not indicate anything hurtful. 

(k) Worms, or their eggs and embryos, belonging to the class Scolecida, 
may occur in water, and are of great importance. The eggs and joints of the 
tapeworm, the embryos of Bothriocephali, the eggs of the round and thread 


1 There appears reason to believe that all or most of the flagellate animalcules are vegetable, 
and the minuter (such as monas) are probably connected with the reproduction of higher forms, 
such as fui. 


MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION OF WATER. 675 


worms, and perhaps the worms themselves, the Guinea-worm, and other kinds 
of Filaria ; the eggs of Dochmius duodenalis, and other distomata, and the 
embryos of Bilharza, have all been recognised in water, though it has not 
yet been shown that in all cases they can be thus introduced into the human 
body. That Pilaria sanguinis hominis may be taken in drinking water is 
most probable, seeing that its host, the mosquito, is developed in water, the 
larvee of the latter being found in great quantity in tanks and cisterns. Worms 
themselves cannot well be overlooked, but both eggs and the free-moving 
embryos are sometimes difficult of identification. The greatest care should 
be used in examining water to detect ova. In India, the abundance of minute 
Filarie has \ed to the general term of ‘ tank worm” being applied. 

The presence of even common Anguillule in water shows generally an 
amount of impurity, and such a water must be regarded with great suspicion. 
Small leeches also are not uncommon in both still and running waters. 

The wheel animalcules are common enough, and cannot be regarded as 


Fig. 102. Fig. 103. 


very important, though certainly when they exist there must be a good deal 
of food for them, and consequently impurity of water. 

(1) Entomostraca (such as the water flea, Daphnia pulex, fig. 102 ; Cyclops 
guadricornis, fig. 103 ; Sida, Moina, Polyphemus, and others) are very com- 
mon in the spring ; they occur in so many good waters that they cannot be 
considered as indicating any dangerous impurity. It is said that they are 
only found near (within one or two feet) of the surface. Amphipoda (Gam- 
marus pulex) may also be met with, as well as Lsopoda (Asellus aquaticus) 
and Tardigrada (water bears), especially if water that has been stagnant 
gets washed into tanks, cisterns, or water butts. 

(m) There are, of course, many other tolerably large animals often found 
in water; the larve of the water beetle (Dytzscus), the water boatman or 
skipjack (Wotonecta glauca), and the pupa form of many insects, may be 
found, but they are chiefly in pond water. 

So many are the objects in water that the observer will be often very 
much at a loss, first, to identify them, and secondly, to know what their 
presence implies. The best way is first to see what objects appear to be 
mineral, or non-living vegetable substances, and to fix the origin and 
estimate the quantity as far as it can be done. Then to turn to the living 
organisms and to look attentively for bacteridia, ameebe, fungi, and ova, and 
small worms and leeches. If none of these exist, and if cultivations show 
the water to be fairly free from microzymes, the water cannot be considered 
dangerous. Ciliated infusoria of various kinds, and Diatoms, Desmids, and 
Alge, are chiefly important in connection with microscopic evidence of 


676 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES, 


decaying vegetable matters, and with chemical tests showing much dissolved 
organic impurity in the water. 

The subjoined plates show the principal objects found in a deep-well water 
(Plate I.) ; in a slow running stream (Plate II.) ; in Thames water taken 
in 1868 above Teddington Lock (Plate III.) ; in water from a spring near 
Railway at Tilbury (Plate IV.). 


, Chemical Examination of the Sediment. 


The amount of sediment is told by taking two equal quantities of water 
(say 4 litre), evaporating one quantity to dryness at once, and the other 
after subsidence or filtration, so that suspended matters are as far as 
possible separated, and then weighing the two residues. The difference 
between the two weights gives the amount of the sediment. Or a certain 
amount of water may be allowed to stand until all the sediment has fallen ; 
the water is poured off, and the sediment dried and weighed. If good 
Swedish filtering paper isobtainable, the sediment may be obtained at once; two 
filters should be moistened with dilute hydrochloric acid, then washed with 
distilled water and then dried. The amount of ash in one filter should then 
be determined by incineration ; the sediment should be collected on the other 
filter, dried, weighed, and then incinerated. The ash of the filter itself 
being known, the weight of the ignited sediment is the total weight, less the 
ash of the filter. If it be wished to carry the analysis farther, the sediment 
is incinerated; mineral matter remains, while all animal and vegetable 
matter, whether previously inanimate or living, is destroyed. This matter 
of such various origin is generally stated under the vague terms of organic 
or volatile matter, but this gives no idea of its origin. Some of this so- 
called organic matter may have been dead, another portion living. The 
mineral may be further determined by digesting in weak hydrochloric acid 
by the aid of heat; the undissolved matters are silica and aluminum 
silicate ; lime, iron, and magnesia will be dissolved, and can be tested for as 
hereafter given. 


SECTION IIL. 
EXAMINATION OF DiIssoLVED MATTERS. 


In all examinations of water, if the sediment is not expressly referred to, 
it is to be understood that the examination refers only to the dissolved 
matters. These are gases or solids. 


Gases.—Oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, and car- 


buretted hydrogen are the most usual gases. If the three former coexist, 
as is generally the case, the oxygen is usually in larger relative amount 
than in atmospheric air, as it often reaches 32 per cent... The amounts of 
oxygen and carbon dioxide depend so much on varying conditions, such as 
the amount of exposure to the air, the growth or absence of plant life, and 
the presence of animals, as to render the proportions, absolute and relative, 
of the gases so variable, that few inferences of hygienic importance can be 
drawn from their determination. A lessening, however, at one part of its 
course, in the quantity of oxygen which a certain water is known to contain, 
may be useful, as pointing out that organic matter has been in the water.? 


1 Atmospheric air, according to Bunsen’s coefficients of absorption, would dissolve in 
water in the proportion of 65:1 of nitrogen and 34°9 of oxygen.—Wanklyn, Water Analysis, 
p. 103. 

* Up till recently Gérardin considered that the degree of oxygen (oxymétrie) was the best 


DISSOLVED GASES IN WATER. 677 


Thus Professor Miller found that Thames water contained the following 
amount of gases in ¢.c. per litre, in its flow down stream : !— 


Hammer- Somerset 


Kingston, aa iipTae. Greenwich. Woolwich. 
Carbon dioxide, 30°3 Pt 45-2 55-6 48°30 
Oxygen, . ‘C4 4°] 15 0-25 0°25 
Nitrogen, — HY 15:1 16-2 15-4 14°50 


The stability of the nitrogen, the increase in the CO,, and the lessening 
of the oxygen, are well seen. If water contain much CO,, bubbles of the 
gas form on the sides of the glass in which the water is placed. So far as 
our knowledge extends at present, there seems to be but little information 
obtained by the determination of the amount of gases in water ; but if it is 
decided to do so, we require a mercurial trough, a graduated tube-measure 
to be filled with mercury and inverted into the trough, a flask and a con- 
necting tube with a bulb blown on it. The flask is filled with water, and 
connected with the bulb-tube by an india-rubber tube, which is to be closed 
by a clamp. Some water is put into the bulb, and boiled ; this is to expel 
air from the connecting tube ; and when this is done, the end of the tube is 
put into the mercurial trough under the vessel filled with mercury, the 
clamp is removed from the india-rubber tube, and the water is cautiously 
boiled for an hour. The gases collect in the mercurial tube, and are 
measured (due regard being had to temperature and pressure, and the other 
corrections) ; the CO, is absorbed by potash, the oxygen by potassium 
pyrogallate, and the nitrogen is read as the residue. 

As regards the CO,, there is an objection to this method, as the heat 
decomposes the calcium and magnesium bicarbonates, and therefore the 
amount of CO, evclved is greater than existed in the water as free carbonic 
acid. On the other hand, it is impossible by heat alone to obtain all the 
oxygen and nitrogen.? 

As this operation is rather a delicate one, and requires some practice, and 
as the information it gives, in a hygienic point of view, does not appear to 
be so useful as that obtained by other methods, it may be omitted except in 
cases where the amount of aération is considered very important. The amount 
of free CO, can also be determined approximately by the soap solution sub- 
sequently described. Dr Macnamara has proposed ® a still simpler method 
for the examination of water in India. 

Dr Frankland has proposed a very ingenious plan for extracting the 
gases from water without heat. It is an application of the Sprengel pump, 
in which the Torricellian vacuum of a barometer is made to act as an 
air-pump. The gases can be extracted either at the ordinary or boiling 
temperature. This plan may be useful in laboratories where much water 


test of a water’s purity. He has since modified this view considerably. The importance of 
the indication is also greatly lessened by the fact that deep well waters, of undoubted 
potable excellence, yield extremely little oxygen,—often not more than the Thames at 
Woolwich. 

1 In the report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge will be found 
a large number of determinations of the gases, showing the absorption of oxygen by the 
organic matter of the sewage. The condition of the river is such that no fish can live 
between Greenwich and Gravesend. 
. 2 The plan of determining the oxygen by means of the sodium hydrosulphite, suggested by 
Schiitzenberger and Gérardin, is ingenious and rapid, but it has the inconvenience of re- 
quiring the reagent to be freshly prepared, as it will not keep. (See Comptes Rendus de 
V Académie des Sciences ; Lefort, Traité de chimie hydrologique; Annales d Hygiene, Janvier 
1877). 

3 Scheme of Water Analysis for India. 


678 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


analysis is carried on, but it can hardly at present be applied by army medi- 
cal officers. 

Hydrogen sulphide sometimes occurs in water as a consequence of the 

decomposition of sulphates by organic débris, even by the cork of the 
bottles, the SH, being afterwards liberated by carbonic acid. In some 
mineral waters (Marienbad) hydrogen sulphide appears when alge are in 
the water, but not without.! 
» If the gas is present in any quantity, it can be detected by the smell. 
Alkaline sulphides have, however, less smell. Both, even without smell, can 
be detected by salts of lead. A large quantity of water should be taken in 
an evaporating dish, and a little clear lead subacetate or acetate allowed to 
flow tranquilly over the surface. Black fibres of lead sulphide are formed. 
If lead acetate is mixed with solution of soda until the precipitate which at 
first forms is redissolved, a very delicate test-liquor is obtained. Solution 
of sodium nitro-prusside is also a delicate test, and gives a beautiful violet- 
purple colour. As it acts only on the alkaline sulphides, a little solution 
of soda or ammonia must also be added to detect the free hydrogen sul- 
phide. 

Carburetted hydrogen in small quantity in water is not readily detected, 
but Tiemann says that warming the water to 110° Fahr. (44° C.) will enable 
the smell to detect coal-gas, when chemical reagents fail. Generally there 
are other impurities, especially if it be derived from gas impregnation. In 
larger quantity it sometimes bubbles up from the water of stagnant pools, 
particularly if there be much vegetable matter; and, in the cases of some 
natural springs in petroleum districts, can be ignited. 


Dissolved Solids. 


The chemical examination of the dissolved matters is divided into the 
qualitative and the quantitative. 


QUALITATIVE EXAMINATION OF DISSOLVED SOLIDs. 


The water may be either at once treated, or, in the case of some con- 
stituents, it should be concentrated by evaporation. 


Water not Concentrated. 


Substance sought 


for Reagents to be used, and effects. Remarks. 
Reaction. | Litmus and turmeric papers; | Usually neutral. If acid, and acidity 
usual red or brown re- disappears on boiling, it is due to car- 
actions, bonic acid. If alkaline, and alkalinity 


disappears on boiling, to ammonia 
(rare). If permanently alkaline, to 
sodium carbonate. 


Lime. Oxalate of Ammonium. Six grains per gallon (9 per 100,000) 
White precipitate. give turbidity ; sixteen grains (23 per 

100,000) considerable precipitate. 
| Chlorine. Nitrate of silver, and dilute One grain per gallon (1°4 per 100,000) 
| nitric acid. givesa haze; four grains per gallon (6 
White precipitate, becoming | _ per 100,000) give a marked turbidity ; 
lead colour, ten grains (14 per 100,000) a consider- 


able precipitate. 


1 Archiv fiir Wiss. Heilk., 1864, No. III. p. 261. 


Substance sought 
for. 


QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. 


679 


Water not Concentrated—continued. 


Reagents to be used, and effects. 


Sulphuric Acid. 


Nitric Acid. 


Nitrous Acid. 


Ammonia, 


Tron. 


Hydrogen 
Sulphide. 


Alkaline 
Sulphides. 


Oxidisable 

matter, in- 
eluding | or- 
ganic matter. 


1 See Appendix A. 


Remarks. 


Chloride of bariwm and dilute| One-and-half grains (2 per 100,000) of 


hydrochloric acid. 
White precipitate. 


sulphate give no precipitate until after 
standing ; three grains (4 per 100,000) 
give an immediate haze, and, after a 
time, a slight precipitate. 


Brucine solution? and pure | The sulphuric acid should he poured 


sulphuric acid. 
A pink and yellow zone. 


Iodide of potassium? and 
starch in solution and di- 
lute sulphuric acid. 

An immediate blue colour. 


Solution of meta-phenylene 
diamine and dilute swl- 
phurie acid (Griess’s test) 
—a yellow colour more or 
less immediate according 
to amount of nitrous acid. 


Nessler’s solution.? 
A yellow colour or a yellow- 
brown precipitate. 


Red and yellow prussiates of 
potash, and dilute HCl. 
Blue precipitate. 


A salt of lead. 
Black precipitate. 


Nitroprusside of sodium. 
A beautiful violet-purple 
colour. 


Gold chloride. 

Colour varying from rose- 
pink through violet to 
olive; a dark violet to 
black precipitate. 


2 See Appendix A. 


gently down to form a layer under 
the mixed water and brucine solu- 
tion ; half a grain of nitric acid per 
gallon (=0°7 per 100,000) gives a 
marked pink and yellow zone ; or, as 
recommended by Nicholson, 2 c.e. 
of the water may be evaporated to 
dryness; a drop of pure sulphurie acid 
and a minute crystal of brucine be 
dropped in; 0°01 grain per gallon 
(=0°0143 per 100,000) can be easily 
detected. 


Add the solution of iodide of potassium 
and starch, and then the acid; the blue 
colour should be immediate ; make a 
comparative experiment with distilled 
water. 


This is a very delicate test; a yellow 
colour will appear in the water in 
half an hour, if there be only one 
part of nitrous acid in 10,000,000 of 
water. 


If in small quantity, several inches in 
depth of water should be looked down 
through on a white ground. 


The red for ferrous and the yellow for 
ferric salts. 


When the water is heated the smell of 
hydrogen sulphide may be percept- 
ible. 


A black precipitate with lead, but no 
colour with nitroprusside shows that 
the hydrogen sulphide is uncom- 
bined. 


The water, which should be neutral or 
feebly acid, must be boiled for 20 
minutes with the gold chloride. If 
no nitrous acid be present, the re- 
action may generally be considered 
due to organic matter. 


3 See Appendix A. 


680 


Substance sought 


CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


Water not Concentrated—continued. 


al Reagents to be used, and effects. Remarks. 
Oxidisable Note the darkening of the | Compare with a precipitate produced in 
‘matter, in-| silver chloride in testing| a pure solution of a chloride. 
cluding or-| for chlorine. 


ganic matter. 


Lead or Cop- | Ammonium sulphide. Dark | Place some water (100 c.c.) in a white 
per.? colour, not cleared up by | dish, and stir up with a rod dipped in 
hydrochloric acid. ammonium sulphide ; wait till colour 
produced, then add a drop or two of 
hydrochloric acid. If the colour 
disappears, it is due to iron ; if not, to 
lead or copper.? 
Zine. Hydrogen sulphide. A | This test is not available if there be iron 


Substance sought 


white precipitate. 

If zine be in considerable 
quantity, it is generally 
present as_ bicarbonate, 
and gradually forms a 
film of carbonate on the 
surface of the water. 
This film may be collected 
and heated on platinum 
foil. If the residue re- 
main yellow when hot and 
white on cooling, the pre- 
sence of zinc is indicated. 
This reaction is very deli- 
cate.? 


Reagents to be used, and effects. 


present, should the water be alkaline. 
It forms, however, in perfectly neu- 
tral waters, but not in acid. A little 
acetate of sodiwm greatly aids this ; or 
ammonium sulphide with an alkaline 
solution in excess ; or acidulate water 
with hydrochloric acid and add potas- 
sium ferrocyanide ; a white precipitate 
appears, pale greenish if there be iron 
in the hydrochloric acid. 


Water Concentrated to 3,th (in a porcelain dish). 


Remarks. 


for. 

| Magnesia. Oxalate of ammonium to pre-| A precipitate forms in 24 hours, and is 
cipitate lime, then after fil-| the triple phosphate either in the 
tration a few drops of phos- | shape of prisms or in feathery crystals. 
phate of sodium, of chloride 
of ammonium, and of lig. 
ammonie. A erystalline 
precipitate in 24 hours. 

| Phosphoric Molybdate of ammonium and| Add the nitric acid, and stir with a 

| Acid, dilute nitric acid. glass rod, then add twice the quan- 


A well - marked yellow 
colour, and on_ stand- 
ing a precipitate. 


tity of molybdate and boil. 


1 Sidney Harvey (Analyst, vol. vi. p. 146) recommends small crystals of potassium bichro- 
mate. According to him rs of a grain per gallon gives an immediate turbidity, 2s after 15 
minutes, and vs after 30 minutes. These numbers equal, respectively, 0°14, 0:07, and 0:03 


per 100,000, 
* Wanklyn. 3 Frankland, Water Analysis, 1880, p. 44. 


QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. 681 


Water Concentrated to 35th (in a porcelain dish)—continued. 


Substance sought 


for Reagents to be used, and effects. Remarks. 


Nitric Acid. Brucine test. If the nitric acid is in small quantity, 
it may not be detected in the uncon- 
centrated water. 


Silicie Acid. Evaporate to dryness, | The residue may be weighed, and thus 
moisten with strong hy-| the silica determined quantitatively. 
drochloric acid; after| A little clay or oxide of iron will be 


standing, add boiling dis-| sometimes mixed with it. 


tilled water ; pour off fluid ; 
dry, ignite; repeat the 
treatment with hydrochlo- 
ric acid and water; dry, 
ignite again, and the re- 
sidue is silica, or silicate 
of aluminum. 


Lead orCopper.| As before. If quantity be very small. 


Arsenic. Marsh’s or Reinsch’s tests. Water sbould be rendered alkaline 
with sodiwm carbonate before con- 
centration, then acidulated with hy- 
drochloric acid. 


Zine. Evyaporate to dryness; treat | This is necessary if the quantity be 
residue with caustic potash | small, or if iron be present. 
or ammonia, filter and test | If a film of carbonate forms on concen- 
filtrate with hydrogen sul-| tration, it may be tested on platinum 
phide; a white precipitate} foil, as before described. 
falls. 


Inferences from the Qualitative Tests. 


Sometimes no time can be given for quantitative determinations, and the 
qualitative tests are the only means available by which the question so con- 
stantly put, whether a water is wholesome or not, can be in some degree 
answered.! 

If chlorine be present in considerable quantity, it either comes from strata 
containing chloride of sodium or calcium, from impregnation of sea-water, or 
from admixture of liquid excreta of men and animals. In the first case the 
water is often also alkaline, from sodium carbonate ; there is an absence, or 
nearly so, of oxidised organic matters, as indicated by nitric and nitrous acids 
and ammonia, and of organic matter; there is often much sulphuric acid. 
These characters are common in deep-well waters. If it be from calcium 
chloride, there is a large precipitate with ammonium oxalate after boiling. 
If the chlorine be from impregnation with sea-water, it is often in very large 
quantity ; there is much magnesia, and little evidence of oxidised products 
from organic matters. If from sewage, the chlorine is marked, and there is 
coincident evidence of nitric and nitrous acids and ammonia, and sometimes 
phosphoric acid ; and if the contamination be recent, of oxidisable organic 
matters. A stream fouled by animals or excreta may thus show at different 
times of the same day different amounts of chlorine, and this, in the absence 
of rain, will indicate contamination. 


1 Kubel and Tiemann rely very greatly on the qualitative tests. 


682 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


Ammonia is almost always present in very small quantity, but if it be in 
large enough amount to be detected without distillation it is suspicious. 
If nitrates, &., be also present, it is likely to be from animal substances, 
excreta, &e. Nitrates and nitrites indicate previously existing organic 
matters, probably animal, such as excreta, remains of animals, &e. ;1 but 
nitrates may also arise from vegetable matter, although this is probably less 
usual. If nitrites largely exist, it is generally supposed that the contamina- 
tion is recent. The coincidence of easily oxidised organic matters, of 
ammonia, and of chlorine in some quantity, would be in favour of an animal 
origm. Ifa water gives the test of nitric acid, but not nitrous acid, and 
very little ammonia, either potassium, sodium, or calcium nitrate is present, 
derived from soil impregnated with animal substances at some anterior date. 


Tabular View of Inferences to be drawn from Qualitative Examination. 


Oxidisable 
matter by < 
: Classi- 
Chlorine. Bee .| Nitrates. | Nitrites. |Ammonia. oe Sulphates.) fication Remarks. 
Chloride ox phates. WoRRWaten 
Silver | of Water. 
Chloride. 


Slight. |Slight. | Nil. Nil. Nil. Nil. Trace. |Good. | A perfectly pure 
water. 
Marked.} Nil or Nil. Nil. Marked.) Present.| Trace. | Good. |A good water, 
trace. probably from 
a deep well. 
Marked.| Slight. |Marked.| Nilor | Trace. | Trace. | Trace. | Usable. | Probablyoldani- 
trace. mal contami- 
nation. 
Large. |Slight. |Nilor | Nil. Nil. Nil or | Marked.| Usable. |} Probably some 
trace. trace. contamination 
with sea-water. 
Slight. | Well Marked | Nil. Nil. Nil or | Nil or | Usable. | Probably vege- 
marked, to trace. | trace. table impur- 
large. ity: peat? 
Marked.| Nil or Marked.) Nil or | Marked.| Marked.) Marked.| Suspi- | Probably a shal- 
trace. trace. : cious. low well, con- 
taminated 
with urine. 
Slight. | Marked. | Present.| Present.) Marked.) Trace. |Trace. | Impure.) Probably water 
contaminated 
with sewer 
gases. 
Marked.| Large. | Marked.) Marked.) Marked. Marked.) Marked.) Impure.| Water contami- 
| nated with 
sewage. 


If nitrites are present at first, and after a few days disappear, this arises 
from continued oxidation into nitrates; if nitrates disappear, it seems 
probable this is caused by the action of bacteria, or other low forms of life. 
Sometimes in such a case nitrites may be formed from the nitrates. Phos- 
phoric acid, if in any marked quantity, indicates origin from phosphoric 
strata (which is uncommon) or sewage impregnation. Wanklyn has ridi- 
culed the idea of phosphoric acid being present in any appreciable quantity 
in water, if (as is almost always the case) lime be also present. But, inde- 
pendent of the fact that the reaction of phosphoric acid is obtained in water, 


1 Dr Frankland has considered these substances as the representatives of “previous sewage 
contamination.” In many cases they are so, but it cannot be held that they are always so ; 
any nitrogenous substance, quite apart from sewage, may furnish them, so that the phrase 
has been objected to, and is better avoided. 


QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF DISSOLVED SOLIDS. 683 


Hehner! has clearly shown that phosphoric acid does exist in appreciable 
quantity as phosphates, especially in polluted waters. Lime in large 
quantity indicates calcium carbonate if boiling removes the lime ; sulphate, 
chloride, or nitrate if boiling has little effect. Testing for calcium car- 
bonate is important in connection with purification with alum. Sulphuric 
acid in large quantity, with little lime, indicates sulphate of sodium, and 
usually much chloride and carbonate of sodium are also present, and on 
evaporation the water is alkaline. Large evidence of nitric acid, with little 
evidence of organic matter, indicates old contamination; if the organic 
matter be large, and especially if there be nitrous acid as well as nitric 
present, the impregnation is recent. It may also indicate the absence of 
the nitrifying ferment from the water. 

To the above qualitative tests would, of course, be added the physical 
characters, which would to some considerable extent influence the con- 
clusions to be drawn. When possible, the microscopic appearances ought 
also to be carefully noted, as the presence of such substances as epithelium, 
house refuse, &c., will sometimes justify us in condemning a water which 
may appear chemically only suspicious. 

A water containing in appreciable quantity any metal (except iron), other 
than the alkaline and earthy metals, is to be condemned. 

A water containing any gas other than oxygen, nitrogen, or CO,, is to be 
considered suspicious, and not to be used without boiling or filtration, or 
both. 


QUANTITATIVE EXAMINATION OF DISSOLVED SOLIDS. 


The discrepancies which are sometimes found in the consecutive analyses, 
or in analyses by two observers of the same water, probably often arise from 
the difficulty of always separating the suspended matters. Consequently 
two samples, apparently similar, may in reality contain variable quantities of 
suspended matters which affect the determination of the solids, or influence 
other tests. 

To avoid this source of fallacy, if the water be sedimentous, the portion 
to be examined for solids should be placed in a well-stoppered bottle in a 
dark place for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, until all sediment has sub- 
sided, and the clear water should be then siphoned off. If the sediment is 
too fine to subside, the water must be filtered through paper (previously 
well washed with weak hydrochloric acid, and then with distilled water, 
and then dried), but if possible filtration should be avoided. 

Of the solids in water some are mineral, and derived from the mineral 
constituents of the soil, such as lime, magnesia, and part of the chlorine, 
and of the sulphuric, carbonic, and silicic acids ; others are also inorganic, 
but are derived from the remains of animals or vegetables, by oxidation or 
solution, or from the atmosphere, such as ammonia, nitric acid, nitrous acid, 
some of the chlorine, and of the sulphuric and phosphoric acids. Other 
constituents, derived from numerous sources, are vegetable or animal matters, 
which are usually unstable, and are undergoing disintegration and oxidation. 
They may be nitrogenous or not. The composition of these substances is 
doubtless extremely various; the determination of the total quantity is 
difficult ; the separation of the different kinds from each other, at present, 
impossible. 

The methods by which the quantity of this organic matter (to use its 


1 Analyst, vol. vy. p. 135. 


684 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES, 


familiar name) can be expressed have been lately much debated, and even 
now there is no general agreement ;! nor, at present, is there any plan by 
which dissolved vegetable may be distinguished from animal matter, except 
by reference to the microscopic characters of the sediment, to the source of 
the water, and the coincident inorganic substances. 
The quantitative processes which appear, in a hygienic sense, to be most 
useful are as follows :— 
» Determination of— 
1. Dissolved solids. (a) Total. (6) Fixed. (ce) Volatile. 
2. Chlorine. 
3. Hardness. (a) Total. (6) Fixed. (c) Removable. 
4. Free or saline ammonia and nitrogenous organic matter. 
(a) Free ammonia. 
(6) Albuminoid ammonia. 


1 The following plans have been tried at successive times :— 

1. The estimation by ignition of the dried solids. However useful ignition is as indicating 
the presence of nitrites, nitrates, or organic matter, the results are very uncertain as regards 
quantity, owing to the loss of hygroscopic water, the decomposition of carbonates, and errors 
arising in recarbonating, the loss of nitrites and nitrates, and in some cases of chlorine, as 
well as the destruction of organic matter. Hence “substances driven off by heat,” or 
“volatile substances,” is not an equivalent expression for ‘‘ organic matters.” 

2. Precipitation by perchloride of iron, weighing, incinerating, and weighing again. The 
difficulty here is that all the organic matter is not precipitated, and other mineral substances 
may be. : 

3. The determination of the nitrogen and carbon in the organic substances. This is the 
plan proposed by Dr Frankland, who determines the nitrogen in the ammonia, nitric and 
nitrous acids which may be present, and also that in organic combination, and in this way 
gets at the nitrogen, which must have formed part of the organic matter (‘“‘ organic nitrogen ”’). 
In the same way the carbon existing other than in the shape of carbonic acid is determined 
(‘organic carbon”). He has proposed a most ingenious and beautiful process, the most 
recent and best account of which is contained in his Water Analysis for Sanitary Purposes, 
1880, p. 59. This plan requires so much apparatus, time, and skill as to be quite beyond the 
reach of medical officers, and it would also appear that in the hands of even very able chemists 
it gives contradictory results; the quantities are in fact so small, and the chances of error so 
repeated, that in its present form this really beautiful plan seems not adapted for hygienic 
water analysis. It is also difficult to know what construction should be put on the results ; 
a water containing much non-nitrogenous organic matter may give a very much larger amount 
of “ organic carbon ” than a water containing a much smaller amount of nitrogenous matter, 
and yet be much less hurtful. 

4. The determination of the nitrogen of the organic matters (as ammonia) by means of 
alkaline permanganate of potassium (‘‘albuminoid ammonia”), after all ammonia existing as 
such in the water has been got rid of. This plan, proposed by Wanklyn and Chapman, has 
the merit of simplicity and rapidity. It has been objected to by Frankland on the ground 
that the whole of the nitrogen is not obtained. There is no doubt of this; but Wanklyn 
affirms that the quantity obtained is constant, and therefore comparison between different 
waters can be instituted. Thudichum and Dupré, in their work on Wine (p. 262), state that 
they find the albuminoid ammonia process so accurate for albumen in wine, that they use 
it in preference to other methods. It must be confessed that this point has not been probed 
to the bottom, and that especially the relation of the ‘‘albuminoid ammonia ” to disease pro- 
duced by the water has not been yet made out. The “ albuminoid ammonia ” of pure potable 
water has been simply taken as a standard, and the wholesomeness of other waters judged 
of by reference simply to this. But at the present time it is the most convenient process we 
have, and (with some reservation as to the precise inferences to be drawn from it) it has been 
pretty generally adopted. 

5. Two other processes, that of Dittmar and Robinson, and that of Dupré and Hake, are 
described in Frankland’s Water Analysis, but neither seems adapted for the use of medical 
officers. 

6. Estimation of the organic matter in terms of the oxygen required to oxidise it, the per- 
manganate of potassium being the oxidising agent. ‘his process (originally proposed by 
Forchammer of Copenhagen) has been much used and much objected to, and some chemists 
have now given it up. It gives, certainly, only an approximation, requires care, and will only 
indicate the organic matter capable of oxidation. Yet it gives really useful information, as 
it often adds additional evidence to Wanklyn’s method, and gives some indication as to the 
old or recent origin of nitric acid, and is easy of application. The objections urged against it 
by Frankland have been recently modified, and it is acknowledged as a process of value, when 
properly applied. It would be very undesirable to discontinue it ; and in those cases where, 
from want of apparatus, the distillation necessary for Wanklyn and Chapman’s method 


QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS—DISSOLVED SOLIDS. 685 


5. Oxidisable matter and products of organic oxidation. 

(a) In terms of oxygen required for total oxidisable matter. 
(6) In terms of oxygen required for organic matter only. 
(c) Nitrous acid. 

(d) Nitric acid. 

6. Phosphoric acid in phosphates. 

7. Sulphuric acid, silica, tron, and the alkaline carbonates may be deter- 
mined, but are seldom required. 

The statement of results is usually given in this country in grains per 
gallon, or in parts in 100,000 ; or it may be given in grammes per litre, 
which is the same as parts per 1000, and by shifting the decimal point to 
the right, parts per 10,000, 100,000, or per 1,000,000 are obtained.! It is 
much to be desired that one uniform mode should be definitively adopted, 
in order to avoid the confusion which at present undoubtedly exists in this 
country. In this work the denomination will generally be parts per 100,000 
(centigrammes per litre). 


1. Determination of the Dissolved Solids, 


(a) Total solids.—The remark already made about suspended matters must 
be attended to ; if possible, obtain a clear water by subsidence rather than 
by filtering through paper. The solids are determined by evaporation. If 
very good scales are available, 200 c.c. of the water are sufficient,” if the 
scales are inferior, 500 or 1000 c.c. of the water must be taken; then 
evaporate to dryness with a moderate heat, taking care that the water does 
not boil, else there may be loss from spurting. If the smaller quantity be 
taken, the whole evaporation may be conducted in one vessel (of platinum, 
if possible) ; but if the larger amount must be used the evaporation should 
be commenced in a large evaporating dish, and the concentrated water and 
deposit, if any, transferred into a small weighed crucible. The transference 
demands great care, so that none of the solids shall remain encrusted in the 
evaporating dish. All the contents of the large dish being transferred, 
evaporate to complete dryness in air, water, or steam bath, at 212° Fahr. 
(100° C.). Weigh as soon as the capsule is cold, as the dried mass may be 
hygroscopic. It may be necessary to replace it in the bath and weigh again 
after an interval of half an hour. If there is no material difference the 
drying is completed. 

Professor Wanklyn advises a very simple form of steam bath. A common 
two-gallon tin can is taken, a perforated cork fitted in the mouth, and a 
funnel passed through the perforation ; the crucible is placed in the funnel, 
a little roll of paper being placed between the funnel and crucible to let the 
steam pass. Water is boiled in the tin can. 

Bischof’s bird-fountain apparatus is very convenient for evaporation. 

Dr Frankland recommends that the heat shall not be carried above 212° 


cannot be done, it is at present absolutely essential. Kubel and Tiemann reject both Frank- 
land’s and Wanklyn’s methods as untrustworthy, and trust to modifications of the per- 
manganate process. For further discussion of the subject, see under “‘ Organic matter,” 
later on. 

1 Grammes per litre are converted into grains per gallon by multiplying by 70. Milli- 
grammes per litre, if multiplied by ‘07, are brought into grains per gallon. Grains per gallon 
are converted into parts per 100,000 by dividing by ‘7; parts per 100,000 are brought into 
grains per gallon by multiplying by °7. 

For equivalents of the metrical weights, see Appendix B. 

2 Wanklyn recommends a ‘‘miniature gallon” of 70 ¢.c., which, he says, evaporates in 
one hour. This is too smalla quantity to workon. Becker of Rotterdam has introduced very 
good scales at a low price. 


686 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


Fahr. (100° C.), while some chemists advise a heat of over 300° (149° C.). 
At 212° (100° C.) sufficiently complete drying can be obtained by pro- 
longed exposure, whilst at the higher temperature we risk destroying the 
organic matter. 

The §.P.A. recommend evaporating first in a water bath, then drying the 
residue at 220° Fahr (104°°5 C.), and finally cooling under a desiccator.1 
It would be well not to exceed 220° Fahr. (104°-5 C.). 

. The determination of the total solids is an important point, and should 
be carefully done. It gives a control over the other quantitative deter- 
minations, and if erroneous may make the other conclusions wrong. 

(6) Fixed Solids.—Incinerate the dried solids at as low a heat as possible; 
watch the process, and note if there be much blackening, or if any fumes 
can be seen, or any smell be perceived as of burnt horn. A piece of filter- 
ing paper dipped in solution of potassium iodide and starch, and then dried, 
or a piece of ozone paper, should be held over the crucible to detect any 
nitric oxide which may be given off. 

(c) Volatile Solids.—The loss on ignition may be stated as “ volatile 
substances.” It consists of destructible organic matters, nitrates, nitrites, 
ammoniacal salts, combined water, combined carbonic acid,” and sometimes 
chlorides. The variableness of the composition of the “volatile substances” 
has led to the disuse of the process by ignition as too uncertain. Combined 
with other evidence it gives, however, some useful indications. The in- 
cinerated solids may be examined for silica and iron, as hereafter noted. 

The statement of the results may be given in various ways, as before 
mentioned, but the ratios most used nowadays are parts in 100,000 (equal 
to centigrammes per litre) or grains in a gallon (equal to parts in 70,000). 

EHxample.—I1. Total solids.—200 c.c. dried as described :— 


Weight of dish and residue, . : ; 19-27 grammes. 
» Of dish alone, . : ; : 19°23 Be 
Difference, . : 0-04 


being grammes of total solids in 200 c.c. of water. 
To bring to centigrammes per litre, or parts per 100,000: 
0:04 x 500 = 20 = centigrammes per litre, or parts per 100,000. 
To bring to grains per gallon: 
20 x 0'7 = 14-0 grains per gallon. 
2. Fixed solids.—The above residue is incinerated, and the CO, restored 
to the earthy carbonates if required. 


Weight of incinerated residue and dish, 19:26 
re of dish alone, . é - é 19°23 


Difference, being grammes of fixed solids 
in 200 c.c. of water, . : : 5 0:03 


0:03 x 500 = 15 parts per 100,000. 
15° x 0'7 = 10°5 grains per gallon. 


1 Tiemann recommends 150° to 180° C., equal to 302° to 356° F. 
“ This may be partly restored by adding a little saturated solution of ammonium car- 
bonate, and then drying and driving off the excess of ammonia. 


QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS—HARDNESS, 687 


3. Volatile solids -— Parts per 100,000. Grains per gallon, 
Total solids, = = : 
Hixeday = 15-0 10:5 
Difference, being volatile solids, 5:0 3°5 


2. Determination of Chlorine. 


Chlorine may be determined very rapidly by the volumetric method. 
For this purpose a solution of potassium mono-chromate and a standard 
solution of silver nitrate are required.! 

Take 100 c.c. of the water to be examined; place it in a glass vessel 
standing on a piece of white paper; add 1 c.c. of potassium mono-chromate 
solution, which must be free from chlorine, drop in the silver nitrate from 
the burette, and stir after each addition. The red silver chromate which is 
at first formed will disappear as long as any chlorine is present. Stop 
directly the least red tint is permanent. Neither the solution of silver nor 
the water must be acid; if the latter is acid it should be neutralised with 
a little precipitated carbonate of calcium. The number of c.c. of silver 
solution used gives exactly the parts of chlorine per 100,000 of water. To 
bring to grains per gallon, multiply by 0°7. 

Example.—In 100 c.c. of water, 1 ¢.c. of potassium mono-chromate, and 
15 c.c. of silver solution give a permanent red tint, therefore the water 
contains 1°5 parts per 100,000 of chlorine; 1:5 x0-7=1-05 grains per 
gallon. 


3. Hardness. 


Clark’s very useful soap test offers a ready mode of determining this in a 
manner quite sufficient for hygienic and economic purposes. The processes 
with the soap test may be divided into two headings. 

I. The determination of the aggregate earthy salts, and free carbonic 
acid, as expressed by the term total hardness. The aggregate determination 
can be divided into two kinds of hardness, viz., that which is unaffected and 
that which is affected by boiling, and these are termed the permanent and 
the removable hardness. 

IJ. The determination of the amount of certain constituents, as the lime 
magnesia, sulphuric acid, and free carbonic acid. These results are only 
approximative, especially in the case of the magnesia; but they are very 
useful, as they give us enough information for hygienic purposes, and are 
done in a very short time. 

Apparatus and reagent required for the Soap Test.—Burette divided into 
tenths of a cubic centimetre; measure of 50 c.c. or 100 «c.; stoppered 
bottles of about 100 c.c. (4 ounces) capacity. Standard soap solution, 
1 c.c. =2°5 milligrammes of calcium carbonate.” 

Rationale of the Process—When an alkaline oleate is mixed with pure 
water, a lather is given almost immediately; but, if lime, magnesia, iron, 
baryta, alumina, or other substances of this kind be present, oleates of these 
bases are formed, and no lather is given until the earthy bases are thrown 
down. Free (but not combined) carbonic acid prevents the lather, The 
soap combines in equivalent proportions with these bases, so that if the soap 
solution be graduated by a solution of known strength of any kind, it will 
be of equivalent strength for corresponding solutions of other bases. There 


1 For the preparation of the solutions, see Appendix A, 
2 See Appendix A. 


688 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


are, however, one or two points which render the method less certain. One 
of these is that, in the case of magnesia, there is a tendency to form double 
salts (Playfair and Campbell), so that the determination of magnesia is never 
so accurate as in the cases of lime or baryta. Carbonic acid appears to 
unite in equivalent proportions w hen it is passed through the soap solution ; 
but if it be diffused in water, and then shaken up with the soap solution, 
two equivalents of the acid unite with one of soap. 

» To avoid the repetition of the term “tenth of a centimetre,” it will be con- 
venient to call each tenth of a centimetre one measure, and this precipitates 
0-25 of a milligramme of calcium carbonate. 


Processes with the Soap Test. 


(a) Determination of the total Hardness of the Water.—Take 50 c.c. of the 
water; put it im a small stoppered bottle, and add the scap solution from 
the burette, shaking it strongly after each addition until a thin uniform 
beady lather spreads over the whole surface without any break. If the 
lather is permanent for five minutes, the process is complete; if it breaks 
before that time, add a drop or two more of the solution, and so proceed 
until a lather be obtained that is permanent for five minutes. 

Then read off the number of measures of soap solution used. 

From the total number of measures (or tenths of a centimetre) used deduct 
2, as that amount is necessary to give a lather with 50 c.c. of the purest 
water, and this deduction has to be made in all the processes. The soap 
solution which has been used indicates the hardness due to all the ingredi- 
ents which can act on it; in most drinking waters these are only lime and 
magnesian salts and free carbonic acid. 

The amount of this total hardness is, for convenience, usually expressed 
either in degrees of the metrical scale (= parts per 100,000) or in grains per 
gallon of calcium carbonate, each grain representing 1 degree of hardness 
on the scale proposed by Dr Clark. Of course it is understood that the 
hardness depends on various constituents, but is equivalent to so much 
calcium carbonate. 

This is done as follows :— 

Each 0:1 ¢.c., or, in other words, each measure, of our soap solution corre- 
sponds to 0°25 mem. of calcium carbonate. Multiply this coefficient by the 
number of measures of soap solution used, and the result is the hardness of 
50 c.c. of water expressed as calcium carbonate. Then, as we have acted on 
50 c.c. only, multiply by 2 to give the parts per 100,000 ; or, more simply, 
divide the net measures of soap by 2. 

Example.—A lather was given with 3:2 ¢.c., or 32 measures of the soap 
solution. (32-2) x 0:25 x 2=30x05=30+2=15 degrees of hardness on 
the metrical scale ; 15 x 0°7 = 10°5 degrees on Clark’s scale. 

To convert metrical degrees into Clark’s scale, multiply by 0-7 ; to convert 
Clark’s scale into metrical degrees, divide by 0-7. 

If the hardness of the water exceeds 40 measures of the soap solution, 25 
c.c. of water only should be taken, and 25 c.c. of distilled water added. 

The result must then be multiplied by 2 

(b) The Permanent or Fixed Hardness.—Boil a known quantity in a flask 
briskly for half an hour, and replace the loss by distilled water from 
time to time; allow it to cool down to 60° Fahr. (15°5 C.) in the vessel, 
which should be corked, and determine hardness in 50 c.c. If distilled 
Ww ater is not t procurable, then boil 200 c.c. down to 100; take half the re- 


1A weaker “Al Shin is ofien used ; see Appendix A, 


_ QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS—HARDNESS. 689 


mainder (= 100 of unboiled water) and determine hardness.! After deduct- 
ing 2 measures, divide the number of measures by 2 for the hardness of 
50 c.c., and calculate as usual. 

By boiling, all carbonic acid is driven off ; all calcium carbonate, except a 
small quantity, is thrown down ; the calcium sulphate and chloride are not 
affected if the evaporation is not carried too far ; the magnesium carbonate 
at first thrown down is redissolved as the water cools. 

Example.—Before boiling, 32 measures, and after boiling, 13 measures, of 
the soap solution were used. 


13 —2 (=11)+2=5°5 degrees of the metrical scale. 
5:5 x 0'7 = 3°85 degrees of Clark’s scale. 

(c) Removable Hardness.—The difference between the total and the per- 
manent hardness is the temporary or removable hardness, which in the 
example would be 15 - 5:5 = 9:5 degrees of the metrical scale, and 10°5 - 3°85 
= 6°65 degrees of Clark’s scale. 

The amount of permanent hardness is very important, as it chiefly repre- 
sents the most objectionable earthy salts—viz., calcium sulphate and 
chloride, and the maguesian salts. ‘The greater the permanent hardness, 
the more objectionable is the water. The permanent hardness of a good 
water should not, if possible, be greater than about 5° of the metrical scale, 
equal to 3° or 4° of Clark’s scale. 

The determination, then, of 


1. The total hardness, 
2. The permanent or fixed hardness, 
3. The temporary or removable hardness, 


will enable us to speak positively as to the hygienic characters of a water, 
so far as earthy salts are concerned.? 


1 Tf there is much fixed hardness this process is hardly available. 

2 Determination of certain Constituents by Soap.—In many cases the analysis must end 
with the above processes ; but it may be desirable to carry it further, and to determine the 
amount of some ingredients ; for example, lime, magnesia, sulphuric acid, carbonic acid. 

An approximate estimate can be given of several of these ingredients by the soap test, 
which is sufficient for hygienic purposes ; and any one who has learned to determine properly 
the hardness of a water will be able to carry on the process into finer details. 

Lime by the Soap Test.—Messrs Boutron and Boudet have proposed, after determination of 
total hardness, to precipitate the lime by ammonium oxalate, and then to determine the hard- 
ness again. The difference will be owing to lime removed. The difficulty here is to add 
enough, and not too much, of ammonium oxalate, which itself in excess gives hardness. 

The best way to perform this process is to have a perfectly concentrated clear solution 
of ammonium oxalate, and to add to 50 c.c. of water 1 drop for every 4 measures of soap 
solution used ; then in other bottles, to add respectively 1, 2, and 3 drops more. Then 
determine hardness of all the bottles and select the result which gives the least hardness. 
In this way we can hit on the bottle which contains enough, but not too much ammonium 
oxalate. The water need not be filtered, but it should be allowed to stand at least for three 
or four hours, or, better still, twenty-four hours, before the hardness is taken. 

Then multiply the difference between the total hardness and the hardness after the addition 
of the oxalate by the coefficient for lime ; this is 0°14 of a milligramme, as each measure of 
the soap solution is equivalent to this amount of lime. 


Example.-—Total hardness, 
After lime precipitated, 


l SS 
wl on 


bo 


Difference, : 


22 measures x 0°14 x 2=6°'16 parts of lime per 100,000 and 616 x 0°7=4°312 grains per gallon. 
Or multiply the number of measures by 0°28, this gives parts per 100,000; or by 0°196, the 
result is grains per gallon. If carefully done, this result will be near the truth. 

Magnesia by the Soap Test.—Boutron and Boudet propose to determine the magnesia by 
boiling the water from which the lime has been thrown down. All usual elements of hard- 
ness, except the magnesia, are thus got rid of. This is by no means so accurate a process as 
that of the lime ; the lather is formed much less perfectly and sharply, and in addition the 

2x 


690 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


4. Determination of the Organic Matters and their Products in Water. 


As already stated, the determination of organic matter in water is difficult, 
and many processes have been proposéd. Some are obviously out of the 
question for medical officers, save in exceptional circumstances. Those, 
therefore, are described here which are not only likely to give sufficient 
information for hygienic purposes, but also to be within the range, for the 
most part, of the medical officer’s appliances. 


constitution of the magnesia and soap compound is variable. The result must be considered 
as quite approximative, but may sometimes be rendered more accurate by diluting with dis- 
tilled water. 

Take 200 c.c. of water; add to it the number of drops of solution of ammonium oxalate 
known to be sufficient by the lime experiment ; allow to stand for twenty-four hours; filter, 
boil for half an hour, replace loss by distilled water ; allow to cool in the vessel, which should 
be well corked, and determine hardness in 50 c.e. 

As the lime has been thrown down and the carbonic acid driven off, the hardness is owing 
to magnesian salts of some kind. 

Calculate as magnesia, the coefficient of which, for each measure of soap solution, is 0°1, 
or, as magnesium, the coefficient of which is 0:06. 

Example.—Hardness, after driving off carbonic acid by boiling and precipitating lime=7 

(7-2) x0°1+2=1°0 part of magnesia per 100,000; 1:0 x 0°7=077 grain per gallon. 
Or multiply the number of measures corrected for lather by 0-2, the result is parts per 100,000: 
or by 0°14; the result is grains per gallon. 

Although this result is approximative, it is really nearer the truth than the determination 
by weighing in the hands of a beginner. 

Free Carbonic Acid by the Soap Test.—In order to get rid of the fallacy from free carbonic 
acid acting on the soap, Clark recommended that the water should be well shaken in a bottle, 
so as to disengage some of the CO,, and then that the air should be sucked out. But this 
does not entirely remove the carbonic acid. 

By the soap test the free carbonic acid can be determined in the following way :—Throw 
down all the lime carefully by ammonium oxalate, without adding an excess, and determine 
the hardness in 50 c.c. as usual. The hardness will be owing to magnesian salts and carbonic 
acid. If now the water, freed from lime, be boiled, and the loss of water replaced by dis- 
tilled water, the carbonic acid will be driven off. The hardness should be then again 
determined. The difference between the first and second trials will give the amount of soap 
solution which had been previously acted on by the carbonic acid. 

Example.—\. Total magnesian and carbonic-acid hardness, = 12 measures. 
2. Magnesian hardness, ; p : a / FA 


Carbonic-acid hardness, 5 os 
1 measure of soap sol. corresponds to 0°22 milligrammes cneianle acid. Therefore, 
0:22 x5 x 2=2-2=centigrammes per litre, or parts. by weight, in 100,000, 

and 2°2 x 0:7=1°54 grains per gallon. 
But gases are usually stated in volume, either c.c. per litre or cubic inches per gallon. Now 
1 centigramme = 5°06 c.c., therefore 2°2x 5°06 = 11°132 c.c. per litre ; or multiply the net 
measures of soap by 2°23; 5x 2°23=11'15, which is sufficiently near. To bring to cubic inches 
per gallon multiply the grains by 2, thus: 1°54 x 2=3-08 cubic inches, since 2 cubic inches 
weigh 1 grain at 32° F. and 30 in. barometer, or multiply the net measures of soap by 0°616 ; 


thus: 5 x0°616=3°-08 cubic inches. To convert c.c. per litre into cubic inches per gallon, 
divide by 3°61; thus: 11:132+3-61=3:°08. 


Determination of Lime and Magnesia by Weight. 


It may be desired to determine the lime and magnesia by weight, and the following pro- 
cesses can then be used :— 

Lime by Weight.—Take a known quantity of water; add ammonium oxalate, and then 
ammonia enough to give an ammoniacal smell. Allow precipitate thoroughly to subside, 
and then wash by decantation, or by throwing the precipitate on a small filter of Swedish 
paper, the weight of the ash of which is known. Decantation is recommended. [If a filter 
is used, wash precipitate on filter ; dry ; scrape precipitate from filter, and place in a plati- 
num crucible ; burn filter to an ash, by holding it in a strong gas flame, and place it also in 
the crucible. Heat the crucible to gentle redness for fifteen minutes, moisten with a little 
water, and test with turmeric paper. If no reaction is given, the process is done. If the 
paper is browned (showing presence of caustic lime), recarbonate with ammonium carbonate, 
drive off excess of ammonia, dry, and weigh. 


The substance weighed is calcium carbonate ; ; multiply by 0°56, and the result is lime ; or 
by 0°40 for calcium alone. 


DETERMINATION OF ORGANIC MATTER AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 691 


The analysis may be considered under two heads— 
(A) The determination of nitrogenous organic matters and their products. 
(B) The determination of oxidisable organic matter, probably chiefly non- 
nitrogenous. 
(A) Includes— 
(a) The determination of the free, saline, or combined ammonia. 


(0) BS of the (so-called) albuminoid ammonia. 
(c) 5 of the netrie acid, existing as nitrates. 
(d) 3 of the nitrous acid, existing as nitrites. 


(B) Includes— 
(e) The determination of the oxidisable organic matter by the per- 
manganate processes. 


(A) Determination of the Nitrogenous Organic Matters and their Products. 


Determination of the Free and Albuminoid Ammonia.—For this analysis 
we require 1—1. A standard solution of ammonium chloride, 1 c.c. of which 
=0°01 of a milligramme of ammonia (NH,); 2. Nessler’s solution as a 
reagent for the detection of ammonia; 3. A solution of potassium per- 
manganate and caustic potash; 4. Pure distilled water. 


(a) Free Ammonia. 


Place in a retort 250 c.c. of the water to be examined. Attach the 
retort to a Liebig’s condenser, and distil off about 130 ¢.c.; collect 1 c.c. 


Mohr’s plan might also be used, viz., precipitation of the lime in an ammoniacal solution 
by standard oxalic acid, and then titration of the excess of the latter by permanganate. 

Magnesia by Weight.—Take the water from which the lime has been thrown down ; evapo- 
rate to a small bulk; filter if there be turbidity ; add solution of ammonium chloride, and 
ammonia to slight excess ; then add a solution of sodium phosphate; stir with a glass rod ; 
set aside for twelve hours ; throw precipitate on a filter, carefully detaching it from the sides 
of the glass; wash with ammoniacal water; dry; incinerate in an intense heat; weigh, 
taking care to deduct the ash of the filter known by previous experiment. The substance is 
magnesium pyrophosphate ; multiply by 0°36036 to get the amount of magnesia, or by 0°21622 
for magnesium alone. 

Sulphuric Acid by Weight.—Take a known quantity of the water (500 to 1000 c.c.), acidify 
with hydrochloric acid and evaporate, but not so far as to run any risk of throwing down 
sulphate of calcium ; filter ; and then add chloride of barium ; allow to stand, and wash the 
precipitate by decantation ; dry ; weigh ; multiply precipitate by 0°34335 to get the amount 
of sulphuric anhydride (SO3) or by 0°412, if it is wished to calculate it as SO,. 

Sulphuric Acid by Soap Test.—This plan was proposed by Boutron and Boudet, and is 
briefly as follows :—The hardness of the water being known, 50 ¢.c. of the standard barytic 
solution (0°26 grammes per litre) are added to 50 c.c. of water, and the mixture is allowed to 
stand for twenty-four hours. The hardness (supposing no SO, were present) would be exactly 
equal to the original hardness of the water and of the barytic solution combined. But SO, 
being present, barium sulphate is precipitated, and there is a loss of hardness. Each degree 
of loss equals 6°24 mgm. of sulphur tetroxide (SO,). 


Example.—Original hardness, . é 3 - - 32 
50 ¢.c. barytie solution, , P 5 - 22 

54 

After precipitation, ; : : ; 45 

Difference, . ; 9 


0:24 x9 x 2=4'32 parts per 100,000; 4°32 x 0°7=3°02 grains per gallon. 


Usually the process gives good results. Occasionally, from some cause which is not clear, 
the barium sulphate does not precipitate. This does not depend on the amount of sulphuric 
acid. The ease with which this process is done renders it useful. The barytic solution is 
only strong enough to precipitate 6°72 grains of sulphuric acid (SO4) per gallon, so that half 
the water only must be taken, or less, if the sulphuric acid be evidently in large amount. 

Short factors: for SO,=0°280, for SO,=0°336 to state as grains per gallon ; for SO;=0°40, 
for SO,=0°48 to state as parts per 100,000. 

1 For these solutions, see Appendix A. 


692 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES, 


more of the distillate, and test it with a few drops of Nessler, to see if any 
ammonia is still coming over; if so, the distillation may be continued 
longer. Carefully measure the amount of distillate; test a little with 
Nessler’s solution in a test-tube; and, if the colour be not too dark, take 
100 c.c. of the distillate and put it into a cylindrical glass vessel, placed 
upon a piece of white paper. Add to it 14 cc. of Nessler. Pour into 
another similar cylinder as many c.c. of the standard ammonium chloride 
solution as may be thought necessary (practice soon shows the amount), 
and fill up to 100 c.c. with pure distilled water ; drop in 14 ¢.c. of Nessler. 
If the colours correspond up to three to five minutes, the process is finished, 
and the amount of ammonium chloride used is read off. If the colours are 
not the same, add a little more ammonium chloride so long as no haze 
shows itself; if it does, then a fresh glass must be taken, and another trial 
made. When the process is completed, read off the number of c.c. of 
ammonium chloride used, allow for the portion of distillate not used, 
multiply by 0-01 and then by 0-4: the result is centigrammes of free 
ammonia per litre, or parts per 100,000; multiply the latter by 0-7 to 
bring to grains per gallon, if required. 

Example.—From 250 c.c. of water 133-were distilled; 100 c.c. were 
taken for the experiment; 4°5 ¢.c. of ammonium chloride solution were 
required to give the proper colour; then 4°5 x = x 0-01 x 0°-4=0:02394 
per 100,000 of free ammonia. 

Should the colour of the distillate prove too dark, a smaller quantity may 
be used, and made up to 100 cc. with distilled water. Wanklyn recom- 
mends distilling only 50 c.c., Nesslerising it, and then adding one-third to 
the result, on the ground that (as he says) three-fourths of the ammonia 
come off in the first 50 c.c. He also states that with smaller sized apparatus 
100 c.c. of water gives satisfactory results.1 The Society of Public Analysts 
recommend successive portions being distilled over, and Nesslerised until 
ammonia ceases to appear. Practically we have found at Netley that the 
whole of the ammonia comes over in the first 130 ¢.c., or nearly so. 

The use of permanent coloured solutions, corresponding with known 
amounts of ammonia, has been recommended, and caramel has been tried 
at Netley, but the results have not been very satisfactory. A colorimeter 
may be used if preferred. 

When a Liebig’s condenser cannot be obtained, a flask may be used 
instead of a retort, and the distillate conveyed to the receiver by a tube of 
glass (or block tin) passing through a vessel of cold water, which must be 
renewed from time to time. The tube may be bent in any convenient way, 
so as to expose it to the cooling water as much as possible. Every part of 
the apparatus must be scrupulously clean and well washed with distilled 
water previous to commencing the experiment. The 8.P.A. recommend | 
that the retort tube should be packed into the condensing tube by means 
of an india-rubber ring; or it may be done with clean writing-paper, as 
Wanklyn proposes. In either case the substance used must be quite clean. 
It is well to wash the retort, flask, and glass tubes with dilute sulphuric 
acid, aud then rinse them out clean with distilled water. In distilling, the 
retort should be thrust well into the flame, and the distillation carried on 
rapidly. Ifthe water is very soft, the addition of a little pure or recently 
heated sodium carbonate may be made, but in ordinary circumstances it is 
not necessary, and is not advisable. 


1 Water Analysis, 5th edition, p. 41. 


ALBUMINOID AMMONIA—NITRIC ACID. 693 


The “free” or ‘‘saline ammonia” represents the ammonia combined with 
carbonic, nitric, or other acids, and also what may be derived from urea, or 
other easily decomposable substances, if they are present. The limit in 
good waters is taken at 0-002 centigrammes per litre; in bad waters it 
often reaches 100 times this and more.! 

After the distillation of the free ammonia, the residue of the water in 
the retort is used for determining the albuminoid ammonia, to be now 
described. 


(6) Albuminoid Ammonia. 


The object of this process is to get a measure of the nitrogenous organic 
matter in water, by breaking it up and converting the nitrogen into 
ammonia by means of potassium permanganate in presence of an alkali; 
the ammonia can be distilled off and estimated as above. It is to be under- 
stood that this does not deal with all the nitrogenous matter, but the 
results are sufficiently uniform to be useful. According to Wanklyn and 
Chapman, the albuminoid ammonia multiplied by 10 gives a fair approxi- 
mate estimate of the nitrogenous matter in water. 

Process.—25 c.c. of the solution of alkaline permanganate? are added to 
the residue in the retort, after the distillation of the free ammonia, and 
about 110 to 120 e.c. distilled off. It is sometimes convenient to add a 
little pure distilled water to the residue if the first distillation has been 
carried rather far. Wanklyn recommends successive quantities of 50 c.c. 
to be distilled off and tested until no more ammonia comes over. Deter- 
mine the amount of ammonia, as was done in the case of the free ammonia, 
and state the results in this case as albuminoid ammonia. In this distilla- 
tion there is sometimes a little difhculty caused by ‘“ bumping,” especially 
in the case of bad waters ; to remedy this it has been recommended to use 
pieces of tobacco pipe which have been heated to redness immediately before 
use. It is better, however, to dilute the water if it be a bad one, and not 
to distil too rapidly. 


(c) Nitrie Acid. 


Nitric acid may be determined in several ways, but two seem more 
easily applicable than the others, viz., 1, Schulze’s aluminum method 
(modified by Wanklyn and Chapman); and 2, the copper-zinc process. 
Both methods depend upon the conversion of the nitric acid into ammonia. 

1. Aluminum Process.—We require solution of caustic soda, perfectly free 
_ from nitrates, and aluminum foil.? 100 ¢.c. of the water (50 c.c., S.P.A.) 
are mixed with an equal bulk of the soda solution, and put into a retort, 
and a piece of aluminum foil, larger than is capable of dissolving, added. 
The tube is well corked, and the mixture left for several hours. The liquid 
is then distilled and Nesslerised ; or, if the quantity of ammonia be very 
large, it may be determined with a standard acid solution. Precautions are 
suggested for the prevention of the escape of ammonia or the access of 
ammonia from the air, but with a good cork they are hardly required. 

2. Copper-zine Process.—A wet* copper-zine couple is prepared, and well 
washed with distilled water, and afterwards with some of the water to be 


1 Wanklyn’s Water Analysis, 5th edition, p. 48. 

2 See Appendix A. 3 See Appendix A. 

4JTn Frankland’s Water Analysis, p. 100, the directions given are for a dry couple, which 
appears to be an error. See M. W. Williams, Analyst, vol. vi. p. 36. For preparation, see 
Appendix A. 


694 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


examined. To use it, put it into a wide-mouthed stoppered bottle, and pour 
in 100 c.c. of the water to be examined ; it is best to fill the bottle up, and 
to add 1 per 1000 of sodium chloride, especially if the water be very soft. 
The stopper is inserted, and the whole put aside for several hours,—ten or 
twelve if the temperature be below 30° C. (86° Fahr.) ; but the process may 
be hastened by warming up to 32° to 38° C. (90° to 100° Fahr.). The 
completion of the process may be ascertained by the absence of nitrous acid, 
when tested for by Griess’s test. The water is now to be Nesslerised, which 
can rarely be done properly except after distillation, as in the former 
process. 

The calculation is made by calculating out the resultmg ammonia as 
nitrogen or as nitric acid,—the following being the coefficients :— 


1 part of NH, = 3-706 of nitric acid, HNO,;= 3-647 of NO, ; 
= 3176 of nitrogen pentoxide, N,0;; = 1» $235 nitrogen, N. 


It is necessary to take into account any nitrous acid or ammonia (free or 
saline) which may be present, and may have been previously determined. 
Nitrous acid (HNO,) is to ammonia (NH.) as 2°765 to 1; or, if nitrogen 
tetroxide be taken (NO,), then it is to ammonia (NH.,) as 2-706 to 1. 

Lxample.—100 c.c. of water yielded 0:03371 centigrammes of NH, (equal 
to 0°3371 parts per 100,000) after treatment by either of the above pro- 
cesses for the reduction of nitrates. But the sample had also yielded 
0.0052 of free ammonia, and 0°127 of nitrous acid, reckoned as NO,; the 
latter, 0°127, divided by 2-706, being equivalent to 0°0469 of NH,; we 
therefore have 

0:°3371 — (0°0052 + 0:0469) = 0:285 ammonia from nitric acid. 
0285 x 3706 = 1:0562 HNO,. 0:285 x 3176 =0°9052 N,O,. 
0°285 x 3°647 = 11-0394 NO.,. 0-285 x 0°8235 = 0-2347 N. 


Multiplying these results by 0°7, we have grains per gallon. The state- 
ment of the result as nitrogen is now becoming very general. 


(d) Nitrous Acid. 


For the direct determination of this the plan of Griess is now recom- 
mended. A solution of meta-phenylenediamine is prepared, and also a 
dilute sulphuric acid, consisting of one volume of strong acid to two of 
water. One c.c. of each solution is added to 100 c.c. of the water to 
be examined, which is put in a Nessler glass: a red colour is produced. 
Another glass is placed alongside, and into it are put as much of a standard 
solution of potassium nitrite as may be necessary, making up the bulk to 100 
c.c. with distilled water ; then add 1 c.c. each of the sulphuric acid and the 
meta-phenylenediamine. The remainder of the process is carried on much 
in the same way as ordinary Nesslerising for ammonia. Care must be taken 
that the water originally taken is not too str ong; so if the red colour be too 
deep, smaller portions diluted up to 100 c.c. must be taken, until the faintest 
tint distinctly recognisable is obtained. The standard potassium nitrite ! 
should be of the str ength of 1 c.c.=0-01 milligramme of NO,, or nitrogen 
tetroxide. The number of c.c. used gives the milligrammes of NO, present 
in the sample of water. 

Example.—A sample of water containing a good deal of nitrous acid was 

taken, and 25 ¢.c., made up to 100 c.c. with pure distilled water, were put 
in a Nessler glass. 1 c.c. of the sulphuric acid and 1 c.c. of the solution 


d For the preperation of the solutions, see Appendix A. 


OXIDISABLE MATTER IN WATER. 695 


of meta-phenylenediamine added: a distinct red colour was obtained. Into 
another Nessler glass 7-5 ¢.c. of the standard potassium nitrite were put, 
made up to 100 c.c. with distilled water, and the same shade of tint ob- 
tained with the solution as above. 


Mgm. 
75 x 0°01 =0:075 NO, in 25 c.e. 
0°075 x 4=0°300 NO, in 100 ce. 


This equals 0-3 in 100,000 or 0-21 in 1 gallon; multiplying any of these 
results by 0-304, gives the amount of nitrogen (N). 

The above is now accepted as the most accurate method of determining 
nitrites,! but some care is required,—for both the water and the colouring 
solution must be either colourless or be decolorised. It may not be always 
possible to get the reagents, and then it is best to fall back upon the deter- 
mination of nitrous acid by the permanganate process to be presently 
described. 

It may be well to mention here that the method of stating the results 
varies, as in the case of nitric acid, some reckoning as HNO,, some as N,0., 
and others as NO,. The last is the best, as it corresponds to Cl. In the 
same way NO, is to be preferred for the nitric acid, SO, for the Supine 
acid, and PO, for the phosphoric acid. 


(B) Determination of Oxidisable Matter in Water. 


The oxidisable matter in water consists of oxidisable organic matter, 
nitrites, ferrous salts, and hydrogen sulphide. The last can be easily recog- 
nised by the smell, and got rid of by gently warming the water. Ferrous 
salts are rare, but, if present, they impart a distinct chalybeate taste to the 
water if their amount reaches the fifth of a grain of iron per gallon (about 
0-3 parts per 100,000). Generally their presence may be disregarded. 
There remain, therefore, the oxidisable organic matter, and nitrous acid as 
nitrites. For determining these the potassium permanganate is very con- 
venient. 

(e,) Lotal Oxidisable Matter in terms of Oxygen required for its Oxidation. 
—A solution of potassium permanganate is required, which in presence of 
an acid is capable of yielding 0-01 centigramme of oxygen for each c.c. 

Process.—Take a convenient quantity of the water to be examined, say 
250 c.c.; add 3 ¢.c. of sulphuric acid; drop in the permanganate solution 
from a burette until a pink colour is established; warm the water up to 
140° Fahr. (60° C.), dropping in more permanganate if the colour dis- 
appears; when the temperature reaches 140° Fahr. remove the lamp; con- 
tinue to drop in permanganate until the colour is permanent for about ten 
minutes. Then read off the number of c¢.c. used, and multiply by 0°04 to 
get the amount per 100,000. 

Example.—250 ¢.c. of water, with 3 ¢.c. of sulphuric acid, required 
3°5 ¢.c. of permanganate to give a permanent colour; 3°5 x 0-4=0:04=0°'14 
per 100,000.? 

It must be remembered that this includes both organic matter and 
nitrous acid. We must now differentiate these. 

(e,) Organic Oxidisable Matter in terms of Oxygen required for its Oxida- 


1 See Frankland, Water Analysis, p. 40, also M. W. Williams, in Analyst, vol. vi. p. 36. 
2 If special accuracy is required, a correction for colour may be made by deducting 0°06 
from the result stated as milligrammes of oxygen per litre. 


696 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


tion.—Take 250 c.c. of water to be examined; add 3 ¢.c. of sulphuric acid 
us above; boil the water briskly for twenty minutes; allow it to cool down 
to 140° Fahr. (60° C.); then add the permanganate until a pink colour 
is established for ten minutes. Calculate out the oxygen as above, stating 
the result as centigrammes per litre required for oxidisable organic matter, or, 
shortly, as organic oxygen. 

(e,) Nitrous Acid.—This can now be determined easily by calculating 
from the difference between the two preceding processes. Each centigramme 
of oxygen represents 2°875 centigrammes of nitrous acid; we must therefore 
multiply the difference by this factor, and the result is nitrous acid in 
centigrammes per litre. 

Bac ample.—A sample of water yielded, by process (e,), 0°14 parts of oxygen 
per 100,000; by process (e,), 0°075. Then we have 0-140 -0:075 =0-065 
~ — centigrammes of oxygen required for nitrous acid ; 0:065 x 2°875 =0°187 
per 100, 000 of nitrogen tetroxide (NO,). 

Hassall! has sugwested an improvement on the above process (de 
Chaumont’s), namely, instead of boiling away the nitrous acid, to distil it 
over and determine it directly in the distillate. Fresenius proposes a some- 
what similar plan, only using acetic acid for the distillation, and then sul- 
phuric acid for the subsequent titration. Of course, if distillation is resorted 
to, the NO, can be determined by Griess’s method. 

One or two precautions are necessary in the permanganate processes. In 
process (e,) permanganate must be added to the water from the very com- 
mencement, in order not to lose nitrous acid, which may be driven off as 
the water is being heated. The faintest tinge of colour that can be dis- 
tinctly seen ought to be accepted, provided it remain for ten minutes. 
Care must be taken to add the sulphuric acid in every case at the 
beginning ; if this is not done a brown colour is struck which spoils the 
experiment. Sometimes this colour appears, even after acid is added, and 
is then probably due to excess of organic matter; dilution with distilled 
water sometimes remedies this. The permanganate solution always acts 
upon the india-rubber tube of the common burette, therefore it is always 
well to use a burette with a glass stop-cock, or to run off the portion 
which has been in contact with the india- rubber before beginning the ex- 
periment. 

The S.P.A. instructions recommend another method of operation (sug- 
gested by Tidy) including two determinations, viz., one in which the oxygen 
absorbed within fifteen minutes is calculated, and another within four hours. 
The processes are carried on at a temperature of 80° Fahr. (26°°7 C.). Two 
bottles, stoppered and of about 12 oz. (340 c.c.) capacity, are used, into 
each (after being thoroughly cleaned, rinsed with sulphuric acid and then 
with the water to be examined) 250 c.c. of the water are to be put, and 
warmed in a bath to 80° Fahr. (26°:7 C.). Then add 10 c.c. of dilute sul- 
phurie acid (1 vol. to 3 vols. of water) and 10 c.c. of the standard potassium 
permanganate solution. Fifteen minutes after the addition of the potassium 
permanganate one of the bottles must be removed from the bath, and two 
or three drops of the potassium iodide solution added, to remove the pink 
colour. After thorough mixture, run from a burette the standard solution 
of sodium hyposulphite, until the yellow colour is nearly destroyed, then 
add a few drops of starch water, and continue the addition of the hyposul- 
phite until the blue colour is discharged. If the titration has been pro- 
perly conducted, the addition of one ore of polasetime permancauate 


1 Adulterations Detected, 1876, p. 84. 


OXIDISABLE MATTER BY PERMANGANATE. 697 


solution will restore the blue colour. At the end of four hours remove the 
other bottle, and titrate as above described. Should the pink colour of the 
water in the bottle diminish rapidly during the four hours, further measured 
quantities of the standard solution of potassium permanganate must be 
added from time to time, so as to keep it markedly pink. 

The hyposulphite solution must be standardised by making a blank expe- 
riment with distilled water, and this must be repeated from time to time as 
it does not keep well. Let A be the quantity of hyposulphite required in 
the blank experiment, and let B be the amount required for 250 c.c. of the 
water examined, and a the amount of permanganate solution used, 


B 
Cg — x) x a x 0:04 = oxygen absorbed per 100,000 parts. 


Example.—To 250 c.c. of water 10 c.c. of permanganate solution were 
added: in the previous blank experiment 10 c.c. of permanganate took 45 
c.c. of the hyposulphite : after mixture with the water and the lapse of the 
necessary time, 30 c.c. of hyposulphite were required: then, 


30 
(1 - =) x 10 x 0:04=0:133 oxygen per 100,000 parts. 


The factor 0:04 is got by multiplying by 0:01 (=the centigrammes of 
oxygen in 1 c.c. of the permanganate solution) and then by 4 to bring to 
100,000. Should the 250 c.c. require more than 10 of permanganate, the 
value of a will alter accordingly. 

It is of course to be understood that the nitrous acid, if present, must be 
allowed for, and other oxidisable substances eliminated before the oxygen for 
organic matter is definitively recorded. 

The permanganate process is the only one that is practicable for medical 
officers, that gives us any measure of the oxidisable organic matter in water, 
and is, in the present state of our knowledge, indispensable, imperfect though 
its indication may be. It is certainly an aid to our judgment of the condi- 
tion of a drinking water, being to Frankland’s carbon process something the 
same as the albuminoid ammonia method is to his nitrogen one. Frank- 
land has fully acknowledged this relation in his latest work,! and has pro- 
posed a series of factors by which to multiply the oxygen absorbed, so as to 
express the result in terms of organic carbon. These factors are based on 
the observed relations between the two processes in a very large number of 
experiments, and are formed by dividing the average carbon by the average 
oxygen. The factors differ for different kinds of water in the following pro- 
portions :— 


C 
River water, 6) = 2°38 
Deep-well water, is s 5°80 
Shallow-well water, 5 = 2°28 
Upland surface water, __,, = 1:80 


so that 1 centigramme of oxygen absorbed indicates a probable amount of 

only 1°8 of organic carbon in an upland surface water, but as much as 5°8 
in a deep-well water. 

No process gives us thoroughly trustworthy information, but for the army 

( or navy medical officer, or any one not provided with a well-appointed labo- 


ratory, the permanganate process, combined with the albuminoid ammonia 


1 Water Analysis, 1880, p. 59. 


698 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


process, gives as much information as is likely to be got at present, and 
sufficient for hygienic purposes. It must be remembered that the perman- 
ganate does not act upon fatty substances, starch, urea, hippuric acid, creatin, 
sugar, or gelatine. 


Action of Permanganate in presence of an Alkali. 


_ In order to avoid some of the fallacies and inconveniences of the test with 
acid, F. Schultze tried the following plan, which was slightly modified by 
Lex. Five or more vessels, each containing 60 ¢.c. of the water to be 
examined, are taken, and to each 2 c.c. of thin milk of lime are added, and 
then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 c.c. &e. of the permanganate solution (viz., 395 gramme 
per litre) are added, and left for three hours. At the end of that time some 
of the samples will be decolorised, others still coloured ; if No. 1 and No. 2 
are colourless, and No. 3 is coloured, then the amount of permanganate 
destroyed is between 2 and 3c.c. As in the cold each equivalent of per- 
manganate only gives off 3 (not 5 atoms) of oxygen, each c¢.c. corresponds 
not to 0-01, but to 0°006 centigramme of oxygen.? It is for this reason 
that 60 ¢.c. of water are taken instead of 100, for it is evident that if 1 c.c. 
of the permanganate solution gives only 0°006 centigramme to 60 c.c., it 
is the same as 0-01 to 100 c.c. of the water. The calculation of the result 
is thus easy; if, for example, Nos. 1 and 2 are decolorised, while No. 3 is 
coloured, the amount of oxygen required is between 0°02 and 0-03 centi- 
gramme for 100 c.c., or 0-2 and 0°3 parts per 100,000. If 60 cc. of a water 
take less than 3 c¢.c. of the permanganate solution to give it a colour per- 
manent for two hours, it is a good water (according to Lex) so far as this 
test 1s concerned ; if 3 and 4 c.c. are required it is a medium water, and 
if the 5 ¢.c. do not give a colour the water is bad. 


5d. Phosphoric Acid in Phosphates. 


The incinerated total residue of the solids is to be treated with a few 
drops of nitric acid, and the silica rendered insoluble by evaporation to dry- 
ness. The residue is then taken up with a few drops of dilute nitric acid, 
some water is added, and the solution is filtered through a filter previously 
washed with dilute nitric acid. The filtrate, which should measure 3 c.c¢., 
is mixed with 3 ¢.¢. of molybdate solution, gently warmed, and set aside 
for fifteen minutes at a temperature of 80° Fahr. The result is reported as 
“traces,” “ heavy traces,” or “ very heavy traces,” when a colour, turbidity, 
or definite precipitate are respectively produced, after standing fifteen 
minutes. The precipitate may also be collected and weighed, if thought 
desirable. For this purpose it ought to be washed with the least quantity 
of distilled water, and then dissolved to neutrality in dilute ammonia. The 
solution thus obtained is evaporated with repeated additions of small quan- 
tities of water, and the resulting residue is weighed. The weight, divided 
by 28°6, gives the amount of phosphoric anhydride, P,O; (Hehner). To 
express it in terms of PO,, divide by 21:4, or multiply by 0-0467. 

6. The determination of sulphuric acid has already been referred to (page 
691, note). 


1 Roth and Lex, op. cit., p. 91. 
2 With sulphuric acid the following is the reaction :— 
2(K Mn0O,)+8(H.SO04)= KoSO4+2(MnS0O,)+3(H,0) +O; ; 
without acid the reaction is: 


2(K MnO,) + HyO=2(MnO,) + 2(K HO) + 3. 


EARTHY AND ALKALINE CARBONATES—METALS—INFERENCES, 699 


Determination of the Earthy and Alkaline Carbonates by Mohr’s Process. 


This is a very elegant process, and may be useful. The solutions required 
are: standard solution of sulphuric acid,! 1 ¢.c. of which saturates 5 mgms. 
of calcium carbonate; and a colouring solution, such as cochineal or 
phenolphthaleine. 

Process.—Take 100 c.c. of the water to examine, and add a drop or two 
of cochineal solution, which gives a carmine-red colour. Then run in the 
standard acid solution till the colour becomes yellow or brown-yellow. Read 
off the number of ¢.c. used, and multiply by 5. The result is parts of 
earthy and alkaline carbonates per 100,000, stated as calcium carbonate. 

Example.—100 c.c. of asample of water, reddened with cochineal, required 
5-6 of standard solution to make it yellow :—then 5:6 x 5=28= parts per 
100,000 of earthy and alkaline carbonates as calcium carbonate. If the 
water be not alkaline to test-paper, the result will represent calcium car- 
bonate only. Should the latter be already known (through the hardness), 
the difference, if any, will represent sodium carbonate, and may be calculated 
out as such, | c.c.=5°3 mgms. of sodium carbonate. 


Iron, Silica, Lead, Copper, Arsenic, Zine. 


Tron is seldom required to be determined quantitatively, but it may be 
done by a colorimetric test (as suggested by Wanklyn). Hither the water 
may be tested directly, or, what is better, the incinerated residue of the 
solids may be treated with pure hydrochloric acid, and made up to 100 c.c. 
with distilled water. A cubic centimeter of solution of ferrocyanide of 
potassium is added, which will strike a blue colour. A comparative experi- 
ment with a standard solution of iron may be made.” ‘This is a better 
process than the permanganate method, which with small quantities of iron 
gives very uncertain results. 

Silica may be determined from the incinerated residue, by treating it with 
strong nitric or hydrochloric acid, evaporating to dryness, and again treating 
with acid; distilled water (about 50 ¢.c.) is then added, and a little heat 
applied till everything soluble is dissolved ; the residue is silica, which may 
be collected on a small filter, ignited, and weighed. A number of Indian 
waters contain considerable quantities of silica, either combined or in the 
suspended matter.® 

Lead, Copper, Arsenic, Zinc.—The mere presence of these metals in appre- 
ciable quantity is enough to condemn a water, therefore it will seldom be 
necessary to determine their amount quantitatively. 


Inferences from the Quantitative Tests. 


The conclusions to be drawn from the qualitative tests hold good for the 
quantitative, only greater precision is given. It must, however, be under- 
stood that such conclusions are still only approximative, and they are only 
of a certain value when all the circumstances of the case are taken into 
consideration. Some chemists have gone so far as to say that they would 


1 See Appendix A. 
| 2 See under Alum in Bread. 
3 Dr Nicholson, A.M.D., noticed that the water at Kampti, both from the river and 
from wells, contains from 2 to 6 grains per gallon (=3 to 9 parts per 100,000) of silica 
| derived from micaceous gravel; it is combined with magnesia, and it renders the soap test 
| inapplicable. 


700 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


rather know nothing about the sample, and merely wish it marked with 
some distinctive mark, such as A or B, or 1 or 2, their confidence being so 
great in the indications of their analyses that they feel convinced they can 
give a perfectly trustworthy opinion on the wholesomeness or otherwise 
from these alone. There is no doubt that a practised chemist may make a 
fairly good guess under such circumstances, but as a rule an opinion so 
formed is worth very little. It is, of course, desirable that an analyst 
should come to his inquiry perfectly unbiassed; but before adopting a 
conclusion as regards a water, the medical officer will always do well to 
obtain every item of information about it that it is possible to get,—other- 
wise he is sure to fall sooner or later into error. Thus, constituents may 
be present in a deep-well water and have no particular significance, whilst 
in a shallow-well water they would be sufficient to condemn it. At present 
we have little or no means of positively distinguishing vegetable from 
animal organic matter; yet it is obvious that an amount of the former 
would be admissible which could not be allowed of the latter. 

The inadvisability of drawing hard and fast lines on the subject is being 
now more generally recognised ; and the remark of Mr Charles Ekin! is 
very apposite, for he says it is as if sex typhoid germs were harmless and 
nine were hurtful. It may be true that the larger the dose of poison the 
more certain the effect, but we know too little at present to allow us to say 
where the line is to be drawn. At the same time, some approximation to 
classification may be made, The Reports on Hygiene in the 4..D. Annual 
fteports, vols. xviii. to xxi., may be referred to for tables of water analyses, 
with approximate classifications. 

Subjoined, in pp. 703-6, are tables of typical waters divided into four 
classes,—1. Pure and wholesome; 2. Usable; 3. Suspicious ; and 4. Impure. 
These are merely suggested as general guides, some latitude being neces- 
sary, according to circumstances. 

1. Chlorine in Chlorides.—The purest waters contain small quantities of 
chlorides, generally less than 1°5 per 100,000. Rain-water generally contains 
0°22 to 0-5 per 100,000. An increase in ordinary drinking water may be 
due to sea-water, salt-bearing strata, or sewage, or other impurities. In 
the two former cases it is comparatively innocent, but in the last it may 
be an indication of dangerous contamination, in which case it is usually 
connected with an increase in the ammonias, the oxidisable matter, and the 
nitrogen acids. Sewage contamination can never take place without some 
increase in the chlorides, unless it be through gaseous emanations. Some 
deep wells contain large quantities of chlorides, but the other details of the 
analysis will show that this is not due to any recent contamination. 
Generally speaking, however, an excess of chlorine is a reason for suspicion, 
until a satisfactory explanation of its presence is obtained.” 

2. Solids, Total and Volatile.—The amount of solids varies very greatly 
with the source of the water. Pure upland surface waters contain very 
little, sometimes not more than 3 to 4 parts per 100,000. The Loch 
Katrine water, supplied to Glasgow, yields only 2°4 per 100,000 ; Thirlmere 
Lake, proposed as the supply for Manchester, about the same ; and Vyrnwy, 
proposed as the supply for Liverpool, 3:4 per 100,000. 

On the other hand, waters from pure sources other than upland surface 
show much more than this. On the whole, we may lay it down that the 


1 Potable Water, by Charles Ekin, F.C.S. J. & A. Churchill. 
* Good deep-well water may contain 10 grains of chlorine per gallon: sewage effluent (as 
at Aldershot) only 2°8. 


INFERENCES FROM THE QUANTITATIVE TESTS. 701 


purest upland surface waters seldom contain more than about 7 parts 
per 100,000, but that considerable latitude may be admitted in waters from 
deep wells, chalk strata, and the like. 

Of the solids not more than about 1°5 per 100,000 ought to be volatile, 
or capable of being driven off by a red heat. The solids should blacken 
very slightly on ignition. A little deviation from this rule is admissible in 
water from peat land. 

3. Ammonia, Free and Albuminoid.—Pure waters yield from nil to 0:002 
per 100,000 of free ammonia, and from nil to 0-005 per 100,000 of albu- 
minoid ammonia. Usable water may contain up to 0:005 per 100,000 of 
free, and 0-01 per 100,000 of albuminoid ammonia. These numbers, how- 
ever, require qualification, for they may be exceeded in cases where water is 
thoroughly good for dietetic purposes. Rain-water often contains a large” 
amount of free ammonia, probably derived from soot, and it appears to be 
harmless. 

Deep wells often show a large amount of free ammonia and chlorides 
without necessarily indicating pollution; but the same amounts in a 
shallow well would point to probable sewage pollution, or at least to the 
presence of urine. 

The presence of a considerable amount of albuminoid ammonia, with 
little free ammonia and chlorides, is generally indicative of vegetable organic 
matter, often peaty. This is the character of the greater part of the water 
supply of Ireland. 

The real significance of the albuminoid ammonia has been much discussed, 
but the results obtained are sufficiently uniform to give us a convenient 
measure of purity, provided we are careful not to draw the line too close. 
All the nitrogen of the organic matter is certainly not obtained by this 
method, but this is immaterial so long as the proportion is fairly main- 
tained. The results correspond to a certain extent with the organic nitrogen 
of Frankland, and the process is much more feasible for medical officers 
generally. 

4, Nitric and Nitrous Acids in Nitrates and Nitrites.—The significance of 
these is very important. Nitric acid is the ultimate stage of oxidation of 
nitrogenous organic matter, and when present in water it is almost always 
the result of previous pollution, either of the water itself or of the strata 
through which it flows. It gives us no information, however, as to the 
exact time when the pollution took place. In some samples from deep wells 
it is evident that the pollution must have been very ancient. It has been 
distinctly shown by Schloesing and Muntz! and by R. Warington? that 
nitrification is a fermentative process, excited and carried on through the 
agency of a minute organism, just as ordinary fermentation is carried on 
through the medium of torwla. Nitrous acid indicates the presence of 
organic matter undergoing change: it is either a stage in the direct oxida- 
tion of such matter, progressive or arrested, or a retrogression from nitric 
acid in consequence of the latter having yielded up a part of its oxygen. 
In this way nitrous acid might retrograde still further and become converted 
again into ammonia, or be dissipated as nitrogen. Nitrous acid is a much 
more important substance than nitric, as indicating present danger, and a 
very small amount of it is sufficient to remove a water into the suspicious 
class. It is rare to find any of the higher forms of life in a water rich in 
nitrites, although bacteria may be found. Pure water ought to be quite 


1 Comptes Rendus, \xxxiv. 301; lxxxv. 1018; Ixxxvi. 802 ; Ixxxix. 801, 1074. 
~ Chem. Soc. Jour., 1878, xxviii. 44; 1879, 429. Chem. News, xliv. 217. 


02 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


free from nitrites, and ought to show only traces at most of nitrates,—the 
limit being about 0°032 per 100,000 of nitric acid, representing of com- 
bined nitrogen 0-014 per 100,000. The total combined nitrogen (including 
that in the free ammonia) would be 0:016 per 100,000; whilst the total 
nitrogen (including that in the albuminoid ammonia) would be 0-023 
per 100,000. The presence of nitrites is suspicious: the marked presence 
of nitrates ought to be a ground for careful inquiry. In some soils, espe- 
cially sands and gravels, and in ferruginous soils, the process of nitrification 
goes on extremely rapidly, and the existence of impurity may escape notice 
if the examination for nitric acid be omitted. 

5. Oxygen absorbed.—This ought not to exceed about 00250 per 100,000 
for organic matter alone,—that is, after deducting any that may be 
absorbed by nitrous acid if present. This latter, however, should not be 
present in a water of the first class. The experiment to be done with 
permanganate and acid at a temperature of 140° Fahr. (60° C.). . 

Frankland and Wigner allow four times the above amount for upland 
surface waters, and double the above amount for other waters,—the 
experiment being performed for four hours at a temperature of 80° Fahr. 

aie (Ca) 

In water with little chlorine and little or no free ammonia, a higher 
amount than the above may be present without danger, as in all probability 
it will be due to vegetable matter. 

6. Hardness.—The fixed hardness should not exceed 3° of the metrical 
scale. The total hardness may vary more, but if possible should not 
exceed 7° to 8°°5 (metrical). 

7. Phosphates.—The presence of these in any marked quantity will 
generally corroborate inferences as regards sewage contamination drawn 
from the other indications. 

Sulphates.—An excess of sulphates will in many cases also indicate con- 
tamination, though they may, like chlorine, come from innocuous sources. 

8. Metals.—Pure water should contain no heavy metal, although a trace 
of iron may be found sometimes, In some cases iron seems beneficial, as it 
helps to oxidise the organic matter. The presence of any other heavy metal 
ought to condemn the water. 

9. The presence of hydrogen sulphide or alkaline sulphides ought to 
condemn the water. 

It is always advisable to get information if possible as to the usual com- 
position of a water to be examined, as even slight variations may suggest a 
clue to the nature or cause of an impurity. The microscopic examination 
of the sediment ought always to be performed where possible, as it often 
affords important information when the chemical investigation fails. Thus, 
the presence of such objects as muscular fibre, wheaten starch cells, spiral 
vegetable fibres, mucous epithelium, disintegrating masses of paper, &c. are 
sufficient alone to condemn water (especially if it be from a shallow well), 
even when the chemical constituents are within limits, as they are un- 
doubted evidences of animal contamination, almost certainly sewage. In 
such cases the nitric acid is nearly always large in amount. 

10. Form of Report.—This is immaterial, so long as the facts are set 
forth clearly and the conclusions drawn stated distinctly. On p. 707 will 
be found the Form at present in use at Netley, which may serve as a 
guide, 


| 
| 


CLASSIFICATION—-PURE AND WHOLESOME WATER. 703 


The following tables give an approximate view of the composition of 
drinking waters of the four classes :— 


1. Pure and Wholesome Water. 


Character or Constituents. Remarks. 
Physical characters, . 2 Colourless, or bluish tint; | Turbidity, due to very fine mi- 
4 transparent, sparkling, neral matter, is sometimes 


and well aérated; no associated with pure waters ; 
sediment visible to naked thus, minutely divided cal- 
eve; no smell; taste cium sulphate will not sub- 


palatable. side in distilled water. 
es aan 
Chemical Constituents. per gallon, per litre 
Lin 70,000. | 7 in 100,000. 


| This may be exceeded if 
1. Chlorine in chlorides, wnder | 1:0000 1°4000 from a purely mineral 


N.B.—The solids on incinera- 
tion should scarcely blacken. 
3. Ammonia, free or saline, wnder | 0°0014 00020 
ot albuminoid, under | 0°0035 0:0050 
4, Nitric acid (NO3), . wnder 
in nitrates. 
Nitrous acid (NO,), . 
in nitrites. 
Nitrogen in nitrates,  wnder 
Total combined nitrogen, in- 
eluding that in the free 
ammonia, . . under 
Total nitrogen, including 


\ 
re 
ee 
J 
that in the albuminoid ve 070230 
] 
r 


where they are mostly 


3 volatile, under | 1:0000 1°4000 : ceeded inchalk waters, 
J calcium carbonate, 


source. 
2. Solids insolution: total, wnder | 50000 71428) | The solids may be ex- 
J 


()°0226 0°0323 


ammonia, . .  wnder 

. Oxygen absorbed by organic 
matter within half an hour, 

by permanganate and acid 

at 140° F. (60° C.),  wnder 
Do. do. in 15 minutes, at 

80° F. (Q7° C.),. under 

Do. do. in 4 hours at 80° 


On 


(| The oxygen absorbed 

! } i may be doubled in 

00175 0-0250 peat or upland sur- 
L face waters. 


Ids (2+ Ge) . under OUD DOEUY | 
6. Hardness, total, . under 6°°0 8°°5 | 
fixed, . under 2°-0 3°°0 
Te Phosphoric acid in phosphates, | traces 
Sulphuric acid in ea traces 
8. Heavy metals, . ; nil 
9. Hydrogen sulphide, alkaline Al 
sulphides, . a 
Microscopic characters, . Mineral matter; | See remarks on biologi- | 
vegetable forms ; eal experiments in | 
with endochrome ; text. 
large animal forms ; 
no organic debris, 


A water such as the above may generally be used with confidence, in the absence of any 
history of possible pollution, or of any recent and appreciable change in the amount of the 
organic constituents. 


704 CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


2. Usable Water. 


Character or Constituents. Remarks. 

Physical characters, A 2 Colourless or slightly | In some usable waters, such as 
greenish tint; trans- peat waters, the colour may 
parent, sparkling, and be yellow or even brownish. 
well-aérated; no sus- In some also the taste may 
pended matter, or else be flat or only moderately 


easily separated by -palatable. 
coarse filtration or sub- 
sidence ; no smell ; taste 


palatable. 
Grains Bat 
Chemical Constituents. per gallon ET 
dian 70/000., | Rew ute, 


1 in 100,000. 


( This may be much larger 
| in waters near the sea, 
1. Chlorine in chlorides, wnder 30000 4°2857 |1 deep-well waters, or 
| waters from saline 
L strata. 

2. Solids in solution: total, wnder | 30°0000 | 42°8571 


The solids may blacken, 
volatile, under 30000 4°2857 |? but no nitrous fumes 
| should be given off. 

| This may be greater in 
( deep-well waters. 
(This may be larger in 
| 

1 


32 99 


3. Ammonia, free or saline, under 0°0035 0:0050 


upland surface waters, 
peat waters, &c., when 
| the source is chiefly 
| vegetable. 
(The amount of nitrates 
4, Nitric acid (NOs), . under | | 03500 05000 |{  vaties greatly, so that 
in nitrates. ) 1 an average is of doubt- 
lL ful value, 


29 


albuminoid, under 0:0070 0-0100 


Nitrous acid (NO,), . : nil nil 
in nitrites. 
Nitrogen in nitrates,  wnder 00790 01129 
Total combined nitrogen, in- 
cluding that in free am- 
monia, 6 ; . under 
Total nitrogen, including 
that in albuminoid am- 
monia, . . under 


0°0819 0°1170 


00876 0°1252 


SSS SS SSS 


5. Oxygen absorbed by organic 5) 
matter within half an hour, eae : 
by permanganate and acid, 00700 0°1000 | The ake eg 
at 140° F. (60° C.), under BEEN a bial a na 
Do. do. in 15 minutes, at 0-0210 0-0300 f cee e) = ae 
80° F (27° C.), . under 3 SUEDE waters, peat 
Do. do. in 4 hours, at 80° F. 01050 01500 | waters, &c. 
(il Cs) ; . under ) 
6. Hardness, total, . under 12°°0 73} 
5 fixed, . under 4°°0 Dail 
7. Phosphoric acid in phosphates, traces traces 
Sulphuric acid in © sul- 2-000 3-0000 | {In some waters the 
phates, . - . under {amount may be larger. 
8. Heavy metals—Ivon, . traces traces 
9. Hydrogen sulphide, alkaline nil “aril 
sulphides, . - 
Microscopic characters, . c Same as No, 1. 


|e Mi OR ee 
A water such as the above will in most cases be usable, but it will be improved by filtra- 
tion through a good medium. 


CLASSIFICATION—SUSPICIOUS WATER. 705 


3. Suspicious Water. 


Character or Constituents. Remarks. 

Physical characters, : Yellow or strong green Where the impurity is mostly 
colour; turbid; sus- vegetable, the colour may be 
pended matter con- very marked in usable water. 
siderable; no smell, 
but any marked taste. 


. Centi- 
Grains 
Chemical Constituents. per gallon, grammes 


: per litre 
Lin 70,000. | 1 in 100,000. 


1. Chlorine in chlorides, ; 3 to 5 4to7 In some eases the chlor- 
2, Solids in solution : total, . | 380 to 50 | 43 to 71 ine may be greater. 
ye tf - volatile, 5 8 : - on 
3. Ammonia, free or saline, {3 to 
0 0070 0:0100 
0 eee 0:0100 
a albuminoid, to 
0° ae 0°0125 
4, Nitric acid (NOs), { 0°35 to | 0°5 to 1:0 
in nitrates. 0:70 
Nitrous acid (NO,), : ¢ 00850 | 0:0500 
in nitrites. 
Nitrogen in nitrates and o me bee 
nitrites, : : 0 see 02373 
Total combined nitrogen, in- digs 0 ge 0°1247 
cluding that in free am- ie to 
monia , j : ; 0-718 0°2455 
Total nitrogen, including ee ie 071255 
that in albuminoid am- to 
monia, . Pleo 1726 02465 
5. Oxygen absorbed by organic . 
matter within half an “hour } 0 oie 0 Lae 
by permanganate and acid, (0: : 
ees 0° 1050 0°1500 
at 140° F. (80° C.), ; 
Do. do. in 15 minutes, at \ 0:0350 to} 0:0500 to 
80° F. (27° C.), 09-0700 | 0-1000 
Do. do. in 4 hours, at 80° F. | 01500 to} 0°2000 to 
(27° C.), f0-2800 | 0-4000 
6. Hardness, total, . above 12°°0 17°°0 
fixed, . «above 4°-0 Da 
7. Phosphoric acid in phos- 
heavy | traces 
phates, . ; 5 } 
Sulphuric acid in sul- i : This may sometimes be 
phates, : . above } BU 2 larger. 
8. Heavy metals—iron, . ‘ traces traces 
9. Hydrogen sulphide, alkaline i] Al 
sulphides, . ah ae 
Microscopic characters, . | Vegetable and animal 


forms more or less pale 
and colourless ; organic 
debris ; fibres of cloth- 
ing, or other evidence 
of house refuse, 


A water such as the above ought to excite suspicion; its use ought to be suspended until 
inquiries about it can be made; if it must be used, it ought to be boiled and filtered. 


ys Si 


06 


CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL ANALYSES. 


4, 


Character or Constituents. 


Physical characters, . 


Impure Water. 


Colour yellow or brown; 


turbid, and not easily 
purified by coarse filtra- 
tion; large amount of 
suspended matter; any 
marked smell or taste. 


Remarks. 


Dark-coloured waters may be 


usable when the impurity is 
vegetable. 


Grains fone 
Chemical Constituents. per gallon, A seats 
1in 70,000. | 7 in 100,600. 
1. Chlorine in chlorides, above 5-0000 71428 Chlorides per se are not 
2. Solids in solution: total, above | 50°0000 71°4285 hurtful, unless they 
», volatile, above 50000 “| 771428 are magnesian or in 
3. Ammonia, free or saline, above 00070 0-0100 some quantity. 
albuminoid, above 0-0087 00125 
4, Nitric acid (NOs), above 0°7000 1:0000 Some waters which are 
in nitrates. organically pure con- 
Nitrous acid (NO,), above 0:0350 0°0500 tain a great excess of 
in nitrites. solids. 
Nitrogen in nitrates and ni- 
eee : above } Cue ee 
Total combined nitrogen, in- | 
eluding that in free am- 0°1748 0°2497 
monia, above i 
Total nitrogen, including that | 
in albuminoid ammonia, 01821 0°2601 
above ) 

5. Oxygen absorbed by ore ‘ In the absence of free 
matter within half an hour}! |, ; ammonia, or much 
by permanganate and acid, f Valo alse chlorine, this may 

x at 140° F. (60° C.), above |) be due to vegetable 
o. do. in 15 minutes, at Aas ; matter. 
SOmEaN Cm Os) see above } 0°0700 0°1000 
Do. do. in 4 hours, at 80° : ; 
F. (27° C.), ae } 0-2800 | 0-4000 
6. Hardness, total, above 20°:0 28°°5 
AR fixed, above 6°°0 8°°7 
7. Phosphoric acid in phosphates, very hea|vy traces. 
Sulphuric acid in sulphals 3-000 49857 
8. Heavy metals, any exjcept iron. 
9. Hydrogen sulphide, 
prejsent. 


Alkaline sulphides, 


Microscopie characters, 


Bacteria of any 
kind; fungi; nu- 
merous vegetable 
and animal forms 
of low types; epi- 
thelia or other 
animal structures ; 
evidences of sew- 
age; ova of para- 
sites, &c. 


N.B.—The inferences to 


be drawn from bio- 
logical examination 
(cultivation of minute 
organisms in nutrient 
media) are still too 
uncertain to enable 
any definite rules to 
be laid down. Gene- 
rally speaking, the 
fewer organisms the 
better especially when 
they liquefy the gela- 
tine or other medium 
in which they are 
grown. 


\ water such as the above ought to be absolutely condemned. Should stress of circum- 
stances compel its use, it ought to be well boiled and filtered, or, better still, distilled. 


ee 


FORM OF REPORT ON 


07 


A SAMPLE OF WATER. 


The following is the form of Report at present used at Netley :— 


Laporatory, Army Mepicat ScHoou, NETLEY. 


Analysis of a Sample of Drinking Water. 


From Drawn 18 
Received 18 
Examined 18 
Physical Characters. Qualitative Hxamination. 
Colour Lime 
Turbidity Magnesia 
Sediment Chlorine. 
Lustre Sulphurie acid 
Taste Phosphoric acid 
Smell Ammonia 
Nitric acid 
Hardness [in parts per 100,000]. SE eae 
TOW eee 23800 INE@dlocconoses Removable......... Metals 
Quantitative Examination. 
Parts per Parts per 
100,000. 100,000. 
Volatile matter Oxygen required for organic 
Chlorine : matter F : ; 
Calcium carbonate Free ammonia . 
Fixed Hard Salts Albuminoid 
Sulphuric acid (SO,) ammonia 
Alkaline carbonates , N.B.—These con- | Nitric acid 
Sodium or other metal (com- ) stituents, with the] (NOs) . 
bined with Cl or SO,) not oxidisable organi¢ } Nitrous acid 
included in Fixed Hard FOOL peo Tene WEONOS) oe) 
Salts c : ed, are included in} Total Nitro- ) 
Silica, Alumina, Iron, &c. the Volatile Matter.} gen inciud- | 
Total Solids (by evaporation) ed in Nit-} 
rites and | 
Nitrates J | 


Microscopie Examination. 


Report. 


[Date] 


[Signature of Reporter. | 


CEUAP AUER He 


SECTION I. 
EXAMINATION OF THE AIR. 


1. By THe SENSEs. 


Many impurities are quite imperceptible to smell, but it so happens that 
animal organic matters, whether arising in respiration or in disease, have, 
for the most part, a peculiar foetid smell, which is very perceptible to those 
trained to observe it when they enter a room from the open air. This is, 
in fact, a most delicate, as well as a ready way of detecting such fetid 
impurities, and, with a little trouble, the sense of smell may be cultivated 
to the point of extreme acuteness. Only, it must be remembered, that in 
a short time the impression is lost, and is not at once regained even in 
the open air. For a detailed consideration of this question, see Dr de 
Chaumont’s papers in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1875 and 1876. 
Among other points, it is shown that the humidity of the air has a very 
marked influence in rendering the smell of organic matter perceptible, even 
more powerful than a rise in temperature. Thus the effect of an increase of 
one per cent. in the humidity is as great as a rise of 4°18 Fahr. (2°32 C.) in 
temperature, calculated from the mean of 458 fully recorded observations. 

As the evidence of the senses, however practically useful, is always liable 
to be challenged, a more thorough examination of the air must in many 
cases be made. 


2. MicROScOPICAL AND CHEMICAL EXAMINATION. 


The points which should be examined are 2— 

1. The existence and character of suspended matters as judged of by the 
microscope, both by immediate observation and after cultivation in 
prepared nutrient fluids.* 

2, The amount of CO,, which is taken as a convenient measure of all 
impurities. 

The amount of the free or saline ammonia. 

The ammonia formed by the action of alkaline permanganate on 

nitrogenous substances floating in the air (albuminoid ammonia).* 

5. The amount of oxidisable substances, as judged of by the amount of 
oxygen given off by a standard solution of potassium permanganate.* 


fe 


1 Supplementary Note on the Theory of Ventilation, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Nov. 
17, 1876. 

2 The amounts of oxygen and nitrogen can also be determined ; but very numerous obser- 
vations have shown that the oxygen often varies within extremely narrow limits, even when 
there is no doubt of the presence of considerable impurity in the air, so that, as far as present 
knowledge goes, the determination of its amount is no good guide as a general rule. 

% On this question, see Tyndall on Floating Bodics in the Atmosphere ; Miquel, Annuaire 
de Montsouris, 1882; and Fodor, Die Luft, op. cit. 

_ 4 For these two processes the determination of the organic nitrogen and carbon, by 
Frankland’s method, may be substituted, if practicable. 


te 


aD 
ernie seal 
ithe ye Lg ta 
‘ Hl, UY HN 
‘ i 


} 


DESCRIPTION OF PLatE VY. 
External Air. 


Fig. 1. Fragment of pine-wood. 
l’. Epidermis of hay, with fungus attached. 
2. Linen fibres. N.B. The thick fibres crossing in lower third of plate. 
3. Epithelium (nucleated) from the mouth. 
4, Do. detached from the skin. 
5, Cotton fibre, 
6’. Feather, or down. 
a. Charred vegetable particles, and mineral matter. 


(To Binder—To face Plate V.) 


DESCRIPTION oF PLatE VI. 
Accident Ward. 


Fig. 1’. Epidermis of hay. 1. Do. with fungus attached. 
2. Linen fibre. 


2’. Fungus filament. N.B. Long narrow filament in upper left of plate. 


3. Nucleated epithelium from the mouth. 

3a. Pus cells. 

4. Worn epithelium from the skin. 

4a. Charred vegetable particles. 4d. Fungus spores. 
5. Cotton fibre. 

6. Woollen fibre. 

7. Fragments of insects. 

8. Pine pollen. 

9. Dried-up palmellaceous frond. 
10. Ciliated spore, probably of Vaucherva. 


(To Binder—To face Plate VI.) 


Plate VI. 


ere 


imino pS 


ACCIDENT WARD, S87 Maar’ Aosprraz, Lonvon. 


MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION OF SUSPENDED MATTERS. 709 


6. Amount of nitrous and nitric acids. 

7. The amount of watery vapour. 

8. The presence of H,S, or other offensive gases and vapours. 
9. The presence or absence of ozone. 


Microscopical Hxamination. 


1. Suspended Matters.1.—It is probable that the microscopical examina- 
tion of air will give us in future more important information even than the 
chemical examination. It is, of course, merely a qualitative test, as there 
are no satisfactory means of properly estimating the amount collected. 

The suspended matters may be collected very simply by Pouchet’s 
aeroscope. A small funnel is drawn into a small point, below which is a 
slip of glass moistened with glycerine. The end of the funnel and the slip 
of glass are inclosed in an air-tight chamber, from which a small glass tube 
passes out and is connected by india-rubber tubing with an aspirator. As 
the water runs out through the aspirator, air passes down the funnel and 
impinges on the glycerine, which arrests any solid particles. 

As it is, however, desirable to avoid glycerine, which may (in spite of 
previous careful examination) contain foreign particles, a still better plan is 
to take a small bent tube, wash it thoroughly, dry it, and heat it to red- 
ness ; when cool, it should be placed in a freezing mixture, an india-rubber 
tube fixed on one end, and air slowly drawn through ; the water of the 
air condenses in the tube, and many of the solid particles fall with it. <A 
drop is then taken by a perfectly clean glass rod, previously heated to red- 
ness, placed on a clean glass, and looked at with an immersion lens, as soon 
after collection as possible. 

Or air may be drawn through pure distilled water, a drop of which is 
then examined. 

The late Dr Watson (Staff-Surgeon), in his examination of the air at 
Netley,” used fine glass threads soaked in pure glycerine, or dry, and crushed 
glass ; after the air was drawn through, he washed the glass threads with 
pure water, and then examined the water. These glass threads form good 
traps for the larger particles.* For thorough investigation, however, it is 
necessary to carry out cultivation experiments, by carrying the air through 
a sterilised solution, and watching carefully the development of the different 
organisms. Fodor recommends a solution of isinglass, 1} to 2 parts in 300 
to 400 of pure distilled water, thoroughly boiled, and decanted or filtered. 

Miquel has employed a variety of media, some proving more convenient 
than others for different purposes. 

An aspirator, to draw air through the tubes, is very easily made; a square 
tin vessel, with a tap below, and a small opening above to receive the india- 
rubber tube, is all that is necessary ; fill this with water, and let it run 
down, and measure the total quantity (in a pint vessel) discharged without 
tilting the vessel. An imperial pint contains 34°659 cubic inches, and one 
fluid ounce 1°733 cubic inches. A cubic foot is very nearly 1000 fluid 
ounces, and the ounce may be taken as 1°728 cubic inches.4 The exact 
delivery of the aspirator is, therefore, easily determined ; the air should be 
drawn slowly through the bent tube in the freezing mixture or through the 


1 See pages 133-9, for an account of the suspended matters in air. 

2 Army Medical Department Reports, vol. xi. p. 529. 

3 T have found carrying the air through a succession of bottles containing pure distilled 
water the best plan, for the sediment is examined by the microscope, and the liquid part can 
be used for chemical examinations for organic matter.—(F. de 

4 These numbers are exact at 39° Fahr., or the maximum density point of water. 


710 EXAMINATION OF THE AIR. 


aeroscope, so that no particles can escape. The use of a large glass or 
earthenware vessel is perhaps better, as being less liable to error ; a piece of 
india-rubber with a clamp or pinch cock, and a double tubed india-rubber 
cap, are all that are required. 


Chemical Hxramination. 


2. Estimation of Carbon Dioxide.—For our purpose themethod proposed by 
Pettenkofer is the best. A glass vessel is taken capable of holding a gallon, 
or 44 litres. The capacity is determined by filling it with water, and by 
measuring the contents by means of a litre or pint measure (1 0z.=28-4 
cubic centimetres). Angus Smith recommends extracting the air from the 
bottle by means of bellows. But the most convenient way is simply to fill 
the vessel with water in the place, the air of which is to be examined, and 
then to let it drain for a little. When this is done 60 c.c. of clear lime or 
baryta water are put in, and the mouth is closed with an india-rubber cap.? 
The vessel is agitated so that the lime-water may run over the sides, and 
then it is left to stand for not less than six or eight hours if lime-water be 
used ; if baryta-water be used, the experiment may be completed ina much 
shorter time—less than one hour. The CO, is absorbed by the lime or baryta- 
water, and consequently the causticity of these fluids is, pro tanto, lessened. 
If the causticity of the lime or baryta is known before and after it has been 
placed in the vessel, the difference will give the amount of lime or baryta 
which has become united with CO,. 

The causticity of lime is determined by means of a solution of crystallised 
oxalic acid,? 1 c.c. of which exactly neutralises 1:26 milligramme (0-00126 
gramme) of lime and is equal to 0°5 c.c. of CO,; 30 c.c. of lime water are 
taken, and exactly neutralised ; good turmeric paper is the best plan that 
is usually available for determining the exact point of neutralisation, and 
the margin of the drop gives the most delicate indication. Rosolic acid has, 
however, been recommended, and also the solution of phenol-phthalein ; the 
latter gives very exact indications. The amount of lime in the 30 cc. is 
then equal to the number of c.c. of the oxalic acid used x 1°26; it is always 
somewhere between 34 and 41 milligrammes, or between 27 and 33 c.c. of 
oxalic acid solution, each equal to 0°5 c.c. of CO,.? 

After the lime has absorbed the CO, of the air in the vessel, 30 c.c. of the 
solution are taken out and tested with the oxalic acid solution as before ; 
the difference shows the c.c. of CO, which have been absorbed by the lime. 
Deduct 60 c.c. from the total capacity of the jar (to account for the space 
occupied by the lime-water put in), and state the capacity in litres and 
decimals: divide the c.c. of CO, obtained by the corrected capacity of the 
jar ; the quotient is the c.c. of CO, per 1000 volumes of air. 


Example.—The first alkalinity of lime-water was, 30 for 30 c.c. 
After exposure to the air in the jar it | 26 
WAG,' |. P : ; : ws 
Difference, being c.c. of CO,,_ . . 4=Total CO, in jar in 
c.e: 


9 


1 Should an india-rubber cap not be available, a cork or a bung may be used, tied over with 
leather or oil-skin ; in that case the second alkalinity of the lime-water (if this be used) 
should be determined as soon after the six or eight hours as possible, certainly within twenty- 
four hours. 

* See Appendix A. 

8 The amount varies with the temperature, lime being less soluble in hot than cold water ; 
at 60°'7 the amount is 38°6 with a difference of +0°1 for every degree below that, and —0°1 for 
every degree above (Fahr.). 


DETERMINATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE. vl 


That is, each c.c. of oxalic acid solution represents 0:5 c.c. of CO,, but, as 
60 c.c. of solution were put in the jar, the result is multiplied by 2 to 
account for the remaining 30. 


Capacity of jar, : : 4385 ©. 
Deduct 60 c.c. for space taken up by lime-w ater, 60 


Net capacity, . = 4325 c.c. = 4°325 litres. 
Then 4+ 4325 =0925 ce. of CO, per litre, or volumes per 1000. 


If baryta be used instead of lime, it must be free from traces of potash 
and soda; a much smaller quantity of liquid may be employed, as it is so 
much more soluble than lime ; the calculation is the same. 

A correction for the temperature of the air examined must be made, 
the standard being 32° Fahr., or 0° C., the freezing-point of water. If the 
temperature be above this (as it will generally be, at least in buildings) the 
air will be expanded, and a smaller quantity, by weight, consequently will 
be operated on. On the other hand, below 32° the air will be contracted, 
and a larger quantity, by weight, operated on than at the standard tempera- 
ture. This can be corrected by adding 0-2 per cent. to the result for every 
degree above 32°, and subtracting it for every degree below; the reason 
being that air expands or contracts 0-2 per cent. for every degree (or 1 per 
cent. for every 5 degrees) it deviates from the standard. If stated in centi- 
grade degrees, then the correction is 1-1 per cent. for every 3°, or 0°3665 
per cent. for every degree. 

Example.—In the preceding example the CO, was found to be 0°925 per 
1000. Suppose the temperature to have been 60° Fahr., then 60 — 32 = 28° 
to be corrected for ; 28 x 0°2=5°6 per cent. to be added on to the result, or 
the result must be multiplied by 1 + 056 =1-056, .-. 0°925 x 1:056 =0°977 
per 1000, the corrected result. Suppose the temperature had been 25° 
Fahr., then 32 —25=7° to be corrected for; 7 x 0:'2=1°4 per cent. to be 
deducted, or the result must be multiplied by 1:00 --014=0-986, 

0 925 x 0:'986 =0°'912, the corrected result. 

A correction for pressure is not necessary, as 51, inch of pressure causes 
a difference of only 0°26 per cent., unless the place of observation be much 
_ removed from sea-level ; in that case, the barometer must be observed, and 
a rule of three stated. 


As standard height of bar: | _ { observed height 

= 29-92 in.=760 mm.) : \ | of bar : 
CO, corrected for temperature, and «=CO, corrected for temperature and 
pressure. 


eo EW CLe tC a 


Example |. Barometer at 27° 
29°92 : 27 
Example 2. Barometer at 31°5 :— 
ZO Nee Oso note Or0 IA, 


It must be understood that none of the methods hitherto used for the 
determination of CO; in the air give quite accurate results, but the above 
is the most convenient for ordinary use, and is sufficiently accurate for 
practical purposes. The results differ considerably if the quantities of air 
treated vary, therefore uniformity in this point is desirable. 

Dr W. Hesse (of Schwarzenberg) has devised an ingenious portable 
apparatus for determination of CO,, but the quantities of air treated seem 
rather too small. The box or satchell includes the various apparatus 


ia be EXAMINATION OF THE AIR. 


necessary for measuring cubic space, determining air currents, ascertaining 
the CO,, and observing the humidity (by W olpert’s hygrometer). 

3. and 4. Estimation of Free Ammonia and of the Nitrogenous Matter 
in Air by conversion into Albuminoid Ammonia.—The nitrogenous matter 
existing in air may be in the form of dead or living matter of very various 
kinds. Its determination may be useful as showing that one or other of 
these classes of substances exists in the air in proportions greater than in 
pure air. The amount of nitrogen may be estimated in a similar manner to 
that proposed by Wanklyn and Chapman for water. The late Mr Chapman, 
finding that water did not sufficiently absorb the nitrogenous substances in 
air, proposed to heat finely powdered pumice-stone to redness, to moisten it 
with pure water, and then to place it over some coarse pieces of pumice- 
stone supported on wire in a funnel; a definite quantity of air (say 100 
litres) is then drawn through the funnel; the pumice-stone is transferred 
to a retort containing water freed from ammonia, and distilled as in the 
determination of the albuminoid ammonia of water. Dr Angus Smith? 
took a bottle of about 2000 c.c. capacity, placed in it 30-50 c.c. of the purest 
water, drew into it the air to be examined, and then agitated the water in 
the bottle, and proceeded as in Wanklyn’s and Chapman’s water test. The 
most convenient way is to draw the air, by means of a measured aspirator, 
through a succession of wash bottles, each containing 100 c.c. of water, per- 
fectly free from ammonia, and then to determine the free and albuminoid 
NH, by Wanklyn’s method. 

Another plan is to lead a definite quantity of air through a clean curved 
tube, surrounded by a freezing mixture ; the water of the air condenses, and 
with it much of the organic matter ; the tube is then washed out with pure 
water, the washings are put into a retort with ammonia-free water, and 
distilled as usual. After passing through the tube the air should be led 
through pure water to arrest the portion of organic matter that always 
escapes condensation. 

The amount of ammonia (free and albuminoid) is determined as in water 
analysis. The mere presence of free ammonia may be determined by exposing 
strips of filtering paper, dipped in Nessler’s solution or in etherial solution 
of the alcoholic extract of logwood : the former becomes yellow, the latter 
purple. 

The quantity of air drawn through must, of course, be accurately deter- 
mined by a properly arranged aspirator, and the results then calculated in 
milligrammes per cubic metre.® 

5. Estimation of the Oxidisable Matters in the Air in terms of Oxygen.— 
In this case a definite quantity of air is drawn through a solution of per- 
manganate of potassium of known strength, and the amount of undecom- 
posed permanganate is determined by oxalic acid or sodium hyposulphite. 
Or part of the water through which the air has been drawn for the ammonia 
determinations may be examined in the same way as in the case of drinking 
water. Carnelley and Mackie shake the air up in a bottle with a measured 
quantity of permanganate, and afterwards determine the amount of bleaching 
by comparision with a sample of distilled water, to which permanganate solu- 
tion is carefully added from a burette.t The permanganate acts upon various 
matters in the air, besides the putrescible organic matters, such as hydrogen 
sulphide, nitrous acid, tarry matters, &c. The presence or absence of H,S 
may be deter mined qualitatively by means of acetate of lead papers, 


1 Chemical News, Feb. 11, 1870. 2 Air and Rain, p. 421. 
® One cubic metre equals 1000 litres, or 1,000,000 c.c. 
+ Proc. Royal Soc., vol. xli. p. 238. 


SCHEME OF APPLICATION OF THE FOREGOING RULES. nels 


ammonium sulphide by paper dipped in nitroprusside of sodium; whilst 
tarry matters would generally be recognised by the smell of the water, or 
its turbidity. In the absence of these the difference between the perman- 
ganate determinations, before and after boiling with sulphuric acid, may be 
calculated as nitrous acid, as in the case of drinking water ; whilst the result 
after lols may be reckoned as the oxygen for ‘oxidisable organic matter 
onl 

a The Nitrous and Nitric Acids may also be determined, in the same way 
as in drinking water, from the washings of the air obtained as above. 

All these determinations should be made, when opportunities offer, as the 
results may prove hereafter of some value. 

7. Watery Vapour.—The hygrometric condition of the air is ascertained 
in various ways, especially by the dry and wet bulb thermometer, or by Dines’ 
direct hyerometer. The hair hygrometer of Saussure is also a useful instru- 
ment for this purpose, as it marks the degree of humidity very quickly. 
Wolpert’s horse-hair hygrometer may also be used. 

8. The presence of H,S, &c., has been referred to above. 


SECTION II. 
SCHEME FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE FOREGOING RULES. 


When a ventilation inquiry is about to be made, everything ought to be 
got ready beforehand. A number of bottles (about 4 to 44 litres), or glass 
jars, ought to be carefully measured, and the capacity in c.c. (less 60 c.c. 
to account for the lime-water) marked upon them; each bottle ought also 
to have a closely fitting india-rubber cap and a distinctive number. These 
bottles are to be used for collecting the samples of air for CO,. Charges of 
lime-water (or baryta-water) (each 60 ¢.c.) ought to be carefully measured 
off with a burette, or graduated pipette, into small stoppered bottles. Two 
or more sets of wet and dry bulb thermometers ought to be ready, and two 
or more series of not less than six bottles, each containing about 100 c.c. of 
pure distilled water, connected together with glass tubes and india-rubber 
caps ; also four or more aspirators for drawing the air through the bottles. 
One of Casella’s small air meters, with a long pole in joints, into which it 
can be screwed, a measuring tape and foot “rule, a pocket compass, some 
pieces of cotton-velvet, a note-book, are also necessary. 

When a room has to be examined, enter it after being some time in the 
open air, and notice if there be any smell; record the sensation at once in 
your notes. Hang up the wet and dry bulb thermometer (if it has not 
been placed there before), and then proceed to take samples of the air for 
CO,; fill the jars with water, empty them, and allow them to drain; then 
pour into each jar the lime-water from one of the small bottles, put on the 
india-rubber cap, and shake it up. Always take two samples at least, and 
more if a large room. Note the numbers of the bottles. Take the wet and 
dry bulb readings. Arrange the set of bottles with distilled water in some 
convenient place, and attach them to one of the aspirators, which may be 
allowed to flow into another below it. When the upper one is empty it 
may be changed for the lower one, and so the stream of air may be carried 
on for any length of time, as seems necessary ; the number of times the 
aspirators are ‘changed should be dolly noted. ta Sessa the carbon 


1 See Rents on St Ty 8 Tie, by Dr F, de Chaumont. 


714 EXAMINATION OF THE AIR. 


dioxide, put out all the lights, or have only sufficient for working purposes; 
allow no smoking, and have no person in the room but those who are sleep- 
ing there. The aspirators may be allowed to go on continuously, but the 
examination of the air for CO, ought to be repeated at intervals, the exact 
time of observations being noted. At the same time, similar observations 
ought to be made in the open air, as nearly as possible simultaneously with 
those inside. At some convenient time the measurements of the room and 
the ventilators, the velocities of the currents of air, &., should be taken on 
some such plan as the following :—Measure the cubic space, then consider 
the possible sources of entrance and exit of air; if there are only doors and 
windows, notice the distance between them, how they open, on what ex- 
ternal place they open; whether there is free passage of air from side to 
side ; whether it is likely the air will be properly distributed. On all these 
points an opinion is soon arrived at. If there are other openings, measure 
them all carefully, so as to get their superficies; the chimney must be 
measured at its throat or smallest part. Determine then the direction of 
movement of air through these openings by smoke, noting the apparent 
rapidity. The doors and windows should be closed. When the inlets have 
been discovered, consider whether the air is drawn from a pure external 
source, and whether there is proper distribution in the room. Then measure 
the amount of movement in both inlets and outlets with the anemometer, 
or calculate by the table if it seems safe to do so. 

If the ventilation of the room is influenced by the wind, the horizontal 
movement of the external air should be determined by Robinson’s anemo- 
meter, or the little air-meter by Casella may be also used for this purpose, 
unless the wind be very strong. 

In recording the velocity of the air at any openings, it is convenient to 
mark an incoming current with a plus sign, and an outgoing with a minus, 
thus:+75 would mean an incoming current at the rate of 75 feet per 
minute ; whilst — 63 would mean an outgoing current at 63 feet per minute. 

When the final analyses are made, and the amount of CO, determined, 
the amount of air per head per hour, supplied and utilised, ought to be 
calculated out (as before explained), and compared with the amount of 
movement determined with the air-meter. If the quantities accord fairly, 
the distribution may be considered good ; on the other hand, if they differ, 
an excess by the air-meter shows bad distribution, whilst a deficiency indi- 
cates some other source of incoming air not yet observed. 

The water, through which the air has been passed by the aspirator, 
ought to be examined at once, if practicable ; if not, the bottles ought to 
be carefully stoppered, and the stoppers tied down with leather or strong 
linen,—when convenient, the sediment should be examined microscopically, 
and the water (when the sediment has subsided) chemically as before ex- 
plained. The sediment or a portion of the water should be put into a 
cultivating solution for further investigation, if opportunity affords. 


CHAPTER III. 


EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


SECTION I. 
EXAMINATION OF FLOUR FOR QUALITY AND ADULTERATION. 


Flour! should be examined physically, microscopically, chemically, and 
practically by making bread. 

The quality is best determined by chemical examination; adulterations 
by the microscope, for which see Boox I., under Fiour. 


1. Physical Examination. 


Sight.—The flour should be quite white, or with the very slightest 
tinge of yellow; any decided yellow indicates commencing changes; the 
amount of bran should not be great. 

Touch.—There should be no lumps, or, if there are, they should at once 
break down on slight pressure ; there must be no grittiness, which shows 
that the starch grains are changing, and adhering too strongly to each 
other, and will give an acid bread. There should, however, be a certain 
amount of adhesion when a handful of flour is compressed, and if thrown 
against a wall or board some of the flour should adhere. When made into 
a paste with water, the dough must be coherent, and draw out easily into 
strings. 

Taste.—The taste must not be acid, though the best flour is slightly acid 
to test-paper. An acid taste, showing lactic or acetic acid, is sure to give an 
acid bread. 

Smell.—There must be no smell of fermentation or mouldiness. 

Age of flour is shown by colour, grittiness, and acidity. 


1 The following is given by Peligot (mean of 14 analyses), as the relative composition of 
flour and bran. The analyses of Von Bibra (Die Getreidearten und das Brod, 1860) agree 
very closely with it. 


Wheat Flour and Bran. In 100 parts. 

Flour. Bran. 
Water, 5 : 0 ; : 5 : 6 14 10°3 
Fatty matters, 3 ; ; : : 5 : 12 2°82 
Nitrogenous substances insoluble in water (glutin), 12:8 10°84 
Nitrogenous substances soluble in water (albumen), 1°8 1:64 
Non-nitrogenous soluble substances (dextrin, sugar), 7°2 58 
Starch, ; 5 ; : ; : 5 5 59-7 2262 
Cellulose, is ; A ; 5 ; id 3 15% 43°98 * 
Salts, ; ‘ ; ‘ 5 5 16 2°52 


* This is, however, the cellulose of the entire grain, both of the husk and the interior of the grain. Pot- 
ash, phosphoric acid, and magnesia are the principal ingredients of the salts; the earthy phosphates are 
especially combined, and in definite proportions, with the albuminoids (Mayer), and also the gummy matter 
(Bibra), The alkaline phosphates are free. The bran contains much silica. Oudemans places the cellulose 
lower (25 to 30 per cent.) and the salts higher (4 to 6 per cent.). 


716 EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


2. Chemical Hxamination. 


It is seldom that a medical officer will be able to go through a complete | 
examination, but he should always determine the following points :— 
1. Amount of Water.—Weigh 1 gramme, spread it out on a dish, and dry | 
either by a water bath or in a hot-air bath or oven, the temperature not | 
being allowed to go above 212°. The flour must not be at all burnt or | 
much darkened in colour. Weigh directly the flour is cold; the loss is the 
percentage of water. 

The range of water is from 10 (in the best dried flours) to 18 in the worst. 
The more water the greater liability of change in the flour, and, of course, 
the less is the amount of nutriment purchased in a given weight. If, then, | 
the water be over 18 per cent., the flour should be rejected; if over 16, it 
should be unfavourably spoken of. | 

2. Amount of Glutin.—Weigh 10 grammes and mix, by means of a glass | 
rod, with a little water, so as to make a well-mixed dough ; let it stand for | 
quarter of an hourin an evaporating dish ; then pour a little water on it; | 
work it about with the rod, and carefully wash off the starch ; pour off, from | 
time to time, the starch water into another vessel. After atime, the glutin | 
becomes so coherent that it may be taken in the fingers and worked about 
in water, the water being from time to time poured off till it comes off quite | 
clear. If there is not time to dry the glutin, then weigh ; the dry glutin is | 
rather more than one-third the weight of the moist; 1 to 2°9 is the usual — 
proportion ; therefore divide the weight of the moist glutin by 2:9. If there | 
be time, dry the glutin thoroughly, and weigh it. This is best done by — 
spreading it out on a crucible lid and drying it in the bath. The dry glutin 
ranges from 8 to 12 per cent. ; flour should be rejected in which it falls | 
below 8. If there is much bran, it often apparently increases the amount | 
of glutin by adhering to it, and should be separated if possible ; in fact, the 
glutin, as thus obtained, is never pure, but always contains some bran, | 
starch, and fat. The glutin should be able to be drawn out into long | 
threads ; the more extensible it is the better. It is always well to make | 
two determinations of glutin, especially if there is any disputed question of © 
quality.+ | 

3. Amount of Ash.—Take 10 grammes,? put into a porcelain or platinum | 
crucible, and incinerate to white ash. Weigh. The ash should not be more © 
than 2 per cent., or probably some mineral substances have been added ; it 
should not be less than 0°8, or the flour is too poor in salts. 

The incineration of the flour requires a crucible and gas. It is difficult to 
do it over a spirit lamp, as it takes a long time. A small charcoal fire is 
probably the best plan when gas appliances are wanting. 

If the ash be more than 2 per cent., add hydrochloric acid, and see if there | 
be effervescence (magnesium or calcium carbonate). Dissolve, and test with | 
oxalate of ammonium, and then for magnesia, in the same way as in water. 
As flour contains both lime and magnesia, to prove adulteration the precise | 
amount of lime and magnesia must be determined by weighing the incinerated © 
calcium oxalate, or the magnesium pyrophosphate. 

If there is no effervescence add water, and test for sulphuric acid and lime, 
to see if calcium sulphate (plaster of Paris) has been added. In normal | 
flour the amount of sulphuric acid is very small. 


1 Mr Wanklyn has proposed to utilise the albuminoid ammonia process for ia 
glutin, reckoning that 100 parts of flour yield 1:2 of ammonia. 

2 If only a small crucible be employed a smaller quantity should be taken, as it is aE 
to incinerate ; with a moderately good balance, 2 or 3 grammes may be used. 


EXAMINATION OF FLOUR AND BREAD. 717 


Notice, also, if the ash be red (from iron). If clay has been added, it will 
be left undissolved by acids and water. 

If magnesium carbonate has been added, the ash is light and porous and 
bulky (Hassall). 

An easy mode of detecting large quantities of added mineral substances is 
given by Redtenbacher; the flour is strongly shaken with chloroform; the flour 
floats, while all foreign mineral substances fall. This is a very useful test.! 

If the water be small, the glutin large, and the salts in good quantity, the 
flour is good, supposing nothing is detected on microscopical examination. 
But in all cases it is well, if time can be spared, to have a loaf made. 

Practical Test by Baking.—Make a loaf, and see if it is acid when fresh, 
and how soon it becomes so; if the colour is good; and the rising satisfactory. 
Old and changing flour does not rise well, gives a yellowish colour to the 
bread, and speedily becomes acid. Excess of acidity can be detected by 
holding a piece of bread in the mouth for some time, as well as by test paper. 

Test for Hrgot.—There is no very good test for ergot when it is ground up 
with the flour. Laneau’s plan is to make a paste with a weak alkaline solu- 
tion ; to add dilute nitric acid to slight excess, and then alkali to neutralisa- 
tion ; a violet-red colour is said to be given if ergot is present, which becomes 
rosy-red when more nitric acid is added, and violet when alkali is added. 

Wittstein considers this method imperfect, and prefers trusting to the 
peculiar odour of propylamine (herring-like smell) developed by liquor 
potassze in ergoted flour. 


SECTION II. 
EXAMINATION OF BREAD. 


There is, perhaps, no article on which the medical officer is more often 
called to give an opinion. 
General Characters.—There should be a due proportion, not less than 30 
per cent., of crust ; the external surface should be well baked, not burnt ; 
the crumb should be permeated with small regular cavities ; no parts should 
be heavy, and without these little cells; the partitions between the cavities 
should not be tough; the colour should be white or brownish from admix- 
ture of bran; the taste not acid, even when held in the mouth. If the 
bread is acid the flour is bad, or leaven has been used ; if the colour changes 
‘soon, and fungi form, the bread is too moist ; if sodden and heavy, the flour 
is bad, or the baking is in fault; the heat may have been too great, or the 
sponge badly set. 
Chemical Examination.—This is conducted chiefly to ascertain the amount 
of water and acidity, and the presence of alum or sulphate of copper. 
Water.—Take a weighed quantity (say 10 grammes) of crumb, and dry 
in a water bath ; powder, and then dry again in a hot-air bath or oven, and 
weigh ; the water should not be more than 45 per cent. ; if more, the bread 
is pro tanto less nutritious, and is liable to become sooner mouldy. 
Acidity.—This can be determined by a standard alkaline solution.” 
In two samples of fresh good bread examined at Netley the percentages 
of acidity (reckoned as glacial acetic) were respectively 0:054 and 0-055 
(3°78 and 3°85 grains per tb); in a sample rather underbaked, but fairly 


1 The remaining ingredients can be determined, if necessary, from the starch water, but it 
is seldom necessary to do so. Allow the starch to subside, pour off the fluid, and wash the 
starch by decantation, then dry and weigh; take all the water and washings, evaporate to a 
small bulk, add a little nitric acid, and boil ; albumen i is thrown down ; collect, wash, and weigh. 
| Evaporate the whole of the remainder to dryness, and weigh (mixed dextrin and sugar). 
_ * See Appendix A. 


718 EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


good, 0°072 per cent. (5:04 grains per tb); and in three samples, con- 
demned as inferior, 0085, 0°088, and 0:104 per cent. respectively (5-95, 
6°16, and 7:28 grains per fb).!| On another occasion, two samples of fairly 
good bread yielded 0:102 and 0712 per cent. (7:14 and 8:4 per ib respec- 
tively) ; and two others, from bakers in the neighbourhood, 0-084 and 0-090 
(5°88 and 6°30 per tb respectively). A sample condemned as sour yielded 
0-18 (12°6 per ib): 8 grains per tb (0-114 per cent.) ought certainly to be 
the limit. 

Alum.—The determination of the presence of alum is not difficult, but 
the quantitative analysis is necessary, since it has been shown by Wanklyn 
that unalumed bread may contain an appreciable amount. Many processes 
have been proposed,” some of which are merely modifications of each other. 
The process described in the foot-note seems the most simple.* 

Wanklyn considers that unalumed bread may contain 5 or 6 milligrammes 
of phosphate of aluminum in every 100 grammes of bread (=0-005 per 
cent.). This is equal to about 14 grains of crystallised alum per ib of 
bread. It will be well to deduct this amount from the total amount of 
phosphate of aluminum found; the remainder will represent the amount 
corresponding to alum added. Carter Bell* deducts 10 grains per 4 tb 
loaf, or 24 grains per ib, before reckoning adulteration. 


1 Reporton Hygiene, Army Medical Reports, vol. xviii. p. 222. 

2 By Kuhlmann, Letheby, Odling, Wentworth Scott, Crookes, Hassall, Hadow, Horsley, 
Dupré, Wanklyn. 

3 1st part.—Take at least 4 Ib of crumb, put it in a mortar, and soak it well in cold dis- 
tilled water; filter, and get as clear a fluid as possible ; add a few drops of hydrochloric acid, 
and then chloride of barium. If there is no precipitate no alum can have been added, and the 
process need not be proceeded with. If there is a slight precipitate, it may be accounted for 
by sulphate of lime or magnesia in the water used in baking, or by sulphate of magnesia in 
the salt, or by the slight amount of sulphuric acid naturally existing in the grain, or added 
during the grinding. Perhaps the medical officer will know whether the water or the salt 
contains sulphates, and if so, the absence of alum may be inferred. If there be a large 
precipitate, the presence of alum is probable, but is not certain, and the process must be con- 
tinued. 

Zd part.—Dupré’s process, as modified by Wanklyn, seems on the whole the simplest and 
least liable to error, as it gets rid of one great source of fallacy, namely, the presence of 
alumina in the liquor potasse, which reagent is not required. The process is as follows :— 
Take 100 grammes (=34 ounces) of bread; incinerate for four or five hours in a platinum 
dish to a grey ash; weigh (the ash should not sensibly exceed 2 grammes); moisten with 3 
c.c. of pure hydrochloric acid to separate silica ; add 20 to 30 c.c. of distilled water, boil, 
filter, wash the filter well with boiling water ; add to the filtrate, which contains the phos- 
phates of calcium, magnesium, aluminum, and iron, 5 c.c. of liquor ammonie (sp. gr. 880), 
which causes a precipitate of these phosphates; then add gradually 20 c.c. of strong acetic 
acid, which partially clears the fluid by dissolving the phosphates of calcium and magnesium ; 
boil and filter. The undissolved part is a mixture of phosphate of aluminum and phosphate 
of iron ; wash, precipitate well with boiling water, dry, ignite, and weigh. 

The iron must now be determined in this precipitate. This may be done by the perman- 
ganate, but Wanklyn’s colorimetric test is probably better: it is as follows :—Dissolve L 
gramme of pure iron wire in nitro-hydrochloric acid, precipitate the ferric oxide with ammo- 
nia; wash the precipitate, dissolve it in a little hydrochloric acid, and dilute to 1 litre: 1 c.c. 
therefore equals 1 milligramme of metallic iron; when used it is diluted 1 in 100 so as to 
make a solution of which each c.c. contains ytoth milligramme (=0-01 of a milligramme) of 
metallic iron. To use this, dissolve the phosphates of aluminum and iron (obtained by the 
above-described process) in pure hydrochloric acid, and dilute to 100 c¢.c. Test the solution 
to see if it give a deep colour with ferrocyanide of potassium; if the colour is not too deep 
take 50 ¢.c. of the solution, but if it be deep take a smaller quantity, and make it up to 50 
cc. with distilled water, taking care that it is well acidulated. Put it into a cylindrical 
glass, and add 1 or 2 ¢.c. of solution of ferrocyanide of potassium: a blue colour is given. 
Into another glass 1 ¢.c. of strong hydrochloric acid is put, and 50 c.c. of distilled water; 1 
or 2 c.c. of ferrocyanide are added ; the standard solution of iron is then dropped in till an 
equal colour is produced. The amount of iron is then read off and calculated as phosphate 
(1 of iron=2°696 FePO,). Deduct the weight from the total weight of phosphate of alumi- 
num and iron; the remainder is phosphate of aluminum (=A1PO,), of which 1 part equals 
042 alumina, or 271 dry or 3°9 crystallised potassium alum; or 1°9 dry or 37 of crystallised 
ammonium alum, which last is almost the only kind now in the market. 

4 Analyst, No. 40, 1879, p. 126. 


ALUM IN BREAD—EXAMINATION OF SUGAR. 719 


Dr Letheby also used a decoction of logwood as a test; a piece of pure 
bread and a piece of suspected bread are put into a glass containing freshly 
prepared decoction, and left for twenty-four hours ; the pure bread is simply 
stained, the alumed bread is dark purplish, as the alum acts like a mordant. 
Mr Hadow and Mr Horsley! have also used this test with advantage, but 
Mr Crookes, after many experiments, came to the conclusion that it was 
valueless.2 Wynter-Blyth proposes the use of slips of gelatine soaked in 
the aqueous solution of the suspected bread. If the bread is pure the gela- 
tine is stained only a reddish-brown by logwood, and can be decolorised by 
glycerine ; alumed bread gives a more or less deep blue colour, which is 
permanent in glycerine. 

Alum is not much used except with inferior bread. The amount of alum 
in bread is said to be, on an average, 3 ounces to a sack or 280 tb of flour ; 
if the sack gives 105 4-Ib loaves, there will be 3 grains ina tb of bread ; but 
if crystallised alum is meant by this, there will only be about 14 grains of 
dry alum. Hassall states the quantity to be 4 tb (8 ounces) to 240 ib of 
flour, but that the quantity differs for old and new flour. A very good 
witness,* in the inquiry into the grievances of the journeymen bakers, gave 
the quantity at 10 ounces per sack; this would give 41°6 grains per 4-ib 
loaf, or 10°4 grains per ib. When mixed with flour and baked the alum is 
decomposed: part of the alumina combines most strongly with phosphoric 
acid ; and either this or the alum itself is presumed to be in combination 
with the glutin ; potassium disulphate is probably formed. 

Cupric Sulphate-—Cut a smooth slice of bread, and draw over it a glass 
rod dipped in potassium ferrocyanide. If copper be present, a brick-red 
colour is given by the formation of ferrocyanide of copper. The test is very 
delicate. It is believed to be a very rare adulteration in England. It has 
been said that cobalt is used instead of copper, but it is also probably very 
rare ; it can be detected by the blueness of the ash.° 

Potatoes.—If potatoes in any quantity have been added, the ash of the 
bread, instead of being neutral, is alkaline ; this can only occur from sodium 
carbonate having been added, or from the presence of some salts of organic 
acids,—citrates, lactates, tartrates, which form carbonates on incineration. 
But if it be from sodium carbonate, the solution of bread will be alkaline, so 
that it can be known if the alkalinity is produced during incineration. If 
So, it is almost certain to be from potato. 

Examination of Yeast—Common brewers’ yeast is not likely to be 
adulterated. If any solid mineral substances are mixed with German yeast, 
they are detected either by washing or by incineration. Dr Letheby found 
German yeast, imported in 1863, to be adulterated with 30 per cent. of pipe- 
clay. 


SECTION III. 
METHOD OF EXAMINATION OF SUGAR. 


1. Determine physical characters of colour, amount of crystallisation, &c. 
2. Dissolve in cold water; fragments of cane, starch, sand, gypsum, 


1 Chemical News, May 1872. 2 Chemical News, Sept. 1862. 

3 Report on Journeymen Bakers, 1862, p. 164; see also Odling’s Papers. Hassall, however, 
found alum in half the loaves examined. A writer in the Lancet (Jan. 1872) states that at 
that date alum was found in 10 out of 20 loaves, and the amount was from 12 to 96 grains in 
the 4 tb loaf. 

4 Report on Journeymen Bakers, 1862, p. 163. Some of the statements are beyond even 
this amount—1 fb to 4 Th per 1000 (4 tb?) loaves (p. xxxvi.) ; but this is probably an exagger- 
ation. 

5 Dr Campbell Brown. 


720 EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


calcium phosphate are left behind ; test with iodine for starch. The best 
way is to dissolve under the microscope, as all adulterations are then at once 
detected. 

3. Determine percentage of water by drying thoroughly 10 grammes, and 
again weighing. 

4. Excess of glucose (a little is always present) is detected by the large 
immediate action on the copper solution. 


SECTION IV. 
EXAMINATION OF MILK.! 


This is intended first to determine the quality. Put some of the milk in 
along glass, which is graduated to 100 parts; a 100-centimetre or litre 
measure will do, or a glass may be specially prepared by simply marking 
with compasses 100 equal lines on a piece of paper, and gumming it on the 
glass. Allow it to stand for twenty-four hours in a cupboard secured from 
currents of air. By this means the percentage of cream can be seen, and 
the presence of deposit, if any, observed. There should be no deposit till 
the milk decomposes ; if there be, it is probably chalk or starch. 

The cream should be from ;£>ths to 7,4,ths; it is generally about ~85ths; 
in the milk of Alderney cows it will reach ;2%ths or ;4%ths. The time of 
year (as influencing pasture), and the breed, should be considered. 

While this is going on, determine— 

1. The Physical Characters.—Placed in a narrow glass, the milk should 
be quite opaque, of full white colour, without deposit, without peculiar 
smell or taste. When boiled it should not change in appearance. 

2. Reaction.—Reaction should be slightly acid or neutral, or very feebly 
alkaline ; if strongly alkaline, either the cow is diseased (?) or there is much 
colostrum, or sodium carbonate has been added. 

3. Specific Gravity.—The specific gravity varies from 1026 to 1035. A 
very large quantity of cream lowers it, and after the cream is removed, the 
specific gravity may rise, under ordinary circumstances, about 2°.2 The 
average specific gravity of unskimmed milk may be taken as 1030 at 60° 
Fahr., and the range is nearly 4° above and below the mean. It varies with 
temperature, so that in the tropics the medical officer will have to allow for 
this difference. The following are the relative degrees of a milk that shows 
1030 at 60° Fahr., and 1031 at 39° Fahr. (maximum density-point of 
water) :— 

Temperature of Milk, 39° F.=1031 | Temperature of Milk, 80° F.=1027°5 
i , 60° F.=1030 és » 90° F.=1025°8 
4) 3) 40 H.=1029 op » 106° F.=1024°0 


The addition of water may be detected by the specific gravity. At 60° 


1 Figures of the microscopical appearances are given in some very good papers on the 
subject in the British Medical Journal, Oct. 1869. 

2 Dr Davies records a case where the specific gravity was 1024°6 ; there was 17 per cent. of 
cream, and the solids were 16°25. A case of this kind cannot mislead if the amount of cream 
is determined. Davies recommends that the specific gravity of the whey should be taken ; 
he says it is very constant between 1026 and 1028. 

In one sample I examined the specific gravity was 1020, and the cream rou ; the specific 
gravity of the skimmed milk was 10289. Another sample gave specific gravity 1017°6, 
cream 15 3 specific gravity of skimmed milk, 1032°75. Another sample (which purported to 
be the same as the last) gave a specific gravity of 1018°84, but the cream was only ris; in 
this case the greater part of the cream had been removed, and about 50 per cent. of water 
added.—(F. de C.) 


EXAMINATION OF MILK. We. 


Fahr., there is a loss of 3° for every 10 per cent. of water added. No doubt 
the method is not perfect, but its ease of application strongly recommends it. 


4. Examine chemically for the Amount of the Different Constituents. 


(a) Total solids.—Evaporate a known quantity to dryness in a flat and 
shallow dish, and weigh. Calculate the percentage. The heat must not 
exceed 212° Fahr. (100° C.), and should be continued for at least three 
hours. There should be no charring. 

(6) Ash.—Incinerate the dried solids, and weigh. 

(c) Determine the amount of fat. This is best done by means of the fat 
apparatus of Gerber or of Soxhlets, in which ether or petroleum ether is 
made to pass repeatedly through the solids of milk, dried after being mixed 
with plaster of Paris, or soaked up by bibulous paper (Adams’ method).? 
The solids dried alone are inconvenient, as they become horny in consist- 
ence, and are thus acted upon with difficulty by the ether. The ether 
carries down with it the fat. The ether is then evaporated and the fat 
weighed. Should the milk have become sour, Adams recommends the 
addition of ammonia, which restores the fluidity without otherwise affecting 
the constituents. An approximate result can be given by the employment 
of an instrument called a lactoscope, which measures the degree of trans- 
parency. The lactoscope of Donné has been improved by Vogel, as a 
simple plan for ascertaining the amount of fat in milk.? 


1 See Analyst, March 1885. 
2 Vogel’s instrument consists of a little cup, formed by two parallel pieces of glass, distant 
5 a centimetre (=01968 inches, say {ths of an inch) from each other, and closed everywhere 
except at the top, so as to form a little vessel; a glass graduated to 100 c.c., and a little 
pipette, which is divided to 4 ¢.c., are also required. Water (100 c.c.) is placed in the 
measure, and 2 or 3 c.c. of milk (which should be at first agitated, so as to mix any separate 
cream) are added to it. The parallel glass cup is then filled with this diluted milk, and a 
candle placed about one metre from the eye (=39°37 inches) is looked at ina rather darkened 
room ; if the flame of the candle is seen, the milk is poured back into the large measure ; 
more milk is added to it, and it is poured again into the parallel glass, and the light is again 
looked at ; the experiment ends when the contour of the light is completely obscured. The 
candle should be a good one, but the difference in the amount of light is not material. The 
percentage amount of fat in the milk is then calculated by the following formula (which has 
been determined by a comparison of the results of the instrument, and of chemical analysis): 
x being the quantity of fat sought, and m the number of c.c. of milk which added to the 
100 ¢.c. of water suffice to obscure the light. 
23'2 
Q=S= + 
m 


If, for example, 3 c.c. of milk, added to 100 of water, were sufficient to obscure the light, 
the percentage of fat is— 


0°23. 


9. 
n= 2 + :23=7°96 per cent. 


From this formula the following table has been calculated, which enables us to read off at 
once the percentage of fat :— 


Ce. Per cent. Ga. Fer on 
aoe fen, | Milk. the Milk. 
1 to 100 of water obscures the light=23°43 7-5 +0100 of water obscures the light=3"32 
15 % F 15°69 | 8 i sf 3:13 
2 £5 i 11°83 | 8:5 és i 2-96 
2°5 6 6 951 | 9 a i 2°80 
3 DF u 7:96 | 9:5 ae ry 2:67 
35 59 is 6:86 | 10 S in 2:55 
4 cp i 603 | 11 i Ks 2:43 
4°5 99 oP) 5°38 12 ” o? 2:16 
5 % 5 4:87 | 13 i Se 2-01 
5D “1 of 4:45 | 14 a ne 1:88 
6 bs < 4:09 | 15 ei a 1-78 
6°5 , A 3°80 | 16 0p ” 1°68 
7 3°54 lf ” ” 1 ‘60 


122, EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


(d) Casein.—Take a weighed or measured quantity; add two or three 
drops of acetic acid, and boil. Add a good deal of water; allow to stand 
for twenty-four hours ; pour off the supernatant fluid ; wash the precipitate 
well with ether at 80°; dry, and weigh. Calculate the percentage. It is 
difficult to free it entirely from fat. Wanklyn recommends the albuminoid 
ammonia process, as in the case of nitrogenous matter in water, | part of 
casein yielding 0-065 of ammonia. The determination is not often required. 

(e) Deterraine the amount of /actin by the saccharometer, or by the 
standard copper solution. To do this, take 10 ¢.c. of milk, add a few drops 
of acetic acid, and warm—this coagulates the casein with the fat ; then make 
up to 100 ¢.c. with distilled water, filter, and put the filtered whey (which 
ought to be as clear as possible) into a burette. Take 10 cc. of standard 
copper solution, put it in a porcelain dish, and add 20 or 30 e.c. of distilled 
water; boil; as soon as it is in brisk ebullition drop in the whey from 
the burette ; take eare that the liquid is boiling all the time ; continue the 
process until the copper is all reduced to red suboxide and ne blue colour 
remains in the supernatant liquid ; but stop before any yellow colour appears. 
Read off the amount of whey used, and divide by 10; the result is the 
amount of milk which exactly decomposes 10 ¢.c. of the copper solution. 
The 10 c.c. of the copper solution are equal to 0:0667 gramme of lactin. 
The amount of lactin in the 10 c.c. of milk is then known by a simple rule 
of three ; and the amount in 100 «¢.c. of milk is at once obtained by shifting 
the decimal point one figure to the right. 

Example.—i5 c.¢. of diluted w hey were required to reduce the 10 c.c. 


~ 


15 
ef copper solution ; m= 1:5 the amount of original milk; 0-0667 + 


1-5 =0°0445 gramme of lactin in 1 c.c.; therefore 00445 x 100 = 4°45 per 
cent. 

5. Examine the Milk microscopically.—The only constituents of milk are 
the round oil globules of various sizes in an envelope and a little epithelium. 
The abnormal constituents are epithelium in large amount, pus, conglomerate 
masses, and casts of the lacteal tubules. The added ingredients may be 
starch grains, portions of seeds, and chalk (round and often highly refracting 
bodies, with often a marked double outline, and at once disappearing in acid). 
Colostrum, occurring for three to eight days after the birth of the calf, is 
composed of agolomerations of fat vesicles united by a granular matter. 


C.c ot Fatim | C¢: of Fatais 
a = atl 3 = at in 
silts the Milk, | Ik. the Milk, 
18 to 100 of water obscures the light=1°52 re to 100 of water obscures the light=0°81 
19 ph ” 1-45 ee) 2? 0-74 
20 6 1:39 5) - “a 0°69 
22 2? 9) le 28 dD 3° ° 0-64 
24 é 5 1:19 | 60 ; B. 0-61 
25 ” ” 1101/2 70 Ae 0°56 
28 ” 33 1:06 80 ; ” 0°52 
30 or > 1:00 | 90 ; i 0-49 
35 f ‘: 0-89 |100 f 0°46 


If, for example, 1 cubic centimetre of milk to 160 of water obscures the light, the per- 
centage of fat is 23°43 ; if 8 cubie centimetres, added to 100 of water, are needed to obscure 
the light, the percentage is 3°13, &e. ; SO that in four or five minutes an approximate analysis 
of the milk is made, as far as the fat is concerned. 

Wy anklyn states that 0°2 gramme of fat equals 1 gramme of cream. 

1 See Appendix A. _Wanklyn recommends dissolving out the lactin from the solids 
(after the fat is removed) by means of alcohol, ev aporating and weighing ; then incinerating ; 
the difference gives the amount of lactin. This seems on the whole less convenient for the 
medical officer than the copper test. Macnamara (Indian Medical Gazette, 1873) uses alcohol 
for extracting the lactin, but determines it by Fehling’s copper test. 


EXAMINATION OF MILK. 723 
Infusoria are sometimes found in milk, and fungi (Oidium lactis and 
Penicillium) are so almost invariably, if the milk has been kept.! 


Scheme for a Short Examination. 


As a medical officer is constantly called upon to examine milk, and will 
seldom have time to go thoroughly into all the points just noted, the follow- 
ing short scheme will be useful :— 

1. Put some milk into the long graduated glass for deposit, and for deter- 
mining percentage of cream.” 

2. Take physical characters, reaction, and specific gravity. Take specific 
gravity of the whey, if there be time to do this. 

3. Determine fat by Vogel’s milk-test.2 Other plans of examination are 
recommended, such as the Lactobutyrometer of Marchand, and the Lacto- 
crite, but those apparatus are not likely to be in the hands of medical officers. 

4. Examin2 the milk with the microscope. The comparison of the specific 
gravity, and L'1e amount of cream which rises, or of fat, will be found to give, 
in conjuncti> 1 with the physical characters, a very good idea of the quality 
of the milk. 

ADULTERATIONS. 

1. Water.—This is extremely common, and is, in fact, generally the only 
adulteration ; it is best detected by specific gravity or by the amount of 
solids by evaporation. Wanklyn suggests the amount of ash as a good test 
of watering ; the normal ash being, according to him, about 0°73 per cent. 


In this case the calculation would be as follows :—Let (a) be the observed 


percentage of ash and (A) the normal amount: then 100 — 00g _ 
per ‘cent. of water added: let (a) =0°50, and A = 0-73: then 
100 100 x 0°50 1” . . es 

7 a a = 31:5 per cent. of water added. In a similar way the 


amount of “solids not fat” may be used as a standard. 

2. Starch, dextrin, or gum, to conceal the thinness and the bluish colour 
produced by water. Not a common adulteration. Add iodine at once for 
starch ; boil with a drop of acetic acid, and add iodine for dextrin, or add 
acetate of lead and then ammonia: a white precipitate falls. 

3. Annatto or turmeric is added to give colour. Liquor potasse at once 
detects turmeric. 

4. Emulsions of seeds (hemp or almond), added ; this is uncommon. Boil. 
The albumen of the seeds coagulate ; the milk will not mix with tea. Hemp 
seed gives an unpleasant odour to the milk (Normandy). 


1 Dr Willard, of Cornell University, notes the experience of Professor Law, who observed 
a peculiar ropy material in milk, and traced it to cows drinking stagnant water containing 
organisius similar to those found in the milk; a drop of this water, put into good milk, 
soon developed these organisms. The cows were feverish.—(Dr John Ogle, Journal of the 
Agricultural Society, Nov. 15, 1872 ; Lancet, Oct. 11, 1873.) 

2 Macnamara (Indian Medical Gazette, 1873) finds that the cream is not very useful in India 
as a test, the rapid coagulation of the milk preventing it rising. The addition of ammonia, 
as recommended by Adams, might obviate this. Similarly Vogel’s test does not give satis- 
factory results. It would, therefore, be necessary to determine the constituents by the 
chemical methods if possible. The following plan may be adopted :—Measure out carefully 
two portions of milk, and evaporate both to dryness : weigh : from this the total solids may 
be obtained : then incinerate one portion: weigh: this gives the ash. Exhaust the other 
with ether in Gerber’s or Soxhlet’s apparatus: from this the fat may be obtained. (The 
sample dried for fat had better be mixed with plaster, or soaked up with bibulous paper in 
Adams’ way.) Exhaust the residue with aleohol ; this gives the Jactin, which may be deter- 
mined either by weighing or incineration, or by Fehling’s process ; weigh the residue, then 
incinerate it, and weigh again : the difference will be the casein. The last weighing also gives 
a controlling determination of the ash. 


724 EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


5. Glycerin has been sometimes met with. The milk will be sweeter than 
usual, and there will be a difficulty if not impossibility in drying the solids 
by evaporation. 

6. Chalk, to neutralise acid, and to give thickness and colour. Let it 
stand for deposit ; collect and wash deposit, and add acetic acid and water ; 
after effervescence, filter, and test with oxalate of ammonium. 

7. Sodium Carbonate.—Very difficult of detection unless the milk be alka- 
line. Determine the ash, and see if it effervesces; if so, either some 
carbonate has been added, or, if the sodium have united with lactic acid, this 
will be converted into carbonate, and enough lactic acid to give an effer- 
vescing ash does not exist in good milk. 

8. Salt has been found added to milk in a case at Glasgow, to the extent 
of 0°14 to 0-21 per cent., equal to 98 and 147 grains per gallon. This will 
be detected by the excess of ash which may be dissolved and the chlorine 
determined in the usual way. 

9. Milk is often bozled to preserve it ; it may then take up from the vessel 
lead, copper, or zinc, if these metals are used. 

10. Cream is adulterated or made with magnesium carbonate, tragacanth, 
and arrowroot. The microscope detects the latter, and particles of magne- ~ 
sium carbonate (round) can also be seen, and found to disappear with a drop 
of acid. It is also said that yolk of egg is added both to cream and milk.! 

11. In most cases of falsification milk is watered or creamed, or both creamed 
and watered. Watering alone is detected by a lowered specific gravity and 
a diminished quantity of cream. Creaming alone is detected by a heightened 
specific gravity and a diminished quantity of cream. When both are resorted 
to, the cream will be small in amount, but the specific gravity may be normal. 
When a quantitative analysis can be made, watering alone is indicated by a 
general lowering of the constituents, which, however, preserve their normal 
proportions to each other. Creaming alone is indicated by a lessened amount 
of fat, but a normal amount of everything else, except total solids. Creaming 
and watering may be known by a general lowering of all constituents, 
but the deficiency in fat will be most marked. 


SECTION Y. 
BEVERAGES. 


Sus-SectTion I, 
EXAMINATION OF BEER. 


This is directed to ascertain—1. Quality ; 2. Adulterations. 


1. Quality. 

Physical Characters.—The beer should be transparent, not turbid. Tur- 
bidity arises from imperfect brewing or clarifying, or from commencing 
changes. If the latter, the acidity will probably be found to be increased. 
The amount of carbon dioxide disengaged should neither be excessive nor 
deficient. 

The taste should be pleasant. If bitter, the bitterness should not be 
persistent. It should not taste too acid. 

Smell gives no indication till the changes have gone on to some extent. 


' Mr Bottle, Pharmaceutical Journal, February 1873. 


EXAMINATION OF BEER. 725 


If there is any turbidity, microscopic examination will detect the presence 
of abnormal organisms, as figured by Pasteur.! 

2. Determine Specific Gravity.—Do this both before and after driving off 
the alcohol. Jf it is done after the alcohol is driven off, an approximate 
conclusion can be formed of the amount of solids by dividing by 4 the 
excess of the specific gravity over 1000. The more extract, the greater is 
the body of the beer. 

3. Determine Acidity.—This is a very important matter, as the increase 
of acidity is an early effect when beer is undergoing changes. 

The acidity of the beer consists of two kinds. 

Volatile acids, viz., acetic and carbonic. 

Non-volatile acids, viz., lactic, gallic or tannic, malic, and sulphuric, if 
it has been added as an adulteration. 

To determine the acidity of beer we must use an alkaline solution of 
known strength, 1 ¢.c. of which is equal to 6 milligrammes of glacial acetic 
acid (C,H,O,) or to 9 milligrammes of lactic acid (C,H,03).” 

Take 10 c.c. of the beer to be examined, and drop into it the alkaline 
solution from a burette, till exact neutrality (as tested by turmeric and 
litmus papers) is reached. Then read off the number of c¢.c. of alkaline 
solution used; multiply by 6, and the result will be the amount of total 
acidity in the quantity of beer operated on, expressed as milligrammes of 
glacial acetic acid (the symbols being always used in the report). By shift- 
ing the decimal point two places to the right, the amount per litre is given. 
To bring grammes per litre into grains per pint multiply by 70 and divide 
by 8; or, what is the same thing, multiply at once the number of c.c. of 
alkaline solution used by 5:25 (short factor). 

The total acidity can be divided into fixed and volatile by evaporation. 
While the total acidity is being determined, evaporate another measured 
quantity of beer to one-third, make up to the original bulk with distilled 
water, and determine the acidity. The acetic and carbonic acids being 
volatile are driven off, and lactic and other acids remain. Deduct the 
amount of alkaline solution used in this second process from the total 
amount used, and this will give the amount used for the volatile and fixed 
acidities respectively; express one in terms of acetic, the other of lactic acid. 
Short factor for lactic acid = 7-875. The fixed acidity is greater than the 
yolatile in almost all beers, and sometimes five or six times as much. 

Example.—10 c.c. of beer took 5 ¢.c. of alkaline solution: 5 x 5°25= 
26°25 grains of glacial acetic acid per pint = total acidity. 

After boiling and making up to original bulk with distilled water, 10 c.c. 
took 4 c.c. of alkaline solution: 4x 7°875=31°5 grains of lactic acid per 
pint = fixed acidity. The difference between the amounts of alkaline solu- 
tion used, 5-4=1 multiplied by 5-25, gives the volatile acidity. 

Generally speaking, the amount of total acidity of beer given in books is 
too great. It is seldom found to be more than 30 grains per pint, and 
even rarely reaches that; sometimes it is not more than 14 or 15 grains. 
In thirty-one kinds of porter and stout the acidity per pint varied from 
25-22 grains (the highest) to 14:14 grains (the lowest amount). In twenty- 
three kinds of ale the highest and the lowest amounts per pint were 34°39 
and 7°97 grains.? 

4. Determine Amount of Alcohol.—There are various ways of doing this, 
but one of the two following will be sufficient. 


1 Etudes sur la Biére, 1876, plate i. p. 6. 
2 See Appendix A. 
3 British Medical Journal, June 1870. 


726 EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


Measure a certain quantity, say one pint of beer, and take the specific 
gravity at 60° or 68° Fahr.!_ Ist, Put into a retort and distil at least two- 
thirds. Take the distillate, dilute to original volume with distilled water, 
determine the specific gravity at 60° or 68° by a proper instrument, and 
then refer to the annexed table of specific gravities—opposite the found 
specific gravity the percentage of alcohol is given in volume (not in weight). 

2nd, Then, to check this, a plan recommended by Mulder may be used. 
Take the ee of the heer in the retort, dilute with water to the original 
»volume, and take the specific gravity at 60° or 68°. 

Then deduct the specific gravity before the evaporation from the specific 
gravity after it, take the difference, and deduct this from 1000 (the specific 
gravity of water), and look in the table of specific gravities for the number 
thus obtained; opposite will be found the percentage of alcohol. The 
results of these two methods should be identical. 

If there is no retort, this second plan may be used with a common 
evaporating dish, the alcohol being suffered to escape. A common urin- 
ometer (tested for correctness in the first place by immersion in distilled 
water at 62° Fahr.) may he employed for determining the specific gravity. 
The plan is very useful for medical officers; it requires nothing but a 
urinometer and evaporating dish, with reasonable care and slowness of 
evaporation, so as not to char the residue and render it insoluble. 


Alcohol (Volume) according to Specific Gravity. 


100 parts. Specific Gravity. 100 parts. | Specific Gravity. 
_——S—E————EEE Se 
Alcohol.| Water. At 68°. At 60°, Alcohol. | Water. At 68°. | At 60°. 
50 50 0-914 0917 || 24 | “76 0-966 0-968 
49 51 0-917 0-920 || 23 77 0-968 0-970 
48 52 0-919 ‘Nop || BP | 7 0:970 0:972 
47 53 0-921 0-924 i |) 0°971 0-973 
46 54 0923 0-926 2 On eeSO 0:973 0-974 
45 55 0°925 0-928 || 19 81 | 0-974 0°975 
44 56 0°927 0-930 18 | 82 | 0-976 0°977 
3 57 0°930 0-933 ig Ns 1838 AI O-977 0:978 
42 58 0°932 0-935 || 16 | 84 0:978 0979 
4] 59 0:934 0937 || 15 | 85 | 0-980 0-981 
40 60 0-936 0-939 14 | 86 | 0-981 0-982 
39 61 0°938 0-941 13") $8F 1) "0-983 0-984 
38 62 0-940 0-943 TOT | MeeS8) aa \O-9 85 0-986 
37 65 0:942 0945 || Il | 89 | 0-986 | 0-987 
36 64 0°944 0:947 LOP i) 80 0°987 0-988 
35 65 0°946 0949 | | ol 0-988 0-989 
34 | 66 0948 0-951 | S | C2 | OsKe 0-990 
83 | 67 0°950 0-953 Hf BS Ogee || Oeil 
By Wt (3 0-952 0955 || 6 94 | 0-992 | 0:992 
3 | 69 0-954 0-957 «| 5 95 | 0-994 0-994 
a) | 7) 0°956 0°958 4 96 | 0-995 0-995 
hi We Ail 0°957 0-960 3 97 0-997 | 0-997 
28, 72 0-959 0°962 2 98 | 0-998 | 0-998 
27 3 6-961 0°963 il 99 | 0-999 | 0-999 
26 74 0°963 0-965 0 100 | 1-000 1000 
25 | 75 0965 0967 | | 


Alcohol is sometimes stated as weight in volume. The following table 
shows tolerably accurately the relation between the two and the Sabie 


1 Hane recommends previous removal of COs, by shaking up in a corked bottle for ten 
minutes, opening the bottle from time to time, and sucking air through it with a tube. 
This is more necessary with bottled than draught beer. 


EXAMINATION OF BEER. MONG 


amount of proof-spirit, so that a little calculation will reduce one table into 
another if desired. In other words, if the percentage of alcohol in volwme 
be multiplied by 0°8, the weight of the alcohol is given per cent. If the per- 
centage of alcohol in wezght is multiplied by 1°25, the volume is given. If 
the percentage volume of alcohol be multiplied by 1-76, the amount of proof- 
spirit is given.! 


AGaliiies in Weight. eo BIDE 

0-8 1-76 

2 16 3°54 
3 2-4 5°35 
+ 32 7-00 
A 4-0 8-80 
6 4:8 10°56 
7 56 12°32 
8 G4 14-00 
9 2 15-76 
10 8-0 17-60 


5. The soleds can be determined by evaporation, and the ash obtained by 
incineration ; but medical officers will seldom have occasion to do this. The 
specific gravity of the de-alcoholised beer gives a sufficient approximation. 

6. Evaporate the beer to a syrupy consistence ; it should have a pleasant 
bitter taste. 

The points, then, to be determined in judging of quality are—l, taste ; 
2, appearance ; 3, microscopic characters; 4, specific gravity of de-alco- 
holised beer, from which we find the per cent. of extract; 5, acidity; 6, 
amount of alcohol; 7, taste of syrupy extract. 


2. Adulterations of Beer.” 


1. Water.—Probably the most frequent adulteration ; detected by taste ; 
determining amount of alcohol and specific gravity of the beer free from 
alcohol. 

2. Alcohol.—Seldom added ; the quantity of alcohol is large in proportion 
to the amount of extract, as determined by the specific gravity after sepa- 
ration of the alcohol. 

3. Sodium or Calcium Carbonate in order to lessen Acidity.—Neither 
adulteration can be detected without a chemical examination. Evaporate 
beer to a thick extract, then put in a retort, acidulate with sulphuric acid, 
and distil; if calcium or sodium acetate be present, acetic acid in large 
quantity will pass over. The extract always contains some acetate, but 
only in small quantity. 

Lime.—KEvaporate to dryness another portion of beer, incinerate, dissolve 
in weak acetic acid, and precipitate by ammonium oxalate. In unadulterated 
beer the precipitate is moderate only. 

Excess of soda, for some always exists in beer, is detected with much 
greater difficulty, and it will be well not to attempt this. Mulder states 
that the presence of too great a quantity of lactates may be determined by 


1 For method of testing by Sikes’ hydrometer, see Appendix. 

* In his speech in the House of Lords (April 17, 1872, Times’ report), Lord Kimberley 
stated that a common adulteration is as follows:—A certain amount of beer is drawn from 
the cask of 84 gallons, and then 6 tb of “foots” (a black coarse sugar), 14 gallon of “ finings” 
(made from skins of soles and other fish), and 12 gallons of water are put in per cask. This 
beer is ready for sale in two hours, and must be drunk in two days or it goes bad. Salt and 
copperas, are added by some, but the use of copperas is said not to be general. Ale and stout 
are not mixed with water, but “ finings” are used. 


728 EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


boiling the beer with zine carbonate, when lactate of zinc deposits.1 In 
these cases the beer has begun to change, and the microscope and reference 
to Pasteur’s plate will greatly assist. 

4. Sodium chloride.—Vhis is hardly an adulteration, unless a very large 
quantity is added.?_ Take a measured quantity of the beer; evaporate to 
dryness ; incinerate at as low a heat as possible; dissolve in water, and 
determine the chloride by the standard solution of nitrate of silver. 

5. Ferrous Sulphate.—If the beer be light-coloured a mixture of potas- 
» sium ferricyanide and ferrocyanide (Faraday’s test) may be added at once, 
and will give a precipitate of Prussian blue; if the beer be very dark- | 
coloured, it must be decolorised by adding solution of lead subacetate and 
filtering. 

Or evaporate a portion of beer to dryness and incinerate ; if any iron be 
present the ash is red; dissolve in weak nitric acid, and test with potassium 
ferrocyanide. Two grains of ferrous sulphate to nine gallons of water give — 
a red ash (Hassall). The ash of genuine porter is always white, or greyish 
white (Hassall). 

6. Sulphuric acid is added to clarify beer, and to give it the hard flavour 
of age. If the beer be pale, add a few drops of hydrochloric acid, and test 
with barium chloride. A very dense precipitate may show that sulphuric 
acid has been added, but it must be remembered that the water used in 
brewing may contain large quantities of sulphates. (The Burton spring 
water is rich in calcium sulphate.) If there be a large precipitate, then 
determine the acidity of the beer before and after evaporation; if the 
amount of fixed acid be found to be very large, there will be no doubt 
that sulphuric acid has been added ; or precipitate with baryta, and weigh. 

Mulder recommends that the extract of the beer be heated, and the 
sulphur dioxide which is disengaged led into chlorine water; sulphuric acid 
will be found in the chlorine water, and may be tested for as usual. 

7. Alum.—KEvyaporate to dryness ; incinerate, and proceed exactly as in 
the analysis of alum in BREAD. ‘The substance added to give “head” to 
beer is a mixture of alum, salt, and ferrous sulphate. 

8. Burnt Sugar—Essentia bina—foots.—Evaporate the beer to an ex- 
tract; dissolve in alcohol; evaporate again to extract, and taste. According 
to Pappenheim, these substances prevent the regressive metamorphosis of 
the tissues, and thus injure health. Burnt sugar is added to porter to give 
colour, and the addition is not illegal. 

9. Capsicum —Peppers—Grains of Paradise.—Evaporate to dryness care- 
fully ; dissolve in alcohol; filter ; evaporate very carefully to dryness, and 
taste if there is any pungency. In fourteen out of twenty samples of 
illicit beer, Mr Phillips found that grains of paradise had been added. 
It is said that the oils of pimento, zedoary, and ginger are sometimes 
used. 

10. Aloes.—The taste alone is not reliable. Dr Koehler? proposes to 
evaporate the beer. Dissolve the residue in nitric acid, when a yellowish- 
red liquid is obtained, which takes a deep blood-red colour when treated 
with liq. potassee and glucose, or with liq. potassze and either cyanide of 
potassium or sulphide of ammonium, if aloe-resin is present. The nitric 
acid solution is not decolorised by stannous chloride; if hops only have 
been used, it is decolorised. 


1 De la Biere (French edition), 1861, p. 258. , 
2 The Inland Revenue Office allows 50 grains of sodium chloride per gallon. 
® Schmidt’s Jahrb., 1871, No. 10, p. 22. 


| 


ADULTERATIONS OF BEER. 729 


11. Colocynth.—The residue of evaporated beer, heated with nitric acid, 
yields a yellow solution ; with concentrated sulphuric acid, an intense red 
solution ; and a cherry-red colour is given with Froehde’s test (molybdate 
of sodium dissolved in sulphuric acid).? 

12. Colchicin.—A case is recorded by Dr Bottern? of Faaborg, in Norway, 
where colchicin was detected in some English beer, and caused symptoms of 
poisoning (vomiting, diarrhoea, burning pain in the head, stomach, Wc.). 

13. Santonin.—Evaporate beer to extract; treat with alcohol, filter, 
evaporate, and prepare the santonin as usual by boiling with lime, and 
precipitating by an acid. 

14. Cocculus indicus.—It is not known whether much of this is now used. 
The witnesses examined in 1856 by the Committee of the House of Commons 
(Scholefield’s) all doubted it ; a large quantity of Cocculus indicus is, how- 
ever, annually imported, and no other use is known.’ In two instances out 
of twenty specimens of adulterated beer, analysed in 1863 by Mr Phillips, 
Cocculus indicus was found in large quantities. 

For the detection of Picrotoxine, Herapath recommends that the beer be 
first treated with lead acetate ; filtered ; excess of lead got rid of by hydrogen 
sulphide ; fluid evaporated to a small bulk, and mixed with animal charcoal. 
The charcoal absorbs the picrotoxine ; it is boiled in alcohol, and the alcohol 
is evaporated on slips of glass. The picrotoxine crystallises as plumose tufts 
of circular or oat-shaped crystals. 

Dr Langley, of Michigan, recommends acidulating the beer with hydro- 
chloric acid and agitating with ether ; the etherial solution yields on evapora- 
tion crystals of picrotoxine. 

A plan devised by Depaire is considered by Koehler as one of the easiest 
and at the same time the best. Mix one litre of beer with finely powdered 
rock salt: resinous and extractive matters are thrown down. Shake the 
liquid with ether ; an impure picrotoxine is obtained, which can be purified. 

None of these processes will give more than ;45ths of the picrotoxine. 

When the crystals of picrotoxine are obtained, test them as follows :— 

(a) Rub the crystals with 3 or 4 parts of pure nitrate of potassium ; add 
1 or 2 drops of strong sulphuric acid, and then an excess of strong solution 
of soda or potash. A bright reddish-yellow colour is given if picrotoxine be 
present (Langley). 

(b) Dissolve the crystals in strong sulphuric acid; a yellow fluid is 
obtained. Stir it with a glass rod which has been dipped in a concentrated 
solution of potassium bichromate ; a bluish-violet colour is obtained (like a 
strychnine reaction), which changes soon into brown, brown-green, and at 
last apple green. 

(c) If a good deal of picrotoxine is obtained, dissolve it in water, and put 
a small fish in the water ; the poisonous effects occur in a short time. 

15. Strychnine or Nux Vomica.—This is a very uncommon adulteration, 
if it ever occur. Add animal charcoal to the beer ; digest for twenty-four 
hours ; pour off beer ; boil the charcoal in alcohol ; filter ; evaporate one- 
half; add a few drops of liquor potassze and then ether ; agitate ; pour off 
ether, and evaporate to dryness; test for strychnine by the colour test 
(sulphuric acid and potassium bichromate, or peroxide of lead, or manganese, 


or potassium permanganate).? 


1 Koehler, op. cit. 

2 Med. Times and Gazette, May 16, 1874, p. 29. 

3 Tt is said to be obtainable from wholesale druggists under the name of multwm. 

4 Chemical News, Sept. 6, 1862. 

5 Other vegetable bitters are used, but their detection is difficult and uncertain. Mr Sorby 
recommends the spectroscope for detecting caluniba root, 


730 EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


16. Tobacco is occasionally used; in twenty specimens of illicit be 
examined in 1863, by Mr Phillips of the Inland Revenue Departmen 
tobacco was found in one. 

17. Pierie (Trinitrophenic) Acid.—Lassaigne recommends the addition « 
subacetate of lead and animal charcoal ; if the beer has still a yellow colou 
picric acid is present. But, as Mulder and Hassall observe, many beet 
destitute of picric acid remain yellow. Pohl advises toadd white uncombe 
wool ; if picric acid be present, it stains it. This is an uncertain test. E 
Brunner extracts the picric acid from the wool with hot aqueous ammonial |) 
concentrates to a small bulk, and tests with a drop of solution of cyanide q | 
potassium. A red coloration of isopurpurate of potassium will be produce: 
if there be 1 part of picric acid in 500,000 of water (Hassall). 

18, Copper.—Evaporate a portion ‘of the beer to dryness ; incinerate 
dissolve in weak nitric acid ; test for copper by the insertion of a clean knife 
by addition of ammonia and of potassium ferrocyanide. 

19. Lead.—Evaporate a considerable quantity of the beer to dryness 
incinerate ; dissolve in weak nitric acid, and test for lead as usual. 


Sus-Section IT. 


EXAMINATION OF WINE. 


The quality of wine can be best determined by noting the colour, trans- 
parency, and taste, and then determining the following points : — 

(1) The amount of solzds as given by the specific gravity after the elimina- 
tion of the alcohol. In the best Clar ets, before the loss of alcohol, the specific 
gravity is very nearly that of water. In some Claret used in the Queen’s 
establishment, and analysed by Dr Hofmann, the specific gravity was -99952. 
In other Clarets it is as low as 995. A low specific eravity shows. that 
alcohol has been added, or that the solids are in small amount. 

(2) The amount of soja) ; a very small amount may show the addition 
of water, a large amount the addition of spirits. 

(3) The amount of free acidity. This is an important point, as it seems 
clear that some persons (especially the sick) do not readily digest a large 
amount of acid and acid salts. 

The amount is determined by the alkaline solution. The free acidity is) 
generally reckoned as crystallised tartaric acid (C,H,O,), 1 c.c. of the alkaline 
solution being equal to 7-5 milligrammes. There is both fixed and volatile 
acidity ; the “alainwe amount of the two is difficult to determine satisfactorily, | 
as some acid may be formed on distillation. The distillation should be 
conducted at a low temperature, so as not to decompose the fixed compound | 
ethers. The volatile acidity is reckoned as glacial acetic, the fixed as tartaric 
acid. All the acidities of wine are usually reckoned as grains per ounce. 

The amount of free acidity varies greatly even in the same kind of wines ; 
the least acid wines are Sherry, Port, Champagne, the best Claret and Ma- 
deira ; the more acid wines are Burgundy, Rhine wine, Moselle (Bence Jones). 
The amount of free acid in good Clarets is equal to 2 to 4 grains of tartaric 
acid per ounce ; in common Clarets and in Beaujolais it may be 4 to 6 grains, 
and in some extremely acid wines it may be even more than this. In the 
best Champagnes it is 2 to 3 grains usually ; but it has been known to reach 
in excellent Che ampagne 1-12 per cent., or 4°8 grains per ounce. In Port it 
averages 2 to 22 grains, but may reach 4 grains; in Sherry, I$ to 24 grains ; 


1 This was the case in some Champagne examined by Dr Hofmann. 


EXAMINATION OF WINE—ADULTERATIONS, oul 


in the Rhine wines, 33 to 4 or 6 grains. 'Thudichum and Dupré state that 
in good sound wine the amount of free acidity ranges from 0-3 to 0°7 per cent., 
or from 1-3 to 3 grains per ounce. 

The taste of wine does not depend entirely on, but yet is very greatly 
influenced by, the degree of acidity. Mr Griffin! states that good-tasted 
wine contains from 1°87 to 2°8 grains of crystallised tartaric acid per ounce ; 
that if it contains less than 1°87 grains it tastes flat ; if more than 3 grains 
per ounce the wine is too acid to be agreeable ; if more than 4°37 grains 
per ounce (1 per cent.) it is too acid to be drunk. These numbers seem 
rather low.? 

(4) The amount of sugar. The best modes of determining this have been 
already noticed. 

(5) It may be sometimes useful to determine the amount and kind of 
ethers by fractional distillation. 

Excessive acidity of wine can be éorrected by adding neutral potassium 
tartrate. Milk is also often used. The addition of the carbonated alkalies, 
or of chalk, alters the bouquet of the wine. When wine becomes stringy, 
in which case acetic and lactic acids are formed, it may be improyed by 
adding a little tea ; about one ounce of tea boiled in 2 quarts of water should 
he added to about 40 gallons of wine. Bitter wine is treated with hard water 
or sulphur; bad smelling wine with charcoal; too astringent wine with 
eclatin ; wine which tastes of the cask with olive oil.* 


Adulterations of Wine. 


1. Water.—Known by taste ; amount of alcohol ; specifie gravity after 
elimination of alcohol. 

2. Distilled Spirits.—Known by determining the amount of alcohol, the 
normal percentage of the particular kind of wine being known. By fractional 
distillations the peculiar-smelling fusel oils may be obtained; or merely 
rubbing some of the wine on the hand, and letting it evaporate, may enable 
the smell of these ethers to be perceived. . 

3. Artificial Colouring Matters.—The following are the chief colouring 
matters, as stated by Thudichum and Dupré. Logwood is the great colouring 
material, and also blackberries, elderberries, and bilberries. There are no 
good methods of recognising these substances ; salts of lead, ammonia, and 
ammonium sulphide, alum, and potassium or ammonium carbonate, and salts 
of tin have been used as reagents. The most useful test appears to be this: 
add to the wine about }th volume of strong solution of alum ; stir well, and 
then add about an equal quantity of strong solution of ammonium carbonate ; 
the natural colouring matter of the wine when thrown down in this way 
has a greenish or dirty bluish-green colour, but there is no tinge of red ; 
logwood and several other abnormal colours have a distinct red or purplish 
tint. The use of strips of gelatin, as described under Alum in Breap, is 


1 Report on Cheap Wine, by R. Druitt, M.D., p. 178. 

2 From thirteen analyses of sound ordinary Port, I found the mean acidity to be 1°97 per 
ounce ; in some samples of Sherry, 1°90; Marsala, 1°5; light Claret, 3:1; in a rather sour 
Claret, 4:0; in a sample of Montilla, a fine wine, but too acid, 3:15.—(F. de C.) 

3 Wine is subject to several diseases, which, according to Pasteur, depend on different kinds 
of ferments (see Review on Hygiene, in Army Medical Department Report, vol. vii. p. 340). 
By heating the wine to about 125-130° Fahr. these “mycoderms ” are killed, and the wine 

undergoes no further change. The microscope may be employed, as in the case of beer. 

4 Mulder speaks very doubtfully of all such tests ; they seem, however, better than nothing. 
| Probably spectrum analysis will hereafter afford the best means of identification. On the 
colouring matter of wine, see Duclaux, Comptes Rendus de l Académie des Sciences, t. \xxvii., 
| No, 15, April 1874, p. 1159; also Report on Hygiene, Army Med. Reports, vol. xv., p. 190. 


Vaz EXAMINATION OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 


also recommended. Fuchsine or rosaniline and other substances have al 
been used, but on the whole there has been some exaggeration, whilst t 
colouring matters employed are mostly harmless. 

4. Lime Salts.—The so-called “ platrage ” of wines consists in the additiq | 
of 14 ib to 7 ib of a mixture of calcium sulphate (80 parts), calcium carbona 
(12), quicklime and sulphide and chloride of calcium (8 parts) to 1 hect 
litre of wine. Calcium sulphate dissolves in large proportion, and the 
interchanges with the chloride of potassium, and chloride of calcium ar 
sulphate of potassium are formed. The chalk forms acetate and tartrate « 
calcium. The proportion of lime salts is then very large. The only preci: 
way of detecting this adulteration is by evaporating to dryness, incineratin: 
and determining the amount of lime. But the following method is shorte 
and will generally answer. The natural lime salts of wine are tartrate an} | 
sulphate ; when lime is added an acetate of calcium is formed. Evaporat 
the wine to ;4,th ; add twice the bulk of strong alcohol ; the calcium acetat 
is dissolved, but not the sulphate or tartrate ; filter and test with oxalate o 
ammonium ; if a large precipitate occur, lime has probably been added. __|| 

5. Tannin may be detected either by chloride of iron or by adding gelatin 
But as tannin exists naturally in most of the red wines (Port, Beaune) 
Roussillon, Hermitage, &c.), the question becomes often one of quantity) 
The amount of tannin can be estimated by drying the tanno-gelatin (10( 
grains contain 40 of tannin), 

6. Alum.—This is detected precisely in the same manner as in bread 
Eyaporate a pint of the wine to dryness; incinerate, and then proceed as: 
directed in Breap. 

7. Lead.—Evaporate to dryness, and incinerate ; dissolve in dilute nitric 
acid, and test as directed in the EXAMINATION OF WATER. 

8. Copper.—Decolorise with animal charcoal, and test at once with 
ferrocyanide of potassium. 

9. Cider and Perry.—Evaporate wine, and the peculiar smell of the liquids 
will be perceived. 

Port Wine, as sold in the market, is stated to be a mixture of true Port, 
Marsala, Bordeaux, and Cape wines with brandy, although at present it is 
probably purer than it used to be, purer perhaps than most other wines. 
Inferior kinds are still adulterated with logwood, elderberries, catechu, prune 
juice, and a little sandalwood and alum. Receipts are given in books for all 
sorts of imitation wines. 


*,* The examination of some other articles, viz., Tea, Coffee, Vinegar, 
Mustard, Pepper, Salt, and Lemon and Lime Juice, will be found under the 
different heads in Boox I, 


APPENDIX A. 


STANDARD SOLUTIONS FOR VOLUMETRIC ANALYSIS. 


1. For Chlorine. 


(a) Silver Nitrate Solution. 


4-788 grammes of silver nitrate in 1 litre of distilled water. 
1 c.c. of solution = 1-00 milligramme of chlorine. 


- * =1°65 - of sodium chloride. 
es - =2°10 3 of potassium chloride. 
= 11. ie of ammonium chloride. 


This solution may be standardised with a solution of pure sodium chloride, 
1-648 to the litre, 1 c.c. of which equals 1 mgm. of chlorine. 


(b) Potassium Monochromate Solution.—50 grammes of potassium monochromate 
are dissolved in 1 litre of distilled water. Solution of nitrate of silver 
is added until a permanent red precipitate is formed, which is allowed to 
settle. 


2. Hardness. 
(a) Soap Solution. 


Dissolve some soft soap (pharmacopeeial) in diluted spirit, and graduate by 
means of this barytic solution. 


Nitrate of barium, ‘ : 2 0°26 gramme. 
Distilled water, . : : : 1 litre. 


2°2 c.c. (or 22 measures) of standard soap solution produce a permanent lather 
with 50 c.c. of the above solution, 

1 measure (= +), ¢.c.) of soap solution=0:00025 gm.=0°25 mgm. of calcium 
carbonate. 

Correction for lather = — 2 measures of soap. 

Short factors (when 50 c.c. of water are taken for experiment). 


For degrees of Clark’s scale (1:70,000) =0°35. 
+s » metrical ,, (1:100,000)=0-50. 


(b) A weaker solution, each measure (31; ¢.c.) of which is equal to 0:07 mgm. of 
CaCO, is sometimes used. The correction for lather would be 7 measures 
of soap. The corrected number of measures, divided by 10, gives the 
hardness in Clark’s scale directly, or multiplied by 0°14, the degrees on 
the metrical scale. 


3. Solutions required for the determination of Oxidisable Matter in Water. 
(a) Permanganate Solution. 


0°395 of potassium permanganate in 1 litre of water. 

100 c.c. are exactly decolorised by 100 c.c. of oxalic acid solution (c). (See 
No. 10 c). 

1 c.c. of permanganate solution used with acid yields 0°10 milligramme of 
oxygen. 

1 c.c. of permanganate solution used with alkali yields 0:06 milligramme of 
oxygen. 


34 APPENDIX. 


1 c.c. of permanganate solution exactly oxidises 0°2875 mgm. nitrous acid 
(NO,). 
1 c.c. of permanganate solution exactly oxidises 0°2125 mgm. hydrogen | 
sulphide (H,S). 
1 c.c. of permanganate solution exactly oxidises 0°7000 mgm. iron (Fe). 
5 - =p 09000 ,, ferrous oxide:/ 
(FeO). { 
(b) Potassium Iodide Solution—A 10 per cent. solution of the pure potassium | 
iodide, recrystallised from alcohol. 
(c) Dilute Sulphuric Acid.—One volume of pure sulphuric acid is mixed with 
three volumes of distilled water, and permanganate solution dropped in 
_ until the whole retains a very faint pink tint after warming to 80° F. for 
four hours. 


(d) Sodium Hyposulphite-—One gramme of crystallised sodium hyposulphite 
dissolved in 1 litre of water. 


(e) Starch Solution.—One gramme of starch to be intimately mixed with $ litre ~ 
of distilled water, the whole boiled briskly for five minutes, filtered, and 
allowed to settle. 


4. Solutions for determination of Free and Albuminoid Ammonia. 


(a) Ammonium Chloride Solution for Nesslerising. 
0°315 gramme of ammonium chloride in 1 litre of water. 
This is the strong solution. 
Take 100 c.c. of this solution and dilute to 1 litre. 
This is the standard solution. 


1 c.c.=0°01 milligramme of ammonia (NH,) or 0:0082 mgm. of nitrogen. 


(b) Nessler’s Solution.—Dissolve 35 grammes of potassium iodide in 100 e.c. of 
distilled water. Dissolve 17 grammes of mercuric chloride in 300 cc. of 
distilled water ; wari if necessary, and allow to cool. Add the mercuric 
solution to the iodide solution until a perceptible permanent precipitate is 
produced. Then dilute with a 20 per cent. sodium hydrate solution 
(caustic. soda) up to 1000 c.c. (1 litre): add mercuric chloride solution 
until a permanent precipitate again forms ; allow precipitate to settle, and 
then clecant off the clear solution. 


(c) Sodium Carbonate (sometimes required for free ammonia, but not usually 
needed).—A 20 per cent. solution of recently ignited pure sodium carbonate. 


(d) Alkaline Potassium Permanganate Solution (for Albuminoid Ammonia).—Dis- 
solve 200 grammes of potassium hydrate and 8 grammes of pure potassium 
permanganate in 1100 c.c. of distilled water, and boil the solution rapidly 
till concentrated to 1000 c.c. 


(¢) Distilled Water free from Ammonia.—The S.P.A. recommend boiling ordinary 
distilled water with 1 per 1000 of pure ignited sodium carbonate. If the 
water is distilled with a little phosphoric acid (as recommended by Notter), 
it comes over quite free. Test with a little Nessler’s solution. 


5. Reagents for the determination of Nitric Acid in Nitrates. 
(a) Metallic Aluminum.—As thin foil. 


(b) Solution of Sodium Hydrate.—Dissolve 100 grammes of solid sodium hydrate 
in 1 litre of distilled water. When cold, introduce a strip of about 100 
square centimetres, say 15 square inches, of aluminum foil previously 
heated to just short of redness, wrapped round a glass rod; when the 
aluminum is dissolved, boil the solution briskly in a porcelain basin until 
about one-third of its volume has evaporated ; allow it to cool, and make 
it up to its original volume with water free from ammonia. The solution 
must be tested by a blank experiment to prove the absence of nitrates. 


Maks eo 


APPENDIX. 735 


- (c) Copper Sulphate Solution.—Dissolve 30 grammes of pure copper sulphate in 1 
litre of distilled water. 


(d) Metallic Zinc, pure.—As thin foil. This should be kept in a dry atmo- 
sphere, so as to be preserved as far as possible from oxidation. 

To make the wet Copper Zine couple.—Put into a flask or bottle a piece of 
clean zine foil, and cover it with the copper solution (c): allow the foil to 
remain until it is well covered with a firmly adhering black deposit of 
copper. (If left too long the deposit may peel off in washing.) Pour off 
the solution (which may be kept for further use), and wash the conjoined 
metals with distilled water. The couple is now ready for use. About 
one square decimetre (=} of a square inch) should be used for every 200 
c.c. of a water containing 5 parts or under of nitric acid in 100,000. For 
waters richer in nitrates more will be required. 


(e) Standard Solution of Ammonium Chloride (see 4 (a)). 
(f) Nessler’s Solution (see 4 (5)). 


6. Reagents for the determination of Nitrous Acid in Nitrites. 


(a) Solution of Meta-phenylenediamine.—Dissolve 5 grammes of meta-phenylene- 
diamine in 1 litre of distilled water, rendered acid with sulphuric acid. 
Decolorise, if necessary, with animal charcoal. 


(6) Dilute Sulphuric Acid—One volume of pure sulphuric acid to two volumes 
of distilled water. 

(c) Solution of Potassic Nitrite.—Dissolve 0°406 gramme of pure silver nitrite in 
hot water, and decompose it with a slight excess of potassium chloride. 
After cooling, make the solution up to one litre, allow the chloride of 
silver to settle, and dilute each 100 c.c. of the clear supernatant liquid 
again to one litre. 1 c.c. of this diluted solution = 0-01 of a milligramme 
of NO,. 

The nitrites may also be determined by the permanganate solution (see 3). 


7. For determination of Phosphoric Acid. 


One part of pure molybdic acid is dissolved in 4 parts of ammonia, sp. er. 
0-960. This solution, after filtration, is poured, with constant stirring, 
into 15 parts of nitric acid of 1:20 sp. gr. It should be kept in the dark, 
and carefully decanted from any precipitate that may form. 


8. Sulphuric Acid Solution for Carbonates in Water. 


Take 4-9 grammes by weight of pure H,SO, and dilute to 1 litre. 
1 c.c. saturates 5 milligrammes of calcium carbonate. 


” ” 6-2 ” of sodium x 


9. Alkaline Solution for Acidities. 


Take liquor sodze or liquor potassee of pharmacopeeial strength, and dilute 
with 8 or 9 parts of distilled water. 
Graduate with oxalic acid solution (a). (See No. 7.) 


1 c.c. of standard alkaline solution = 63 mgm. oxalic acid. 


=60 ,, glacial acetic acid. 
=90 ,, lactic 3 
=75 ,, tartaric a 
= 6-4 citric 


10. Oxalie Acid Solutions. 


Solution (2)—Take 6°3 grammes of crystallised oxalic acid, and dissolve in one 
litre of water. 
10 c.c. exactly neutralise 10 c.c. of standard alkaline solution. 


736 APPENDIX. 


Solution (b)—Take 100 c.c. of solution (a), and add 123 c.c. of distilled water; | 
or, dissolve 2°84 grammes of crystallised oxalic acid in 1 litre of distilled 
water. 


This makes the solution for testing the alkalinity of lime or baryta water. 
1 c.c. exactly neutralises 1:26 milligramme of lime (CaO). 
7 95 is 3°42 e of baryta (BaO). 
1 ce. is exactly equivalent to 0°5 c.c. of CO, by volume at 32° Fahr. (0° C.). 


Solution (c)\—Take 100 e.c. of solution (a), and add 700 c.c. of distilled water ; 
or, dissolve 0°7875 gramme of crystallised oxalic acid in 1 litre of distilled 
water. 


This is the solution for graduating the permanganate. — 


100 ¢.c. exactly decolorise 100 c.c. of permanganate in presence of sulphuric 
acid. : 


11. Copper Solution (Fehling’s) for Sugars. 


Take of pure copper sulphate, : : 34-64 grammes. CE = 
. distilled ae : ; : ; 200 ae Dussolve: 

Take also of tartrate of sodium and potassium, 173 grammes, 

Solution of caustic soda (or caustic potash), 480 c.c. 

Mix the two solutions slowly, and dilute with distilled water to 1 litre. 

1 ce. is reduced by 5 milligrammes of either glucose or inverted sugar. 
ie 59 6°67 5 of lactin (or milk sugar). 

12. Iodine Solution for Hydrogen Sulphide. 

Dissolve 6°35 grammes of iodine in 1 litre of distilled water by the aid of a 

little potassium iodide. 


Dissolve. 


1 c.c. =0°85 milligramme of H,S. 
If a litre of water be taken for examination, the short factor for cubic inches 
per gallon is 0°164. 
Starch is used as the indicator. 


13. Solution of Iron for Colorimetric Test. 
Dissolve 1 gramme of pure iron wire in nitro-hydrochloric acid ; precipi- 
tate the ferric oxide with ammonia ; wash the precipitate ; dissolve in a 
little hydrochloric acid, and dilute to I litre. 
1 c.c.=1 milligramme of iron. 
This is the strong solution. 
For use it is diluted 1 to 100, so that 


1 c.c.=0'010 milligramme of metallic iron. 
1 ¢.c.=0:027 a of iron phosphate. 


14. Dilute Acid Solutions are generally 1 part of acid to 9 of distilled water, 
unless otherwise specified. 


15. Qualitative Solutions, and, gencrally, solutions that are not titrated or graduated, 
are saturated, unless otherwise specified. 


16. Brucine Solution (for Nitric Acid).—1 gramme of brucine to 1 litre of distilled 
water. 


17. Solution of Potassium Iodide and Starch (for Nitrous Acid). 


Potassium iodide 1 gramme, starch 20 grammes, water 500 ¢.c. Make the 
starch, filter when cold, and then add the potassium iodide. 

This mixture does not keep well, and must be made fresh from time to time; 
or, the solutions 3 (b) and 3 (¢) may be used instead. 


18. Solution of Gold Chloride (for Oxidisable Matter in water).—One gramme of 
gold chloride dissolved in 1 litre of water. 

19. Solution of Cochineal (for Acidities or Alkalinities).—Take 5 grammes of 
cochineal, bruised in a mortar, add 25 ¢.c. of spirit of wine and 500 cc. of 
distilled water: filter. This solution is apt to become a little acid. 


APPENDIX. fom 


20. Phenol-Phthalein Solution (for Acidities or Alkalinities).—Take 5 grammes of 
the phenol-phthalein, and dissolve, with the aid of 25 ¢.c. of spirit of wine 
in 500 c.c. of distilled water. 


21. Use of Sikes’ Hydrometer, for ascertaining the strength of spirits. 


A sample of the spirits to be tested is poured into a trial glass, and the tempera- 
ture ascertained by means of a thermometer in the usual way. The hydrometer 
is taken, and one of the weights is attached to the stem below the ball: it is then 
pressed down to the 0 on the stem. If the right weight has been selected it will 
float up to one of the divisions on the stem. The number on the stem is then 
read off and added to the number on the weight ; the sum is called the indication. 
The book of tables is then opened at the temperature first found, and the indication 
looked for in one of the columns: opposite it will be found the strength of the 
spirits over or under proof. If at the temperature 60° F. the indication is 58°8, then 
opposite this will be found zero, that is, the spirit is the exact strength of proof. 
If the indication is 50, then opposite that is 12°8, or the spirit js 12°8 over proof : 
if the indication is 70, then opposite is 18°9, or the spirit is 18-9 under proof. 
The meaning of these expressions is—(1) If the spirit be 12°8 over proof, then, in 
order to reduce it to proof, 128 gallons of water must be added to 100 gallons of 
the spirit : the resulting mixture will be proof ; (2) if the spirit be 18-9 under proof, 
this means that 100 gallons contain only as much alcohol as 89°1 (7.¢., 100 — 18:9) of 
proof spirit : to raise it to proof it would have to be mixed with an equal quantity 
100 — 18°9+118°9 _ 4 
SS OD. 


The Adulteration of Food and Drugs Amendment Act, 1879, allows brandy, 
whisky, or rum to be 25 degrees under proof ; equal to 42°6 per cent. of absolute 
alcohol, volume in volume, or 34:1 per cent. of weight in volume. This gives a 
specific gravity of 0°947. Gin is allowed to be 35 degrees under proof, equal to 
36°9 per cent. volume in volume, or 29°5 per cent. weight in volume of absolute 
aleohol. This gives a specific gravity of 0°956. Proof spirit contains 56°8 volume 
in volume, or 45°4 weight in volume of absolute alcohol., sp. gr. 0°920. The presence 
of sugar or extractives renders the use of the hydrometer fallacious unless the 
spirit is distilled off. 


of spirit as much above proof as it is below it, so that 


APPENDIX B. 


METRICAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


a. Length. 


1 Metre =39°37 English inches =3:28 feet. 
1 Decimetre = 3:94 % »  =(4 inches nearly). 
1 Centimetre = 0°39 55 »  =(;45 inch nearly). 
1 Millimetre = 0:039 _,, » _ =(s's inch nearly). 
NV.6.—The Latin prefix indicates division. 
The Greek do. do. multiplication. 


1 Kilometre = 1000 metres = 1094 yards = 3 mile (nearly). 
1 Mile (English) = 1609 metres, or 1°609 kilometres. 


b. Area. 
1 Square metre = 10°76 sq.feet =1542 sq. inches. 
1 Square centimetre = 0:154 sq. inches = %, sq. inch (nearly). 
1 Square millimetre = 0-0015 FS =ytp » (nearly). 
100 Square metres = lare = _ 119-7 square yards. 
100 Ares = lhectare = 11967 ,, » = 2°47 acres. 


100 Hectares 1 square kilometre = 247 acres = 0°386 sq. mile. 


*) 
oA 


738 APPENDIX. 


c. Capacity. 


1 Decimetre cubed =1 litre=1000 cubic centimetres =61 cubic inches = 35°3 
ounces =0°22 gallon. 

1 Cubic Centimetre= 0:061 cubic inch. 

1 Cubic inch = 16°4 cubic centimetres. 

28°35 Cubic centimetres=1°733 cubic inches=1 ounce. 

1,000,006 Cubic centimetres=1000 litres=1 cubic metre=1 stere=35°3 cubic feet. 


d. Weight. 


1 Cubic centimetre of distilled water at 4° C, (89°°2 F.) weighs 1 gramme. 
1 Gramme = 15°432 grains. 

1 Decigramme = 17543 ,, (=14 grains nearly). 

1 Centigramme = 0154 ,, (75 grain nearly). 

1 Milligramme = 0015 ,, (=¢s grain nearly). 


1 Kilogramme = 1000 orammes= 15432 erains=2°2 Tb avoir. =35'3 ounces. 
French livre and German “fund = 500 Sens 1:1 Ib=17°6 ounces, 
The German loth = 162 ,, 2 =2 ounce nearly, 


1 th avoir. = 453°5 grammes. 
1 ton avotr.=1018 kilogrammes. 


APPENDIX CG. 


THERMOMETER SCALES. 


Centigrade ae Réaumur i Fahrenheit—32 
5 zi + - 9 
Centigrade. Réaumur. Fahrenheit. 
Mercury freezes at . é : : : . —40°0 — 32-0 — 41:0 
Zero of Fahrenheit, . ; : ; : py alr —14-2 0:0 
Water freezes at. 4 : 5 0:0 0:0 320 
Water at its maximum density at. 5 5 4:0 32 39°2 
Mean temperature of London, . : : 10°2 82 50:4 
Mean temperature for specific gravities, &c.,  . 155 12°4 60:0 
Mean temperature of Calcutta, ; : . 25°8 20°6 82:0 
Mean temperature of the human body, . : 385 30:0 98°4 
Alcohol boils at : : : : : ; 78°3 62:7 173°0 
Water boils at ; ; : ; 5 2 LOO0 80°0 212°0 
Mercury boils at. ; 5 ; ; . 3860-0 288-0) 6000 


APPENDIX D. 


BAROMETER SCALES. 


Standard pressure = 760 millimetres = 29-922 inches. 


30 inches = 762 fs 
295 ,, = 740m 
29 = 77a 
285 ,, =724 ,, 
oB% Ye Seis pes 


iy 25-4 


=“: 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX E, 


739 


1. Table showing the Daily Yield of Water from a Roof with varying Rainfalls. 


Area of House, 10 feet by 20 feet, or 200 square feet. 


ae an : __,,|Mean daily yield Mean daily yield 
Mean Rainfall. eon. ea Sener 4 eae Soy ane of W: ates He ee Water a 
5 wettest year. driest year. 
inches. per cent, cubic feet. gallons. gallons. gallons. 

20 25 100 4°3 6°7 3°2 
25 20 135 7 76) 3°9 
30 20 145 6°8 9°4 4°5 
3D 20 155 79 11°0 50 
40 15 165 O7/ 131 (2 
45 15 170 10°9 14:2 8°6 


For any other size of Roof or amount of Rainfall, the numbers will be proportional. 


9 


(a) 1 Event. 


Chances. 
1 positive, 
1 negative, 
Total, 


(c) 3 Events. 


Chances. 
3 positive, 2 
2 positive, 1 negative, 
1 positive, 2 negative, 
3 negative, 


Total, 


10 positive, 
9 positive, 1 negative, 
8 positive, 2 negative, 
7 positive, 3 negative, 
6 positive, 4 negative, 
5 positive, 5 negative, 


Carry forward, 


Number of Events. 


(b) 2 Events. 


Chances. 


Table showing the Distribution of Positive and Negative Errors, according to 


1 2 positive, . 1 
1 1 positive, 1 negative, 2 
2 negative, ap 

2 Total, 4 

(d) 4 Events. 
Chances. 

1 4A positive, : sl 

3 3 positive, 1 negative, . 4 

3 2 positive, 2 negative, » © 

1 1 positive, 3 negative, we 

4 negative, sel 

8 Total, . ; 16 

(e) 10 Events. 

Chances. 

1 Brought forward, 638 
10 + positive, 6 negative, 210 
45 3 positive, 7 negative, 120 

120 2 positive, 8 negative, 45 
210 1 positive, 9 negative, 10 
252 | 10 negative, : ] 
638 Total, 1024 


In each case the number of chances corresponds to the coefficients of a binomial 
Thus, with one event we have (a+)! 


whose exponent is the number of events. 
with 2 events we have (a+b)?=a?+ 2ab+b?, and so on. 


=a+0: 


1 From a paper by H. Sowerby-Wallis, F.M.S., on l 
the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, vol. i., 1880 (Croydon Congress), p. 213 


“* Rainfall Collection,” 


Transactions of 


JE INT 1B) 13) x 


PAGE 
Ablution rooms, ‘ 497 
in tropical barracks, 506 
Abscisse, 483 
Abyssinian Expedition, water supplied 
on board ship, : : 30 
Acarus domesticus, j : 309 
farine, 271, 275, 276 
Access pipes to sewers, 107 
Accessory foods, 238 
Acclimatisation, is it possible ? ? B94 
Accoutrements, weights of, . ‘ 532 
Acetic acid in beer, . 125 
Acid, hydrochloric, effects of vapours of, 159 
Acids, factors for, : . : 7a | 
in beer and wine, ; 5 (Pil 
AcLAND, Sir H., on cholera in St 
Clement, 6 5 ql 
—— on minimum floor space re- 
quired, 4 : 184 
Act, Rivers Pollution, 96, 112 
Actinomyces, 6 426 
Admissions into hospital, number of, 574 
ADAMS on lead poisoning, . ‘ 42 
Adults, supply of water for, : : 27 
Aeroscope of POUCHET, : : 145 
African stations, 608 


Agave americana, : ‘ : 301 


Ague at Tilbury Fort, 63, 64 
brassfounders’, : 153 | 
Agues, decline of, in England, 62, note 


Air, 5 130 
albuminoid ammonia from or- 
ganic matter—ANGUS SMI‘ Bs 


Moss, DE CHAUMONT, 142, 143 | 
——— amount required for lights, 180 
——— amount peered for ventila- 
tion, : 175, 179 
—— carbonic acid i in, 131, 156 
chemical examination of, : 710 
composition of, 131, 394 
- currents of, effects, . : 391 
diseases from living substances 
in, 154 
diseases produced by impurities 
in, 151 
distribution of, i in ventilation, 186 
divided currents of, for purify- 
ing water, . 79 
estimation of free and albu- 
minoid ammonia in, ; 712 
examination of, 708 
—— examination of, by the senses, 708 
fresh, good effects of, in disease, 217 
foul, effects of, : 13) 
gaseous substances i in, 139, 156 
how is purity of, to be secured? 218 
impure, from combustion, ef- 
fects of, : : 5 163 


PAGE 

Air, impurities in, 132 

increased pressure of,. 393 

in holds of ships, . 50 

in soils, calculation of quantity, 2,3 

in the Arctic regions, 132 

—— lessened pressure of, o91 

——— limit of permissible impurity rio, 7/7 

——— mean movement of, é 187 
means by which it is set in 

motion, 186 

meter, CASELLA’S, 210 

—— microscopical examination of, 709 

mode of supplying, 182 

movement of, 390 

movement of, in room, 210 

| ——— movement of, perceptible rates, 183 
| movements produced by un- 

equal weights of, 189 


——— nitric and nitrous acidsin, . 713 
of cesspools, .- ; 
of churchyards and vaults, 148, 172 


— of enclosed spaces, 137 
— of marshes, 6 61, 150 
— of mines, . & : ; 151 
— of railway cars, 145 
——~- of sewers, : : 5 146 
——— of ships, CO, in, : 5 152 
—— of sick rooms, . ; 137 
——— of stables, COs: in, 141, 142 
— of towns, : 145, 148 
——— of workshops, : 139 
— organic matter in, eI wey 71, 
— oxidisable matter in, . : 712 
—— purification of, 6 431 

purifiers, action of, . , 431 

purifiers, gaseous, : : 432, 
—— purifiers, liquid, 6 : 432, 
——— purifiers, solid, 431 
—— quantity of, required, 175 
—— rate of movement of, . 210 


scheme for examination of, . 713 
——— sewer, producing enteric fever, 164-170 
solid particles in, 132, 133 
supplied, source of, 185 
suspended matters in, : 133 


temperature of, 384 
unknown conditions of, 174 
vapour in, from respiration, ° 142 
vitiated by combustion, : 143 
vitiated by respiration, 140, 160 


vitiated by respiration, effects of, 160 


vitiated by sewer air, - 146 
vitiated by sewers, effects of, 164 
vitiated by trades, ; 148 
warming of, 196, 197 
warming or cooling of, 186 


watery vapour in, : j 713 
weight of, : : ; 301 


742 INDEX. 

PAGE PAGE 
AITKEN on the growth of the recruit, 488 | Anguillule in water, . : : 675 
Albumen, E : 234 in air, . i 134 
passes through animal charcoal, 83 | ANGUS SMITH on ammonia in air Ban ae 712 
Albuminoids, . 234, 239 on estimation of COs, ; 710 
determine absor ption of oxygen, 234 | Animalcharcoal asa filter, . : 83 
quantity in diet, : 239-243 matter in water, . A 55 

Albuminoid ammonia in BWP, 6 143, 712 | ——— organic matter in water, dis- 
in water, d 693 solved, : 57, 58 
Alcock on frontier ulcer in India, A 74 | Animals, age of, x ; ; 256 
Alcohol, as an article of diet, 319, 8326 | ——— air required for, 5 179, 180 
as preventive of disease, E Bis) cubic space required for, 35 185 
destruction of, in the body, . 327 | ——— for food, weight of, . : 256 
dietetic use of, : : 336 | ——— inspection of, . : 2 256 
in bodily labour, 6 : 330 supply of water for, . ; 29 
in deficiency of food, . : dol | ANSTED on the drainage of wells, . 53 
- influence of, on organs, F 323 | Anthrax, ; : 5 ‘ 258 
in great cold, . ; 3 329 | Antozone, : 3 : 419 
in great heat,. - . : 329 Antwerp water- -works, : ‘ 84 
in mental work, é 0 331 | APJOHN’S formula, . : oo 406 
in war, . 032 | Apocrenic acid, ‘ ; 18 
per cent., table ‘for calculating, 726 | Appendix, c : : a 732 
remote effects of, : 326 | Apples, dried, : 314 
—— use of, under certain conditions, 329 | Approximate mean temperature, : 401 
Alcoholic rations, 517 | Aphtha epizootica, . - 257 
Aldershot, Cambridge Hospital, water Aqueducts, . : o7 
used in, : 31 | Aqueous vapour modifying heat, 9 14 
ALDRIDGE’S closet, 100, note | ARAGO on heat of sands, 5 5 0 dls} 
Aleppo evil, or Damascus ulcer, 74 | Arched basements, 4, 503 


Alyce in water, 56, 57, 674 


Algeria, Hucalyptus g globul ws 1D, ‘ 12 
Alimentary mucous membrane, “effects 
of impure water on, 5 ‘ 56 
Aliments, nitrogenous, : i 234 
Alkalies in food, é 5 238 
Alkaline solution, standard, for acidi- 
ties, . F ; ; 735 
Alluvial soils, . : : ; : 17 
Alluvial waters, 6 c c 50 
Altitude, correction for, é : 409 
Alum, effects of, in stopping diarrhea 
caused by impure water, . 6 a 
— in beer, : : 728 
—-— in bread and flour, F 291, 718 
—— in wine, é 732 
Aluminous salts, for water purification, 79 
for sewage precipitation, . 113 
America, marshes in chalk, . : 16 
American stations, . i 5 605 
—--— tube wells, NoRTON’s, 32, 148 
Ammonia, albuminoid, in air, 4 712 
— determination of, in water, . 695 
—--— free,inair, . ; ‘ WAP 
free, in soil air, ' 0 2 
——— in water, determination of, . 693 
Ammoniacal vapours, 144, 159 
Ammonium chloride, standard solu- 
tions. ; é 734 
—— sulphide in air, : : 144 
—— sulphide, test for lead and 
copper in water, - ; 680 
Amobein water, 6 C : 675 
Anchylostomum duodenale, . Hi 


ANDERSON, on purification of water 


by scrap iron, 81, 92 
Anemometer, GASELLA’ Ss, ‘ 6 210 
— NEUMANN’s, . ; : 210 
——— OSLER’S, ; ; , 417 
— ROBINSON’S, . ; F 417 
Aneurysm among soldiers, . , 568 
— causes of, : ; 568 
ANGrLL and HEHNER on butter 
analysis, 5 ; ‘ . 907-8 


Anguillula aceti, 5 ; d 348 


Arctic Expedition, work done by sledge 


parties, 366, note 
Area drained by wells, 52, 53 ~ 
sectional, in ventilation, i 193 
““ Argo,” case of, 62 
ARISTOTLE on impure drinking water, 75 
Army medical regulations, on ‘water, 25 
—— statistics, : : ; 657 
ARMSTRONG on lime juice, . 353 
ARNOTT, plans of ventilation, 188, 206 
ARNOTT’S pump for ventilation, 206, 505 
Arrangement of barracks, 501, 593 
Arr owroots, : : j 297 
Arsenic in water, tests {OTe 5 699 
— poisoning through water, . 78 
Artesian wells, : : 5 32 
—well water, . ; : 50 
Arum arrowroot, : : 3 297 
Ascaris lumbr icoides, : ; ttl 
Ashantee campaign, alcohol i in, ; 333 
—-—— tube wells in, . ere : 32 
——— purification of water, . 81, note 
Aspergillus glaucus, . ; 4 309 
MYCOSIS, : j 426 
Aspirators for measuring air, : 712 
——— description of, ; : 712 
Assimilation of food, : A . 252 
Atmidometer, BABINGTON’S, : 416 
Atmometer, LESLIE’S, . : 415 
Atmosphere, subterranean, . A 3 
Australian marshes, healthy, 4 18 
ATIFIELD, Prof., on dried potato, . 314 
Austrian soldier, rations of, . . 522 
Averages or means, calculation of, . 480 
Bacillus, : é : ; 672 
anthracis, ; 5 9 426 
malarice, 150, 155,426 
tuberculosis, 425-6 
——— septicemin, . ; d 426 
lepre, . : : , 426 
subtilis, : : ; 426 
ulna, . : ; 4 426 
comma, . 425-5 
of phthisis, 139, 155 


INDEX. 743 
PAGE PAGE 
Bacilli, é 426 | Beans, Indian, 296 
Bacteria, action in water, . 51, 52 | Bean starch, drawing ‘of, : 281 
—— and vibriones, signification of, 672 | BEATSON on prison diet in India, 246 
—— conditions favourable for, in BEAUFORT scale for force of wind, 418 
water, 672 | Beaumont on digestion, 247, 249 
inal, . 134, 147, 435-6 | BECHER on body temperature, 386 
in disease, 425 | Bedding, purification of : : 428 
Bacteridia in water, 672 | Beef, fresh, composition of, 243, 245, 254-5 
Bacteriform puncta in water, 672 essence of, BRAND’S, 312 
Bacteroids in water, 672 peptonoids, CARNRICK’S, : 312 
B#DEKER on copper poisoning from — salt, composition of, 243, 245 
water, ; 59 | Beer, j : 315 
Bahamas, , 5 603 — adulterations, : 5 727 
BAILeY-DENTON on intermittent —— alcohol in, 315, 725 
downward filtration of sewage, 115 | ———asan article of diet, : 316 
on water collection, 32 | — —— examination of, 724. 
BAILLARGER on goitre, 75, note | ——— physiological. action of, 316 
Bajra, or Bajri (millet), 295 | ——— quality of, . 124 
BAKEWELL on small-pox matter in air, 156 | BELL on specific oravity of butter fat, 308 
Baking, test for flour, 717 | BELLAT’S extract of meat, 313 
BALDWIN LATHAM, on ground water, 9 | Bell tent, cubic space of, 209 
BaL¥our on diet of Duke of York’s BENGER’S peptone jelly, : 312 
School, 6 : : 250 | Berlin, water of, contaminated by 
on army statistics, 558 coal gas, 6 ‘ : 53 
BALLARD on enteric fever at Numney, 67 enteric fever at, 8, note 
on cavalry horses, 130 | Bermuda, : 603 
Balloon ascents, 403 | Burr on effects of increased pressure 
——— effects on pulse, : 391 of air, : Z 393 
BALLot on cholera, . F : 69 | BERTHE on absorption of fat, . 248-9 
Ball traps, 103 | BERTHOLLET on water purification, 2 81 
BAu.y and CoINDET 0 on artificial pro- BETTINGTON on fever produced by 
duction of goitre, . : c Me marsh water at Tulliwaree, : 61 
BANNER’S ventilator, . 99 | Beverages and condiments, 315 
Banting system, success of, explained, 237 | Beverages, non-alcoholic, 5 338 
Barbadoes, 599 | Bhisties, water-carriers of Bengal, . 53 
leg, pachydermia or elephan- Bilharzia hematobia, 675-78 
tiasis, . 74, 600 — embryos of, in water, . 675 
BaRFEr’s process for coating i iron, 5 37 | Bilious remittent fevers, i . 4, 460 
Barium chloride as test for su pie Birmingham, sewage removal at, 128 
acid, . 679 | BiscHor, G., on Potable Water, 84, note 
——— nitrate solution for soap test, 733 | Biscuit, : ; : : 287 
BARKER, HERBERT, on preservation of Biscuits, meat, 313 
dead bodies, : : 381 | Bituminous lining for lead pipes 
Barley, : : : : 292 (M‘DouGALL’s, ANGUS SMITH’s), . 43 
structure of, . : 277-279 | Black-ash waste, as sewage precipitant, 113 
Barometer, 407 | BLACKLEY on hay fever, : 154 
——w— corrections for, 408 on spores in air, 135 
reading of, 408 | BLAGDEN and FORDYCE on tempera: 

— scales, 738 ture in ovens, 387 
Barrack Commission’s filter, 35, 36 one 1) | BLaKkE on treatment of phthisis in 
Barracks, : 492 openair, . 392, note 
-——— cavalry, 499 | BLANC on cholera at Yerrauda, 0 70 
—— cooling of, 505 on fever from water in Abys- 

infantry, 493 sinia, : : 5 62 
—— in forts and citadels 500 | Block filters, : 85 et seq. 
—— in hot climates, 501 | Block-tin pipes, 43 
on home service, 492 acted on by water containing 
—— — reports upon, . 500 nitrates, 2 43 
ventilation of, 199 | Board of Trade, minute on 1 water- 

— warming of, . : 2 497 fittings, j : : 40 
Barrels for storing water, . 2 3 Boat-race, work during, 3 367 
Baryta water as a test for CO,, 710 | Boilers, kitchen, water supply HOI, c 38 
Basements, paving and conereting, . 4 | Boiling of meat, c ; 268 

arching, : 4 of water, to purify, . 79 
BASTIAN on bacteria and vibr iones, 427 Boils, endemic, of, at Frankfort, from 
BATEMAN on water supply, . 5 Bile AAs) impure water, ; 73 
Bathing, good effects of, : ; 3/6 | Bouton, Sir F., on London water 
Batuo on Bilharzia, . é : 78 supply, c : 26 
Baths, ; . 5 . 27 | Bonvb’s terebene pr eparations, 445 

amount of water required for, euthermic stove, 231 

28, 30, 31 | Bone-burners, . ¢ : ; 174 
Bean and pea, ; 5 ZAR) Phil 74 30o0ts and shoes, : 5 530 
as food, 296 | Bothriocephalus latus from water, 5 On 


744 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
Bottles, shaking, for soap-test, : 688 | Butterine, or margarine, : ‘ 308 
BOUDET on Paris water, : 5 55 | Butyrate of lime causing diarrhcea, . 59 
BovuDIN on case of “ Argo,” . : 62 | Butyric acid, presence of, in water, . 50 
on impure water at Oran, . 58 | BUXBAUM, on enteric fever, . 8, note, 9 
— on yellow fever from water, . 73 | ByRNe on filtration, . 
Boufaric, in Algeria, fever lessened by 
subsoil drainage, 7 | Cabbage, composition of, 5 : 243 
Bovutron and BouDET method with Cactus as an antiscorbutic, . : 301 
the soap-test, 689 | Cajanus indicus, ; 4 , 296 
Bowprrcu on effects of drying- soil, 6 | Calamus ar omaticus, . : - 319 
and PHILBRICK on siphonage Calandra granaria, . 277 
of traps,  . 104 | Calcium carbonate in water, ‘import- 
Eowels, condition of, ; : 376 ance of, 687 
Boyp on the recruit, . j ¢ 488 | Calculation of ‘velocity of air ‘currents, 194 
Boyue’s ventilator, . : : 198 | Calculi, effects of water in producing, 16, 74 
Brackish water, effects of, . F 59 | Calcutta, Lewis and CUNNINGHAM 
Braxy in sheep, 4 3 258, 266 on soil of, 9, 18 
Brazil, “‘ calentura ” in, ‘ : 15 water supply, . 26, 31, 60 
Bread, : 3 : : 287 | Calorigen, GEORGE'S, : 196, 231 
——acid, . : ‘ : 289 | CALVERT on tin-lined pipes, . 49 
——— alum i in, . 291 | CALVERT’s carbolic acid powder, 125, 444 
chemical examination Oy 717 | Cambridge Hospital, water used in, . 31 
-—_—— dried, : . 31 description, . : : 224 
——— examination of, : : 717 | Camellia sasanqua, . : ° 344 
—— loss of weight in, : ; 290 | Camels, water required for, . 30 
——— making of, . 287 | Cameron, Sir C., on lead alloyed 
—— microscopical examination of, 290 with tin, : 45 
Breadth of houses in India, . 502 on toxicity of silicon fluoride, 153 
Brickfields and cement poe air of, 172 | Camps, c ¢ : 512 
British Guiana, ; 601 conservancy of, : 5 513 
British or potato arrowroot, 297 hospital, : : : 515 
BRITTAN and SWAYNE on ‘bodies in order of, . : 512 
air of cholera ward, ‘ ; 13 Canada, : 605 
Broad Street pump, . c : 68 | Canal de YOureq, as source of water in 
Bromine as an air purifier, . : 433 Paris, : F 5 BY, (18) 
Bromus serrafaleus, . 287 | Canna arrowroot, : : : 297 
Bronchial catarrh from i impure water, 61 | Cape Coast Castle, . : : 611 
Brucine solution, preparation of, . 736 frontier, impure water at, . 60 
BRUNEL, huts designed by, . : 507 of Good Hope, 612 
Brushwood, effects of, . 12, 24 HERSCHEL on heat of ‘sands, . : 13 
BRYDEN’S tables of mortality inIndia, 635 | Carbalite, substitute for carferal, 84, 88 
Buckwheat, . : 295 | Carbide, magnetic, as filter, . : 86 
structure of, “284, 285 | Carbo-hydrates, , 5 234, 239 
BUcHAN’S trap, : 105 (fig. 20) in articles of diet, . : 243 
BUCHANAN on cause of enteric fever, 8 | Carbolic acid as air purifier, . ; 433 
on effects of drying soil, : 6 acid or phenol, ; : 443 
on health of towns, . 120 powders, : ‘ Z 444 
water- ee at Caius Col- Carbon dioxide. See Carbonic acid. 
lege, . 66 | Carbon disulphide in air, 3 4 159 
Buda- Pest, rate of movement of Carbon in articles of diet, . 245 
ground water, 5,6 | Carbon monoxide. See Carbonie 
enteric fever at, 8, 10 oxide. 
BunpD on enteric fever, : 5 65 | Carbonates in water, action on lead, 41 
BUHL on ground water and fever, . 8 Mour’s process for, . 699 
Bulst, on heat of soil in India, : 13 Carbonic acid, behaviour with soap, 690 
Bulama, diarrhoea from impure water at, 57 calculation of, in air, 4 710 
BURDON-SANDERSON on bacteria in effects of, : 156 
water, . : ; : 67 elimination of, during exercise, 356 
Burdwan, fever at, . : : a free, in water by soap-test, . 690 
Burettes, size of, : 68 given off in respiration 140, 176 
used in measuring porosity of in alr, 130, 131 
soil, . ; : 3 in air, estimation of, . : 710 
Burnett’s fluid, : : : 442 in soil- -air, : 1, 10 
Burning of the dead, . : - 380 in solids of water, . : 686 
Butter, : : i : 305 in water, j : 676 
adulterations of, : : 308 in water, action on lead, ; 41 
examination of, : 306-8 oxide, effects of, ¢ : 157 
—— fat of, , 306 oxide from stoves, ; : 231 
— melting, sinking, and ‘floating Carboniferous formations, . ; 16 
points of, . 307 | Carbonisation of sewage, 5 3 126 
—— proportion ‘of fixed and volatile Carburetted hydrogen in air, ; 158 
acids in, 5 . 5 307 in soil-air, : : 2 1 
——— preservation of, : : 309 in water, j ; 5 53 


INDEX. 745 
PAGE PAGE 
Carferal, no longer used, j ; 84 Chlorine, determination of, . ; 687 
CARNELLEY, HALDANE, and ANDERSON —- in food, s ; j 238 
on CO, in town air, . 132 | ——-in water, ‘ : 687 
on Bacteria in air, 136, 137 | —— in water, inference from, 682, 701 

on smellasatest, . 0 179 | Chlorosis, Egyptian, caused by Doch- 
CARPENTER on enteric fever at Croy- mius duodenalis, 77, note 

don, 3 65 | Cholera absent in towns with pure 
Carriage of necessaries and armament, 585 water supply, ; 5 WO, 7 
Carrots, composition of, ‘ ; 243 | ———— action of sewers in, . : 455 
Casein, , F ; 239 | ————and ground water, . : 9 
CASELLA’S air- meter, : ; 210 and telluric effluvia, . 6 4 
Casks for storing water, ; : 38 | — —at Gibraltar, . ; : 583 
measurement of, : : 33 | —— at Hurdwar, . F F 69 
Cassava, ‘ ‘ 297 | ———at Malta, P : : 588 
Cast-iron water pipes, 6 5 43 | —-— at Theydon-Bois, é 6 68 
Caterham, enteric fever at, . ; 66 | —-—at Yerrauda, . : ‘ 70 
CATTEL on cholera at Devna, 5 70 | —— belts, . 525 

on fever in Natal, . : 7 | —-—— diminished by pure water supply 

Cattle plague, ; 258, 266 at Calcutta, . 72, note 
Causus, or heat fever, ; ‘ 386 | —-— at Hurda, 72, note 
Cavalry barracks, 6 ‘ F 499 disinfection in, : 438 

Cawnpore on alluvial soil, . j 17 | —— from drinking water at Broad 
Cells, . 498 Street, : 5 68 
Census and HippocraTEs on variety ——— from water in India, ; 0 69 
of diet and temperance, . 375 | ——— in Baden, , ite 6 69 
Cement, sewage, : : : 113 | ———in Berlin, ; : : rel 
works, ; : : : 173 | ———inBreslau, . : é 71 
Centigrade scale, ‘ 404, 738 | —— in Copenhagen, : : 71 
Cerealin, - ; F 270 | ——— in East London, : : 69 
Cerebro-spinal meningitis, . 5 461 | ———in Holland, . F j 69 
Cesspools, air of, ; ‘ j 146 | ———in Haarlem, . 4 : 71 
Ceylon, 617 | ——— in Horsleydown, : : 68 
CHADWICK’S system of cottage warm- ——— in Konigsberg, 3: : 71 
ing. 6 : ; ‘ 231 | ———in Lambeth, . F ; ral 
Chalk waters, . : ‘ : 49 | ———jinMunich, . : ; 69 
as soil, 16 | ——— in Neweastle-on-Tyne, ; 68 
CHALVET on air of Hopital St Louis, 138 | ——— in Russia, in winter, . : 72 
CHAMPOUILLON on dysentery from — ——inSaxony, . : : 69 
water of Canal de l’Ourcq, : 60 | ——— in Silesia, : 6 : 71 
CHAPMAN on ammonia in me : 712 | ——— in Southampton, : : 68 
Chara, in water, : 36 | ——— in Southwark, £ ; 71 
Charcoal, animal, as a \ filter, . : ; 83 in Spain (1885), : : ql 
— for purifying water, . : 83 | -—-— in sugar-factory, RICHTER, . 69 
—-— plan of sewage removal, ; 113 | ———in the Bengal Presidency, . 638 
sea-weed, as filter, . : 84 | ———inVienna, . ; : 69 
vegetable and peat, . : 84 | ——— internal causes of, . é 457 
wood, as filter, : : 84 | ——— J. M. CUNINGHAM on, : 453 
Charqui, 311 | —— localisation of, : j 455 
Charring casks, for purifying water, 81 | ——— PETTENKOFER On, . 453, 455 
Cheese, 309 | ——— MACNAMARA on, 454 
Chemical agents, effects on low forms measures to be adopted against, 640 
of life, i 430 | ——— prevention of, . 453 
Chemical characters of dr inking water, 703 CRERAR, on sulphur nee for, 456 
Chemical examination of the sediment ——-— propagated by water, . : 67 
of water, . : F ; 676 | ——— prophylactic measures in, . 458 
Cheminée Vappel,  . ! : 202 portability of, : : 453 
Chenopodium album, . ; 301 | ——— quarantine in, ; 453 
Quinoa, 3 286, note FAUVEL on quarantine is 454 
Chester, loss of water on constant —-— tables of mortality from, j 638 
supply, . 39 | ——— transmission through air, . 455 
CHEVERS on impure water at Cul- —— transmission through food, . 456 
cutta, . : 60 | —-— transmission through water, . 456 
—-— on water plants i in tanks, 3 36 | ——— use of tents in, j , 457 
Chicory, : 341 | Cholam,akind of millet, . : 295 
Children, supply of water for, 27 | CHOWNE’S syphon ventilator, ; 199 
Chimneys, currents in, 201, 202 | Chromate of potassium, use of, : 687 
China, . : 81, note, 168, 644 | CHURCH on moisture of soil, . ; 4 
Chloranthus inconspicuus, . : 344 | Cicer arietinum, : 6 . 296 
Chloride of sodium in air, 131, 134 | Ciliated infusoria in water, . : 674 
Chlorides in water, action on lead, . 41 | Circle, area of, 5 ; : 208 
—-— determination, 5 ‘ 687 | Circular wards, . 224 
Chlorine as air-purifier, ; : 32 | Cwrro-cumulo-str atus, or nimbus, ; 418 
as disinfectant, 5 ; 439 | Cirro-cumulus, 5 : , 418 


746 


INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
Cirro-stratus, . 418 | Collection of water, . ; : 31 
Cirrus, : 418 | Colostrum in milk, 722 
Cisterns, cleaning Oi 35 Colouring matters in wine, 731 
— materials “of,” 36, 37 | COMBES’ air meter, 210 
——— overflow pipes of, should not Combined carbonic acid, restoration ‘of, 
pass into sewers, 37 to solids in water, . 686 
protection of, . 37 | Combustion, effects of breathing air 
storage of water in, 36 rendered impure by, 163 
Citric acid in scurvy, . 469 vitiation of air by, 143 
Citrus avida, . 303 | Comma Bacillus, Kocu’s, 425-6 
limetta, 358 | Composition of drinking water, < 43 
limonum, 393 | Condiments, - : : 347 
Claremont, lead poisoning at, 42 | Conduction, 229, 230 
CLARKE, Dr ROBERT, on Hygiene on Conduits, open, impurities of, ; 57 
the West Coast, : 611 | Conpy’s fiuid for cleansing filters, < 87 
CLARK’s method of purifying water, 80 for purifying water, : : 80 
soap test for water, ; 688 for purifying sewage, 113 
Classification, hygienic, of drinking Cone, cubic content of, 209 
waters, 703 | Cones flour, . x = : 287 
by Rivers Pollution Commis- Conferve in water, 674 
sion, . 47 | Confinement to barracks in the tropics, 
Clavelée in sheep, 258 evil effects of, . 
Clay as soil, 17 | Conformation of locality, : : 23 
Clayey soils, temperature of, 13 | Conservancy of camps, 513 
Clay-slate, water from, 48 | Constipation, . : 376 
as soil, 5 15 | Contagia, BEALE on, 3 423 
Clay waters, 50 | ——— effects of chemical agents on, 430 
Cleanliness as affecting health, 376 | ———— HALLIER on, 5 424 
Cleansing of filters, 86 | ——-— nature of, ; 423 
CLEMENS on endemic of boils at propagation of, in air, . 155, 156 
Frankfort, 73 RICHARDSON on, 424 
Climate, 382 spread of, : 423 
influence of, on 1 diet, 241 | Contagions, spread of, in air, 155 
of West Indies, 591 | Contagious Diseases Acts, effects of,. 476 
Closets, water, 29 Convection, : ‘ 229 
Clothes, purification of, 428 | Cooked food, analysis of, 243 
Clothing, 369 | Cooking of meat, : : 268 
articles ‘of, for ‘soldiers, 524, 526 | —— of peas and beans, . : 296 
—-— chemical reaction of fabrics, . 369 | Cooling of air, : : 5 505 
——— general conclusions on, 374 Copper i in bread, - 719 
——— materials, conducting powers of, 370 in water, miners of Attacama, 59 
——— materials of, : 2 369 tests for, : : : 680 
—-— of the soldier, . 523 | ———— poisoning from water, 59, 78 
Cloud, estimation of amount of, 418 solution for glucose and lactin, 736 
Clouds, 418 tinned water pipes, : 43 
CLOUSTON on dysentery from sewage Correction for temperature in CO, 
irrigation, 118 estimation, . 711 
Coal gas, air required for combustion, 144 | Cotton as an article of dress, 369 
— composition of, 144 fibre, . 370 
in soil air, 3 | ——— soil («<regur vy. of India, 4, 621 
—— in water, 53 | Coventry, effects of impure water in, 58 
os products of combustion, 144 | Cowls, plans of, ; 189, 193 
COBBOLD on entozoa through water, 77, 78 | Cream, quantity i in milk, : 720 
Cocculus indicus in beer, : 729 | CREASE’S filters (figs. 7 and 5), 5 89 
Cochineal as a test for acidity, 736 | ——-— ship filters, . : 88 
——— solution, preparation of, 736 | ——— patent cement, : : 37 
Cocoa, composition of, 346 | Cremation of the dead, ‘ 380 
action of, 238 | Crenic acid, . ‘ ‘ 18 
a adulterations of, 347 | Cresylic acid or cresol, 433, 443 
——w— as an article of dict, : 346 | Cretinism, : 5 75 
— structure, of 347, 348 | CROOKES’ tests for carbolic acid, 443 
Coefficients of traction, : 367 | Croydon, enteric fever at, 10, 65 
Coffee, . 338 | ——— water, effects of, : : 5H 
——— action of, - 238 | Cubic space, amount necessary, 182 
a adulterations of, 340 | ——— eannot take the place of change 
— as an article of diet, 338 of air, : 185 
— making of, 340 | -—-— measurement of, 208 
structure of, 340-1 | CULLEN on diminution of cholera at 
Coke, water purifier, . 81, 84 Hurda, 72, note 
C ‘oleps hirtus, . 674 | Cultivated lands, water from, 5 50 
CoHN on bacteria in vaccine lymph, 424-5 | Cumulo-stratus, 418 
Colchicin in beer, 729 | Cumulus, : : 418 
CoLIN on effect of marsh water, 63 CUNNINGH AMand LEWIS on Delhi boil, 74 


INDEX. 747 
PAGE PAGE 
CUNNINGHAM and LEWIS on ground- Desiceated soap, EnwARDs’, 313 
water and cholera at Calcutta, 9 | Desmids in water, 674 
on heat of soil at Calcutta, 13, 20 | Devna, cholera at, 70 
— D. D., on bacteria in air, 135, 147 | Dew, as source of water supply, 45 
CUNINGHAM, J. M., on cholera, : 69 point, j 405 
Cupralum, : : : 455 | Dextrin, 234 
Curcuma arrowroot, 297 | Dhurmsala, hill diarrhoea, cause ote 57 
Cycas cir cinalis, 297 | Dhara, a kind of millet, 295 
Cyclops quadricornis in water (fig. 103), 675 | Diarrhoea caused by brackish water, 59 
Cylinder, cubic content of, é 209 — caused by dissolved animal 
Cyprus, : 590 organic matter in water, 57 
Cysticercus cellulosce, ‘ 259 | ——-— caused by nitrates and buty- 
tenwicollis, 259 rates, 59 
——— diminution of, by efficient 
D trap, bad form, 103 sewerage, . 120 
Dal, a kind of vetch, 296 | ——— from dissolved mineral matter 
Damper, Australian, . 9 287 in water, 58 
Dampness of soil, effects of, . 6 | ——— from feetid gases in water, 58 
Damp-proof courses, 214 | ——— from impure water, 56 
DANCER on spores in air, 135 | ——— hill, of India, cause of, 57 
Danson’s tables, : 488 | ——-— prevention of, : 463 
Danube affecting ground water, : 6 | Diatoms in water, 83, note, 674 
Daphnia pulee, in water (fig. 102), 675 | Diet for laborious work, : 241 
D’ArceEv’s ventilation plans, 204 | —-— for men at rest, 240 
Darnel grass, . 286 | —— for ordinary labour, 240 
DAVIDSON on “drake” or darnell eras, 286 for soldiers in the field, 241 
DAVIS on dysentery from impure water general principles of, . 233 
at Tortola, . 59 MOLESCHOTT on, 240 
Davy, JOHN, on body temperature, 228 of prisoners, ; 241 
DEACON on the waste of water in towns, 39 PETTENKOFER and Vorr on, - 240 
Dead, burial of, at sea, - 380 PLAYFAIR on, . 2 240 
burial of, on land, 379 RANKE on, ; 240 
—-— cremation of, , 380 standard for adult, 240 
—-— disposal of, in war, 380-1 standard, proportions of con- 
—— — disposal of the, 378 stituents, ; 5 
DEAN’S gully trap, 106 WILSON on, : 245 
Death and invaliding at home, 560 | Diets, table for calculating, . 243 
rate of European armies, 561 | DiNnGER on cholera from water, 69 
De CHAUMONT, experiments on air, 176 | Diphtheria from impure water, 13 
—— his formule for size of inlets from impure milk, ; 305 
and outlets, . 194, note | Dip-trap, or mason’s trap, bad form, 103 
—— his formule for ventilation Disconnection of pipes and sewers, . 105 
calculations, . 177-9 | Disease, prevention of, 447 
——— on air of hospitals, 181 | Diseases arising from altered quality 
—— on carbonic acid in air of bar- of meat, . 263 
racks, hospitals, and prisons, 140 attributed to telluric effluvia, 4 
on CO, in air of London, 149 connected with moisture and 
on dried potato, 314 ground water, 6 
—— on enteric fever from water- ——— connected with the quality of of 
poisoning, . 37, note flour and bread, 291 
on filtration, F j 83 non-specific, prevention of, 463 
—-— on fumigations, 436 — wasting, of animals, . 264 
—— - on humidity of air, 181 | Disinfecting chambers, 428 
on organic matter in air of Disinfection and Deodorisation, 422 
London, 149 — in bubo plague, 438 
—— on smell, as a test of purity in in ——-- in cattle plague, 440 
alr, 176, 177, 708 | ——-—in cholera, 438 
——— on taste of constituents in water, 669 | —-——in dysentery, . 439 
—— on the effect of heat on fabrics, 429 | —-—— in enteric fever, 438 
——— on theory of ventilation, 176 | ——— in exanthemata, 437 
on work and velocity, 367, note | ——-— in measles, 437 
Delhi boil, etfects of impure pate : 74 | —— in smallpox, 437 
Demerara, - (Oil in typhus, 437 
DEMPSTER and TAYLOR on fever — in yellow fever, ; 439 
caused by the Ganges and Jumna Dissolved animal organic matter in 
Canal, 5 ; : : 7 water, 57 
Dengue, - es 452 solids in n water, 683 
i 595 | Distillation of water, to purify, 79 
Deodorisation of sewage, 123 et $0, 440-6 | Distilled and ice water may contain 
DeE RENZy on enteric fever in Millbank bacteridia, 673 
Prison, : ‘ 66 | —-— water, aeration of, 46 
DERBY on ague in Massachusetts, 7, note | ——-— water, action on lead, 4] 
DESAGULIERS’ wheel, . c 205, 504 | ——— water, impurities in, 46 


748 INDEX 
PAGE PAGE 

Distilled water, preparation of, ; 46 | Effluvia, teas diseases form, i 4 
—— water, pure, : 9 688 | Eges, : 309 
Distoma hepaticum, . : : 77 dried, 314 
Distribution of water, 5 . 37, 53 | ——— of worms in water, 674 
Dobrudscha, cholera in, é ; 70 | Egypt, . 646 
Dochmius duodenalis, : } 77 | Elastic tension (or force) of vapour, : 406 
Dome, cubic content of, : : 209 | EHRENBERG on dust showers, : 134 
DONKIN, on CO, in air, 177, note | Elbe influencing ground-water, : 5 
e Double,” : 546 | Electrical conditions, 397 
DOULTON’S pipe joint, 102, note | Electricity, modes of estimating, 420 
Dracunculus, . 600 | Elephantiasis of the Arabs, . 0 74 
Drainage of soil, effects of, on health, 7,8 | Elephants, water required for, - 30 
Drain pipes, fall Oe, ‘ : 103 | Lleusine corocana (millet), 295 
Drains, laying of, : 102 | Elevation,as preventive of paroxysmal 

materials for, . 100 fever, : 449 
** Drake,” or Darnel Grass, 286 | ——— effect of, in yellow fever, 451 
Drills and marches, : 544 | Exvror, Sir GEORGE, on alcohol at 
Drinking water, composition ‘of, : 43 siege of Gibraltar, . 339 

water, impurities of source, . 48 | Ellipse, area of, 208 
— water, quality of, é 43 | Emanations from streams polluted by 


——} water, impurities i in, their origin, 48 
DRUITT on absorption of sewer gases 
by water, . 52, note 


Dry air, effects of, in arresting disease, 390 
Dry closets, arrangement of, 126 
— plans of sewage removal, : 122 
DRYSDALE and HAYWARD, system of 
heating, . 232, note 


Dublin, experiments ¢ on water at, 27, 28, 29 
Dvnpas THOMSON on air of cholera 
wards, 9 
Dundee Royal Infirmary , air ‘of, 
Dupré and WANKLYN on process for 
alum in bread, : 2 718 
on ethers in wine, 317 
DURAND-CLAYE, on enteric fever in 
Paris, : , 10 


138 
138 


Dust and Sand showers, : 134 
Dyer, Prof. THISLETON, on ‘‘ Drake,” 286 
Dysentery and telluric effluvia, : 4 
at Calcutta, . 2 10 
at Cape Coast Castle, : 60 
—-— at Guadaloupe from impure 
water, 60 
——-— at Prague from i impure water, 60 
— at Walcheren, : 5 60 
——— disinfection in, 439 
——— from inipure water, . ; 59 
—— from impure water at Calcutta, 60 
——— from impure water at Niirn- 
berg, . ; . 60, note 
—— in Barbadoes, . 600 


——— in Peninsula from impure water, 60 


— in West Indies, 6 592 
——— on the West Coast of “Africa, 609 
= prevention of, 463 


Dyspepsia from impure water, é 56 


Dytiscus, larvee of, in water, . 675 
Earth closets, MoULE’s 124 
EASSIE on cremation, 5 380 
— on sanitary examination of a 
dwelling, . : : 215, 216 
Vchinoc occus, . ; 4 A 267 
Eczema epizootica, . : 304 
Edinburgh, sewage irrigation at, 118 
— water of, ‘lead i in, : ; 42 
——— water supply, 26, 31 
EDMONDS’ method of ventilation, : 203 
EpWARDs’ desiccated soup, . ; 313 
Effluent water of sewage, conditions 
ne 3 116, 117 
Effluvia from decomposing animals, . 173 


feecal matter, : 170 


Energy obtainable from food, 246, 248 

— potential or latent, i 235 
— whence derivable, 235 
Enteric fever and ground water, .- 8 
——atBedford, . 8 


—— at Caius College, Cambridge, 66, note 


——— at Cowbridge, , note 
——— at Garnkirk, Glasgow, : 66 
—— at Gibraltar, 584 
— at Halle, a 5 : 66 
—— at Malta, 588 
—— at Munich, a 8, 65 
—-—atNunney, . : : 67 
——— at Ratho, é 65 
—-— at Sedgley Park School, F 67 
—— at Sydenham, 6 65 
-—_—— BUCHANAN on, 66, note 
—w— BuDD on, ; 5 ‘ 66 
——— CARPENTER on, 4 ; 65 
—— carried by milk, : 305 
—— connection of, with soil, 4,8 
——— disinfection in, : 433 
——— FLINT on, 3 : 65 
—— from water- -poisoning, 37, 65 
—-— from water (WALZ on), : 65 
in Millbank Prison, . : 66 
——-— in European armies, . 562 
in Paris, ; : j 10 
-—— JENNER On, . § : 66 
——— MULLER on, . B 65 

=== OF typhoid’ fever, prevention 
Olean. 459 

and cholera, reduction of, by 
efficient sewerage, . 120 
——— RICHTER On, . 0 3 65 
-——_— RovuTHon, . : : 65 
——— SCHMITT on, . . : 65 
——— SIMON on, 66 

spread of, from deficient water- 

supply, ; : ‘ 54 
Entomostraca in water, 675 

Entozoa, danger from sewage irriga- 
tion, . 5 : 119 
in water, j 76 
Ephestia elutella, or cocoa moth, 277 
Epithelium in air, 137, 138 
— in water, : : ; 672 
Equipment, . ; : 4 532 
— new infantry, - 538 


-——— of European armies, average 
weight of, . : : 535 
. lal 
Ergot in flour, test for, : 0 717 


INDEX. 749 
PAGE PAGE 
Ergotism, : F 294 | Farms, sewage, “ é L 118 
Error, mean, . : é 482 | Farnham waters, § - : 49 
——— of mean square, : : 482 | Farr on cholera outbreaks, . - 68 
—-— probable, 5 ‘ F 482 life tables, : : 485 
Eruptive fevers, : 3 j 461 on mean age at death, : 484 
Erysipelas, prevention of, . : 461 | Fasciola hepatica, “liver fluke . < 77 
——— from impure water, . ¢ 73 | Fats, . : 234, 239 
Erzeroum, malarious marshes at, . 25 | absorption of, . 248, 249 
Eskimos, food of," 2 236 | ——-—— amount of, in diets, 240 
LEssentia bina, : 728 | ——and carbohydrates, relations of, 235 
Eucalyptus globulus in n Algeria, j 12 | ——— furnished by nitrogenous sub- 
Euchlorine as disinfectant, . : 432 stances, ‘ 236 
Euglenein water, . , p 674 in articles of diet, : 243 
Buglena pyrum, : 674 | ————in milk, by VocEL’s method 
— viridis, 3 ; : 674 table, s 721 
Euphorbium gives poroneus PEEOR SE Fatty acids in water hurtful, : 59 
ties to milk, : 305 | FAUGHT on ague from water at Til- 
Evaporation, . E F 415 bury Fort, . 63, 64 
—-— from skin and lungs, i 356, 358 | FAURE on the water of the Landes, > IO) OF 
—— from tropical seas, . : 416 | FAUVEL, on quarantine, 45 
from soil, cooling effect of, . 12 | FrHuinc’s solution, . - 736 
from trees, cooling effect of, : 12 | FERGUSON on goitre in Bari Daab, 3 76 
Exanthemata, disinfection i in, F 437 on fever at Bari Doab, ‘ 7 
Excreta, amount of, . 5 93 | FERGUSSON, WILLIAM, on alcohol, 334 
deodorising powders for, 123, 440 | ——— on the life of the ee : 579 
methods of removal of, 94-129 | Ferralum, 5 es 445 
——— pail systems, . . ie 128 | Ferric salts, tests for, 679 
== THMGE De 94 | Ferrous salts, tests fares 679 
——— removal of, by dry methods, . : 122 sulphide and goitre, : 76 
——— removal of, by water, : 97 | Fever at the Mauritius, 614 
—— solid and fiuid, amount of, . 93 | - bilious remittent, . 4, 460 
Exercise, Z 355 | ——— bilious remittent, at Malta, . 588 
—-—— amount which ought to ihe —-— continued, cause of, . . 572 
taken, 364 enteric, from telluric effluvia, 4 
== andl rest, absorption and eli- —-— eruptive, c . é 461. 
mination during, : 356 in Ceylon, . : 619 
——— as affecting health, : 376 produced by marsh water at 
.——— changes in “the muscles during, 361 Bedford, : 62 
—-— general effect of, - : 364 produced by marsh water at 
—— effects of, 355 Sheerness, . 62 
effects of, on generative or- produced by marsh water at 
gans and kidneys, . 359 Tilbury Fort, 63 
——— effects of, on heart and vessels, B07 produced by marsh water at 
——— effects of, on respiration, . 355 Versailles, . 62 
—— effects of, on the bowels, : 359 produced by marsh water on 
—— effects of, on the digestive board ‘‘ Argo,” : : 62 
system, 359 | —— paroxysmal in J amaica, 596 
--—— effects of, on the elimination —-— relapsing, : : 460 
of nitrogen, 359 enteric or typh oid, 459 
—— effects of, on the nervous sys- —— typhus, 458 
tem, . ; 358 | Fevers, paroxysmal, “from telluric 
—— effects of, on the skin, : 308 effluvia, : 4 
—— effects of, on temperature of yellow, prevention of, ° 449 
the body, . ; 361 | Fibrin, : 234 
on the voluntary muscles, : 358 | Fick and WISLICENUS on elimina- 
Extract of meat, value and use of, . 518 tion of nitrogen, a : 359 
Extraction of air by fan or screw, 204 on muscular action, Z 235 
of air by heat, pbjeckions to, 204 | Frevp’s flush-tank, . Den copes 102 
——— of air by heat, F 201 manhole (figs. 22-24), : 105 
- of air by steam-jets, ‘ é 204 | Filaria dracunculus, Guinea worm, . 77, 675 
Extractum carnis, LIEBIG’s, . : dll sanguinis hominis (LEWIS), . 78, 675 
EyRz, General H., his committee, . 538 | Filter, animal charcoal, : : 3 85 
——— Barrack Commission’s, 35, 36 
Fabrics, effect of heaton, . ‘ 429 beds, composition of, : 82 
Factor for chlorine, . ; : 687 CHAMBERLAND, used by PAs- 
Factories, air of, : = : 148 TEUR, 6 85 
Factors for soap measures, . : 688 CHANOIT, 5) 
— — GLAISHER’s, . 405 MAIGNEN’S, 85, 86, 88 
Fecal matter, effects of emanations — magnetic carbide, 5 
from, 170 | ——— pocket, c : 89 
Fagopyrum esculentum, buckwheat, 284, 295 ——— sea-weed charcoal, é ‘ 84 
Fak and SCHEFFER, pe bere nts on ——— spongy iron, . . 84, 91 
animals, 3 54 | ——— vegetable and peat char coal, . 84 


750 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
Filters, block. undesirable, 87 | Fortsandcitadels, . E 500 
cleansing of, 86 | Fox, CORNELIUS, on ozone, 395, 419 
CREASE’S, 84, 91, 92 | FRANCIS on weight of lungs in tropics, 388 
domestic, 84 at seq. | FRANK (of Munich) on cholera, . 9, notes 
pipe, 87 | Frankfort, epidemic of boils in, : 73 
simple forms (figs. 3-6), 90 | FRANKLAND’S experiments on scat- 
ship, - 88 tering of solid and haus 
— cistern, bad, 87 matter in sewer air, 147 
Filtration of sewage, . 115 method for organic matter i in 
of water, 81 water, ; : 684 
BYRNE on, 83 on fungi in water, F : 673 
—— experiments on, 83 et seq. on gasesin water, . 677 
——— NOTTER on, 83 on potential energy, . 247, 248 
—W— on the march, 89 on previous sewage contamina- 
——— single filter (fig. 1), 35, 36 tion, . 682 
—— WITT on, 3 82 | on purification of water in 
through sand and gravel, 81, 82 streams, : : . 52, note 
FINKE on marsh water in Holland on temperature of evaporation 
and Hungary, : ; 63 for solids of water, . 85 
Fixed solids in water, 686 on the water of the Irwell, 52, note 
Flap-traps, 103 | FRANKLAND, P. F., on purification of 
FLECK on arsenious acid i in air, 137 water, 5 Sil 
on soil-air, ; 1,2 | Free carbonic acid in water deter- 
Fleischpulver, MEINART’S, dll mined by soap-test, : 690 
FLEMING on Delhi boil, 74 | Freezing-mixture for arresting organic 
Flesh of diseased animals, effects of, 264 matter in air, 


FLINT, AUSTIN, on enteric fever at 


Boston, 65 
Floors of barracks, 503 
Floor-space required, . 184 
Flour, . : : 271 

adulteration of, 277 
cooking of, 287 
diseases of, 275 
examination of, 715 
—— microscopical examination of, 272 
of meat, = 311 
—— PELicor’s analysis, 715 
— puccinia in, 275 
Fluctuations of temperature, 384 
FLUGGE, on foods, 240 
Fluid Beef, JOHNSTON'S, : : 312 
Meat, SAVORY and MOooRE’s, . 312 
Flush-tank, FIELD’ Ss, 3 105 
Fopor on soil air, 12,3 
on ground water, 5, 6 
on enteric fever, 8, 10 
Feetid gases in water, 58 
Food, . : - : 233 
amount of, in good diet, 240 
concentrated and preserved, . 310 
—w— deficiency of, . ‘ 252 
digestibility of, : 249 
diseases connected with, 250 
——— energy obtainable from, 246, 248 
—— excess of, : 251 
liquid, Mvrpocn’ S, 312 
of the soldier, . 515 
of the soldier in India, ‘ 630 
quality of, 253, 254 
quantity of proximate aliment 
necessary, : 240-242 
salts in, 240-242 
variety necessary, : 250 
Foot and mouth disease, : 257, 266 
** Foots,” : 728 
Foot- -tons, amount of, in exercise, 365 
Forage-cap, 527 
FORBE S, on yearly temperature of 

soil, . 4 - 14 
Force regulators, 23 
Foreign service, 581 
FORSTER on cholera in Silesia, 71 


French or metrical weights, equiva- 

lents of, in English weights, 

685, note, and Appendix B:3 737 
soldier, equipment of, : 535 
soldier, rations of, . 519 
steps in marching, length of, 546 
Friction of air in tubes, losses by, 190, 191 
FRIEDEL on fever at Hone ees 19 


Fumigation, 5 430 
Fungi in air, .« 154, 155 
in flour, 


275 
56, 79, 673 


GALEN’S division of life, 77 
GALTON’S stoves, : 195, ‘200, 231 
Gambia, 610 
GAMGEE, Professor, on “braxy,” > 258 
on calculiin sheep from water, 75 
Ganges, effects of water of the, 5 
and Jumna Canal, effects of, 
in producing fever, . 5 
Gangrene, hospital, . 462 
Gas, combustion of, effects on : health, 164 
coal, getting into houses from 


in water, 


soil air, 3 5 - 3 
Gaseous substances in air, . : 139 
Gases in water, : 676 
in water, effects of ‘organic 
matteron, . 676 
in water, FRANKLAND’S ee 
thod of analysis, . ; 677 
— in water, MAcNAMARA’S me- 
thod of analysis, . : 677 
in water, reasons for suspicion 683 
Gauge, rain, . : : 414 
Gault clay, . : 16 
Gelatin and chondrin, 234, 239, 247 
value as food, - 247 
General diseases, ; : 577 
Geological formation, influence of, 
on drinking water, c : 48 
Geological terms, . : 21 
GERARDIN on lustre of water, - 669 
German soldier, equipment of, : 535 
- rations of, 520 
steps in marching, length 
Oly ae : 546 


————- 


— 


INDEX. 751 
PAGE PAGE 
GIBB on effects of sewage- eee Habitations, . 213 
water, : ‘ : 57 conditions for i insuring healthy, 213 
Gibraltar, : : i 581 dryness of, essential, 214 
water supply, « : . 386, 73 | Heemoptysis simulated by leeches in 
*¢ Gid,” “sturdy,” or “tumsick,” ; 258 the pharynx, 78 
GIMBERT on gum-tres in Algeria, ‘ 12 | HAINe’s patent tin-lined pipe, : 42 
GLAISHER’S factors, . s 405 | Hair dyes, effects of, . : 376 
Glanders and farey in horses, : 268 | Hates’ bellows for ventilation, : 206 
Glasgow, LEECH on hard water in, . 56 | Hatt, Sir JOHN, on alcohol, 332 
water-supply, ‘ 26 HALLIDAY, Sir oA on dysentery in 
hospitals, water used at, < dl Barbadoes, . 600 
Glengarry cap, 527 | HALLIER, Professor, his views on 
Gast BROWN on unsiphoning traps, 104 fungi in air, 155 
Globulin 234 Hamble, the, affecting round water, , 6 
Glutin i in flour, determination Oy 716 | Hardness of water, fixed, : 688 
Godavery tract, fever in, : : 62 of water, total, - 688 
GODWIN on diet of Hindu, . ‘ 523 of water stated in metrical 
on Indian flour, : : 289 degrees, . 688 
Goitre, 3 F : ; 7d of water sufficient to affect 
in limestone districts, : 16 some persons, : 56 
— in France and Italy, . : 75 | Hard water, effects on horses, ‘ 56 
——— in India, : : , 75 | HaRuey, J.,on Bilharzia, . 78 
in Switzerland, : 76 | Harmattan wind, effect on smallpox, 390 
Gold chloride as a test for organic Hart, ERNEST, on milk epidemics, . 305 
matter in water, . ; 679 | Harvey on coal gas in water, : 33 
Gonorrhea. See Venereal Diseases. Haslar Hospital, water used at, 5 31 
GORE on diarrhea at Bulama, 57 | HaASSALL on paramecia in Thames 
GOULDsBURY, Surg.-Major V., C.M. Gs water, : c 3 674 
purification of water in Ashanti, 81, note on Thames water, . : 672 
GOUX system of sewage, j 122 | HavGHTON on calculation of work, 365-7 
GRAHAM on lead poisoning, . 42 on muscular action, . 235 
on protective influence of car- HAWESLEY’S formula for water storage 35 
bonic acid in water against Hay fever, cause of, . : 154 
lead, . : ; : 41 | Head-dress of the soldier, : : 527 
‘Grains of paradise,” : ° 728 | Health of towns, Commission on water 
Gram (kind of pea), . 296 supply, 6 5 634 
Grammes per litre, conversion of, into Heart and vessels, dinearen of, : 568 
grains per gallon, 685 and Sees effect of aleohol on, . é 323 
GRANGE on goitre, effect of exercise on, . : 357 
Granite, disintegrated or “weathered,” Heart, work of, F 365 
effects of, . : 15 | Heat, "absorption of, by soil, c 13 
Granitic rocks in soil, : : 15 as a disinfectant, : F 427 
water, 5 : 48 convection of, . , 229 
Graphic representation, : : 483 effects of, on ‘digestion, 3 388 
Gravel strata, water from, . ; 48 | —— effects of, on heart’s action, . 388 
—— as soil, : . 16 | ——— effects of, on nervous system, 388 
Graves, disinfection of, é 380 | ——— effects of, on respiration, : 387 
Graveyards, air of, effects of, . 172 | —— effects of, on skin, . é 388 
water from, . . 50,58 | —— effects of, on urine, . Z 388 
Greatcoat and cloak, : 531 in shade, : 386 
GREENHOW on diseases of operatives, 152 | Heating by hot- water pipes, . . 228 
on sewer gases in water, 58, note by steam, 228 
Grenelle, well of, C : 50 | Height, approximate, by barometer 
GRIESINGER on Bilharzia, . 78 ble, - 410, 411 
GREIss’s test for nitrous acid, 679, 694 | Heights, measurement Ofswi is 410, 411 
Ground water, : 1, 3, 4,5 | HetscH on fungi in water, : C 673 
and cholera, . . : 8 | Helmets of cavalry, . - : 527 
and enteric fever, : , 9 of infantry, . ; 527 
measurement of, . : 10 wicker, &c., for India, : 528 
movement of, . 3 5 | Hepatic disease at ay amaica, . F 597 
GROsZ on marsh water in Hungary, 63 at Malta, j d . 589 
GROUVEN’S Beperiments on cattle, . 236 at the Mauritius, 614 
Guard-room, . : : 498 in India, on 634, 637 
Guinea worm, : 77 | Herbage, effects of, 12 
at Cape Coast Castle, - 611 | Herbert ‘Hospital, water used Pp e 31 
in water, A : 675 description, . . 224-5 
Gully trap, 105, 106 | HeRrscHEL on heat of sands at Cape, 13 
GUNTHER on cholera in Saxony, - 69 | HeRSCHEL’S formule for mean tem- 
Gutta-percha pipes, . 43 peratures, 401, note 
Esubastiats duties of medical officer HEYNE on hornblende, at Madras, 15 
: : : 542 | HIGGIN on cinders as filters, ‘ 82 
Gaamastic exercises, : 2 , 540 | Hill climates of India for phthisis, . 642 


stations in India, : : 625 


752 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
HILLE’s process for sewage, . - 44] | HuysSHEon alcohol, . - 333 
Hills in India, advantages of, for Hydrochloric acid vapours, 158, 159 
troops, é 625 | Hydrogen in articles of diet, . 245 
Himalayas, metamor phic rocks, healthy, 15 sulphide, effects of, inair, . 158 
HIPPOCRATES on effects of marsh wee in air, 713 
water, ; . ol |) ———= «=== Stn soilam 5 : 1 
— on impure drinking water, : 75 | ——— ——— in water causing 
—— on moderation, : ; o714 diarrheea, : 58 
Hirt on diseases of workmen, j 151 | ——— —— boils, : : 73 
HOFMANN on carbonic acid in water tests for, . ‘ 679 
as protection against lead, : 41 | Hydrometers, . : : 300, 737 
HOLDEN on ague on board ship) : 20 | Hydrozoa, in water, . 674 
Honduras, 5 : 603 | Hygienic classification of drinking 
Hong-Kong and Cowloon, ; : 644 waters, ‘ 703-706 
weathered granite at, 155, 18) — management, individual, 5 379 
Hoop on hot-water heating, 2 230 | Hygrometer, “DANIELL’ s, 404 
Hooghly water, difficulties in filtering, 82 DINES’, : , : 404 
HOoppeE-SEYLER on casein, . 303 MAsoN’s, i : : 404 
Horses, effects of hard wateron, . 56 REGNAULT’S, . : : 404 
— water required for, . ‘ 30 | ———— SAUSSURE’S, . ; ‘ 404 
Horton on red earth of Sierra —— WOLPERT’S, . : 5 404 
Leone, ; 19, note | Hygrometers, . . : : 404 
Hospital furniture to be reduced to a Hypocaust, . 5 < “ 232 
minimum, . 220 
gangrene through i impure air, 156 | Ice and snow, as source of water, . 45 
——— marquee, cubic $ space of, 5 209 | Impure water, chief ingredients, 5 48 
ships, . : : : 649 | Impurities, origin of,’ in drinking 
——— tents, 509, 661 water, ‘ sie : : 48 
ERTL Ea Dr PARKES’ plan, 219 | Ilex paraguayensis, . : , 338 
—— walls to be impermeable, é 219) | India, ~~ : 619 
— wards, plans of, a) 224 causes of mortality i in, : 633 
Hospitals, : 216 cholera in, . Z 638 
— arrangement of water- Closets i in, 221 | ——— diseases of natives, . : 627 
contamination of air of, ; 217 | ——— effects of climate of, . ; 624 
cubic space required in, 184 | —— — effects of marsh waterin, . 61 
—— essentials for medical treat- ——— ground water in, ‘ 5,6 
ment, ; : . 921 | -__— habits and customs of the 
field, . c 660 troopsin, . : 629 
———- for infectious diseases, : 224 health of the troops: in, - 632 
general, . : 5 660 invaliding in, . ; 643 
—— intermediate, c Z ‘ 660 loss of service in, : 642 
—— in the tropics, . 224 | ——— mortality according to service 
——— memorandum on, from Privy in, 635 
Council, 2 : 226 mortality compared with home, 634 
——— in war, 660 | ——— mortality in, . : 633 
——— in war, materials and construc- —— mortality of native troops, 644 
tion of, 3 é 661 | t—— mortality of officers in, 0 330 
——— in war, position of 661 phthisisin, . : ‘ 640 
— metropolitan, water used at, . 31 | —— soldiers’ rationsin, . : 630 
—— military, parts of, 5 ‘ 661 | —— W— use of alcohol in, 5 632 
——— ventilation of, P 218, 219 barracks, ‘ P 501 
——— pavilion, plans of, : : 225 | Indian corn. See Maize. 
—- water supply for, . 5 31 | Indian Sanitary Commission, recom- 
water used in, : 5 31 mendations of, ‘ ‘ 501 
House, method of examining, 215, 216 ventilation in, . 5 : 201 
—- pipes and drains, é . 100 statistics, ; : 633 
Houses, warming of, . : : 227 | Individual hygienic management, 379 
raised on ar ches 5 4 | Infantry barracks, . C 3 493 
Howarb’s nomenclature of clouds, : 418 kit, weight of, : : 534 
Humus, temperature of, : : 13 | Infectious diseases, hospitals for,  . 224 
Humic acid, 5 : ; - 18 | Infusoria in water, j . 56, 134 
action on lead, : : 42 | Inlets and outlets for air, position of, 195 
Humidity, : 389, 404 size of, ‘ : 195 
amount most agreeable, 5 389 | Insolation, ; , ; 551 
in India, : : 622 | — prevention of, . . E 466 
—— of air, . 5 IGE 389, 404 | Insufficient supply of water, . ; 53 
Hurdwar, outbreak of cholera at, . 69 | Intemperance, NEISON’S _ statistics 
Huts, war, ‘ ; ' ‘ 507 Oban : ; 5 ; 320 
— wattle, ; 5 ; 514 | Intermittent downward filtration of 
——--- wooden, é 506 sewage, : : 115 
— wooden, causes of unhealthi- Invaliding in the army, : 574 
ness in, : 508 | Iodide of potassium and starch as a 
Hvxey on the chocolate moth, 5 Qi test for nitrous acid, : : 679 


INDEX. (is) 
PAGE PAGE 
Iodide of potassium and starch, Dee: Lactoprotein, MILLON on, 302 
paration of, . : 736 | LANCISI on marsh water, 61 
Iodine as an air pur ifier, j 433 | ‘‘ Lamb’s quarter,” 301 
Tron barracks, unsuitable for tropics, 003 | Landes, water of, 49 
—— cisterns, : 37 unhealthy sands, 16, 19 
galvanised, objections to, 37 water of, producing fever, 62 
= in water, > 679 | LAPLACE’S formula for heights, 410 
in water, determination, 699 | Lariboisiére hospital, plan of, 225 
—— in water, effects of, 57 ventilation of, 203 
—-— perchloride used for sewage, 113, 441 | Larry, Baron H., on military hos- 
= spongy, as a filter, 84, 85 pitals, 5 é 5 662 
Irrigated lands, effects of, 17 | Laterite, 16 
Irrigation with sewage water, ; 116 LATHAM, BALDWIN, on eround water, 9, 10 
IRVINE on effects of Lathyrus sativus, 296 on sewer discharge, 110, note 
Isocheimonal lines, rarely used, 404 | Lathyrus sativus and cicera, polsouew 
Isotheral lines, rarely used, 404 vetches, 292, 296 
Isothermal lines, 404 | Latitude, correction for, c 412 
Italy, irrigation in, 17 | Latrines, 498 
water, . A 29 
JACKSON, ROBERT, on hospitals, 217 | LaupER LINnsAy, action of hard 
JAGER on cholera from water in Hol- water on lead, 41 
land, 69 | Laundry establishment in war hos- 
Jamaica, 594 pitals, 664 
== dysentery in, ” from “impure Laurier rose, for purifying water, 81 
water, : 59 | Lausen, enteric fever at, 8, note 
Jatropha manihot, 297 | LAWES and GILBERT on origin of fat, 236 
JENNINGS’ air-brick, ; 200 | Lawson’s table of diseases of the cir- 
JILCK on fever at Pola, . 7, note culatory organs, . : 568, 569 
JOHNSTON on cure of goitre in Dur- on causes of phthisis, 3 468 
ham jail, by a pure water supply : 75 | Tuead, acted on by galvanic currents 
JOHNSTON'S “‘ fluid beef,” 312 in presence of other metals, 42 
JOURDANET on effect of altitudes on amount of, that will poison, 42 
phthisis, ‘ 393 | ——— action of water on, 4] 
— on Mexico, . 13 | ———action on, by various sub- 
Jabbalpur, ground water at, , 6 stances in water, 41 
Jowree, a kind of millet (Joara), 295 | ——— asa test for SH,, 679 
Jute, : ; 371 | ——— in flour, 292 
—— in water, 41, 42 
Kala kangnt, a kind of millet, 2955)\—— tests for, 680 
Kambi, a kind of millet, 295 | ——— nitrate, 442 
Kansas, effects of water of the, 57 | — pipes, protection of, 42 
KXEMMERICH’S concentrated beef tea, 312 | —-——- poisoning through water, 78 
Keratin or elastin, 234, 239 | —-— salts as test for SH,, in water, 679 
Kerona, : 3 674 | —-— sulphide lining for lead pipes 
Kingston, Canada, 606 (SCHWARTZ’S), : 43 
Kirk on fever at Sukkar, : 19 | Leaden cisterns, bad, . 37 
Kisari-dal, a poisonous vetch, 292, 296 | Leather, choice of, 373 
Kit, articles of, for infantry, 524 | LepoYEN’S fluid, 442 
issued in hot and cold climates, 525 | Leeches in water, . 78 675 
—w— issued on active service, 525 | LEECH on hard water in Glasgow, 56 
cavalry, : 532 | LEFORT on water from graveyards, 50 
service, 534 | Leggings and gaiters, . 530 
— — surplus, 534 | Leguminose, ‘ 296 
Kitchens, 497 | Leipzig, fever at, 8 
KLEBS and TOMMASI- CRUDELI on the LEMAIRE on minute cells in air, 134 
cause of ague, 64, 448 | Lemna in water, : 36 
KLEIN on propagation ‘of scarlet fever, 305 | Lemon and lime-juice, 393 
Knapsack abolished, - 539 | Lemon juice, factitious, B04 
Koc on Bacillus tuber culosis, 155 juice, substitutes for, . 304 
on Comma bacillus, 425 juice, use of, B04 
Kolpoda, 674 | LeMPRIERE on dysentery from n impure 
KOnIc, analyses of foods, 243 water, b : 59 
Koumiss, 302 | LeTHEBY on air of Senna. 147 
Krakatoa, eruption at, : 133 on cholera outbreaks, . 68 
KUCHENMEISTER on cholera, - : a note on sulphur fumigation, 435 
Kumaon, goitre in, 75 | ——— on typhoid fever from sewer 
Kurrachee, fever in, from excessive irrigation, 118 
rainfall, : 7 | LEUCKART on ascarides’ eggs i in water, 77 
Kuskus tatties, 505 | Lewis, Pilaria sanguinis hominis, 78 
LEWIS and CUNNINGHAM on ground- 
Lactic acid in beer, 315, 725 water and cholera in pari 
—— acid formed in milk, ; 303 on heat of soil at, 13, 0 
Lactin, 234, 239, 302, 722 | ——— on soil air, iV 3 


754 INDEX. 

' PAGE | PAGE 
LEx on bacteria in water, 672 | M‘KINNELL’s ventilator, 198, 199 
Lias clays, water from, 49 | MACLAREN on gymnastics, . : 541 
LIEBIGC’S Hatractum carnis, 311 | MACLEAN, Professor, on insolation, . 466 
LIERNUR’S pneumatic system of MAcNAMARA on cholera in India, 70, 72 

sewerage, . . : : 127 his scheme for analysis of pot- 
Light, effects of, : 397 able water, . 677 
Lights, amount of air required for, 180 | MaAcPHERSON’S table of hill stations, 628 
LIHARZIK on the recruit, : 488 | MADDOX on spores in air, . : 135 
Lime, determination of, by soap test, 689 | “ Made Soils,” unhealthiness of, 3, 17 
— by weight, in water, : 690 | Madras water supply, ; 31 
——— in) water, 678 | ‘‘ Magazine accoutrements, ” : 539 

———in water, inferences from, 683 Magnesia, determination of, by soap- 
salts as sewage precipitants, 113 test, . i 689 
—— sulphate in water, effects of, 59 forming double salts with soap, 688 
——— water as a test for CO,, 710 in water, by weight, 691 
——— water, causticity of, 710 tests for, 3 __ 080 
— water, for purifying water, 80 producing goitre, 5 5 es Ue 
Lime juice, : 353 required in food, 7 $89 
Lime juice, examination of, 353 | Magnesian limestone waters, 49 
Limestone rocks as soil, 16 | Magnesium limestone as soil, : 16 
Limestone waters, 49 salts, effects of, in water, . 58 
Lincolnshire, diminution of fever i in, Magnesium chloride, effects of, ; 60 
by drainage, of sulphate in water, effects of, 60 
LIND on camps and sites, 23 | Magnetic carbide filter, < ; 85 
on purification of. water, 79 declination, . 3 416 
Linen, characters of, 370 | Maha mari (or Pali plague), . 4 459, 627 
Lining of wells, 37 | Maida (flour), . ; 5 : 289 
Linseed, detection of, 283 | Main pipes for water, j ; 38 
LISTER’S method, advantages of, 424 | Maize, or Indian corn, : 278, 279 
Litmus as a reagent, 678 as food, : 2 : 294 
Liver diseases, prevention of, ¢ 465 | Malaria, é 396 
Liverpool, effects of hard water in, . 56 effects of elevation on, 396, 626 

made soils in, . 17 effects of vertical ascent in 
water supply, . 26 avoiding, . : 396 
Locality, examination of, for military range of horizontal spread, : 396 
purposes, 23 spread over water, . : 396 
Lodging-houses, model, water used i in, 28 | Malarious fevers, from watee 45, 61 
Lolium temulentum, iemiall grass, 286 soils, 4,17 
London Water Companies’ filtration, 82 improving by sowing crass, c 4 
water supply, 9 : 26 | Malic acid in scurvy, . * 470 
Lonemore, Prof. Sir T., on war Malignant pustule in animals, : 265 
hospitals, : 660 | Malta, . 5 : 586 
——— on insolation, . 552 water supply in, 36, 79 
Loose sand, water from, 48 | Manchester, water supply, . : 2 
Loss of strength per 1000 in army at Manganate of soda, . : c 113 
home, 560 | Manihot arrowroot, 297 
LOWE’S ozone papers, 419 | Mann, Dr, on alcohol, B32 
LuDwic on effects of heat, F 387 | Manometer, FLETCHER’S, 212 
LUEDER and LEIDLOFF’s powder, 125, 442 PECLET’S and SANDERSON’S, 212 

Lung diseases, produced by impure ae 160 | MANSFIELD on yellowremittent fever 
Lungs, effect of exercise on, . 355 on shipboard, 20, note 
weight of, in Europeans in Manure manufactories, effects Olnee 171 
India, : 387 | Maranta arundinacea, : . 297 
Lyons, WASHINGTON, steam disin- March, order of, 550 
fector, : 429 | Marches, 544 
—— conditions adding to fatigue of, oe 
Maas, effects of water of the, 57, 80 during war, . 547 
MACADAM, STEVENSON, on influence duties of medical officers during, 622 
of impure water, 69 effects of, : 2 A 550 
Macaroni, 4 43, 245, 248, 287 length of, : i , 547 
M‘CLELLAN on goitre in eihod 75 supply of water during, : 89 
MAcDONALD, J. D., on structure of Marching in Canada, . 5 7 554 
tea-leaf, . 344 — in India, : ; 555 
on microscopic examination length of step in, . : 545 

of water, . 671 | M&ArckmR, on the amount of air re- 
plate of suspended matters in quired for animals, . : 3 179 
air, 15 Maremma, Tuscan, marshes in, é 14 
table of starches, 298 | Marlas soil, . 17 

M‘DovucGai’s carbolie acid powder, 12 5, 444 | Margarine, name to be used for arti- 
MACFARLANE’S latrine, 100 ficial butters, ; ; ; 308 
M‘GRicor, Sir JAMES, on dysentery it in Marquee, hospital, : - - 509 
Peninsula, : ‘ 60 | — cubic contents of, ; A 209 
on alcohol in war, 332 officers’, . c : 509 


INDEX. 7a5 
PAGE PAGE 
Married soldiers’ quarters, . : 495 | Meteorology, . : 398 
Marseilles, fever in, . ; : 61 | Metropolis Water Act, 1871, : 39 
_ Marsh water, . 50 | Metropolitan Sewage Discharge, 
——— apparently harmless it in Holland, 63 Royal Commission on, : 114, 171 
=== in Ising, : 63 | Mexican war, effects of ope water 
effects of, at Tilbury Fort, c 63 Ti, | ¢ : 58 
MARSHALL, JOHN, on cholera from Mexico, malarious marshes i in, 12, 13 
drinking water, : : 68 | Mica, scales of , in water, causing 
on circular wards, . : 224 diarrhea, . : 57 
MARSHALL, on views of Singhalese on Microphytes in air of marshes, : 150 
marsh water, 5 : 61 | Microscopic plants in rain water, . 44 
Marshes, : ; : 16,18, 50 | Microscopical characters of drinking 
— air of, : 150 water, ‘ 671, 703-706 
peaty, not unhealthy, : 18 | Microscopical examination of grains, 272-286 
== salt, . 5 50 of starches, . c : 298 
MARTIN, Sir RANALD, on iron n soils, 19 | Microzyme test for water, . : 672 
Materials for building i in hotclimates, 503 | Microzymes in air, 134, 135, 136 
Mauritius, : 614 in water, 56 
and Jamaica contrasted, 614, 616 | MrppreTon on effects of drying soil, 6 
Mavry on effects of evaporation, . 16 | Midfeather traps, . 103 
MAXWELL-LYTE, on water ECs Military service, effects of, . : 556 
tion, : : 81 | Milk, adulterations of, : : 723 
Mean, arithmetical, 482 alterations in, : 303 
—— duration of illness, 575 as a diet, 233, 301 
temperature, Mr GLAISHER’ s as a vehicle of disease, 304-5 
tables for, . 401 | ——ass’s, . : F 302 
Mean Meer, causes of its unhealthiness, 640 bad, ‘effects of, 6 2 304 
Means, successive, . : 42 | === blue, : : 304 
Measle in pigs, ‘ 258, 267 | —— chemical analysis of, : 721 
Measles, disinfection i in, 5 437 | ——— composition of, . : 243 
Dr SALISBURY’S statements, 155 | ——— concentrated, ; : ‘ 314 
Measures of soap solution, . 688 | ———— cow’s, . : : : 301 
Meat, analysis of, 243) 254, 255 | ———— dried, : F 314 
— biscuits, : : : 313 examination of, : é 720 
cooking of, . . 5 268 | ———— from diseased cows, . : 303 
dead, inspection of, . 259 | ———— preservation of, . ; 303 
—— decomposing, poisonous effects —- microscopical examination of, 722 
Ofy : 0 263 | ———— sickness, c : ; 304 
—— diseases arising from, . 5 263 specific gravity of, . ; 302 
— dried, Mats, : 5 310 | Millbank Prison, feverin, . : 66 
See HOUT OLS EVASSAT IS. is : 3)1 | MILER on carbonic acid in water as 
from inflammatory Gisease : 264 protection against lead, . 41 
juice, VALENTINES, . 312 on gases in water, ; 677 
preparation, Mason & Co.’s 313 | Millet, 284, ‘285, 295 
peptones, Kocuys’, . ; 313 | Millstone grit, ‘water from, : 48 
preservation of, é < 269 | Mritne-HoME, on tree pe at 
Medicines, effects of, in flesh of Malta, 12, note 
animals, . 268 | Millstone grit, as soil, ; 16 
Mediterranean stations, : 581 | Mineral matters dissolved in water, ; 58 
as ventilation of barracks Mineral matter of water sediment, 
201 determination of, . 5 : 676 
Liebe on the action of water on substances in water, . ; 5d 
lead, - 41 in soils, 5 : ; 15 
on water purification, 81 | Miners’ phthisis, . é : 152 
Mé&cE Movrtgs, pan for utilising Mines, air from, : : : 151 
bran, ; : 270 ventilation of, ; 202 
MEINERT on food, z : ; 250 | Mississippi, effects of water of the, . 57 
Fleischpulver, ‘ : 311 | Missouri, effects of water of the, . 57 
Meampyrum arvense, : : 284 | Model lodging-houses, water used in, 28 
Mental work, amount of, ; . 377 | MOFFAT on ozone, : , ; 419 
Merchant Shipping Act, ; . 3593 | MOFFAT’S ozone papers, : : 419 
Mercury poisoning through water, . 78 | Mounpr’s process for carbonates, : 699 
Mercuric chloride, as disinfectant, . 442 | Moina in water, : 675 
Merthyr T'ydvil, sewage filtration at, 115 | Morr & Son’s food preparations, : ol4 
Metals in water, cause for condemning Moisture of soil, : 4 
water, 2 , 702 determination of, ; 6 5 
Metallic impregnation of water, 5 59 soil-air, : . : 2 
Metamorphic rocks in soil, . ; 15 | Mo.uescHorr on diet, ; 240 
Metamorphic strata, water from, . 48 | Molybdate of ammonium as ; test for 
Meteorological instruments, reading phosphoric acid in water, 680, 695 
Of; 398 | Monads in air, : : ome 134 
=== observations, official Sneha: in water, : 57, 673 
tions for taking, 4 , 398 | “Monkey” for tube- well, . : 32 


756 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
MOoNTGOLFIER’S formula, table calcu- Nitrates in water, action on lead, . 41 
lated from, 211 | Nitre soils, water from, : ‘ 50 
——— rule of, 190 | Nitric acid in soil air, : : 2 
Montreal, 605 in water, $ é s 679 
Montsouris, observations on Tain at, 44 determination, 2 693 
Moor water, 50 inferences from, ; 682, 701 
Moore on marsh water, : : 61 | Nitrification in Indian soils, . ‘ 15 
Morty, General, on quantity of Nitrites in water, action on lead, . 4] 
fresh air required, . ; 178 | Nitrogen, amount of, in food, 244 
on ventilation, 205 in articles of diet, 245 
Mortality, causes of, 563 in meat, analysis, 245 
influence of age on, 563 gas, In water, . 676 
_ of army compared with. civil organic in water, 684 
population, 563 | —-—— percentage of, in nitrogenous 
to sickness, . 576 aliments, 234 
Mortar, for cisterns, &c., should ibe the elimination of, during 
hydraulic, 36 exercise and rest, 356-9 
Moscatt, his examination of ‘air, 138 | Nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous 
MOSLER on ascarides’ eggs in water, 77 substances, distinction be- 
on effects of deficient water tween, 234 
supply, 54 | —-—— matter in air, determination of, 712 
Moss, his examination of air, : 142 | Nitro-prusside of sodium as test for - 
Mov tyr’s earth closets, 123, 124 soluble sulphides, é 679 
Mud, Thames, action of, on lead, 41 | Nitrous acid as air purifier, . 433 
Mules, water required for, 30 in solids of water, determina- 
MULLER on enteric fever from water, 65 tion of, : 694, 696 
on trimethylamine in well in water, : : 679 
water, 51 in water, inferences fr om, 682, 701 
MULLER-SCHUR deodorant, 125, 445 | NorMANDY’S apparatus for distilling 
Munich, movement of ground water water, P : : 5 47 
Mts 5 | Nortu, W., on malarial fever, é 64 
effects of gr ound water at, in on elimination of nitrogen, 360 
horses, 8 | Norton’s tube wells, . 32, 89 
cesspools at, 15 | Norwich and Norfolk, calculi i WM, 74 
Monro, DONALD, on dysentery from Nostoc in water, ; 36, 674 
impure water, : 59 | WNotonecta glauca in water, 675 
MURCHISON on enteric fever among Norvrer on filtration, 5 F 83 
sewer men, . 168 | Nullahs, bad sites, . ‘ i it 
Murha or M aud (kind of millet), 295 | Nunney, enteric fever abies 67 
MvrRAyY on water of Newcastle and Nutrition of body, circumstances 
calculi, 5 5 74 affecting, . : 375 
Muscles, changes of, during exercise, 361 
exhaustion of, during exercise, 963 | OAKES on plat E at Cape Coast 
Muscular action, 0 235 Castle, . : : 60 
Mustard, 349, 350 | Oats, drawings of, . F : 282 
Myosin, 234, 239 as a food, : 5 : 293 
Mysore, Hornblendic rocks at, A 15 | OBRRNIER on heatstroke, 387 
Obstruction to outflow of water 
NEILL on alcohol in New Zealand war, 333 causing fever, 7 
NEISON’S vital statistics, : 320 | Occupation for soldiers, advantages of, 579 
Nerium oleander for purifying water, 81 | ODLING on ozone, 5 . 395 
Nervous diseases, : 571 | Oidium aurantiacum, 2 c 497 
NESSLER’S solution as a test for am- lactis, 304 
monia, 679, 691 | Oil, air required for its combustion, 144, 180 
solution, prepar ation of, é 734 | Oxtver’s “ Magazine Accoutrements,’ 539 
Nesslerising, . ; 692 | Onobrychis sativa, : 285 
Netley Abbey, water from, 49, note | Oolite, hard, best limestone soil, A 16 
Hospital, water used at, 31 | Oolite, waterfrom, . 5 2 48 
Neustift, enteric fever at, 8, note | Open conduits for water, ; ; 51 
Neva, effects of water of the, 57 | Operatives, diseases of, 148, 151-3 
New Caledonia, marshes healthy, 18 | Ophthalmia, military, prevention of, 471 
New Zealand, marshes healthy, 18 | Ordinates, : 483 
New York, water supply, 26 | Organie carbon in water, 684, 697 
Newera Ellia, . 617 matter in air, . - 6 142 
NICHOLS on soil air, Ul, 2 matter in soil air, ‘i é 2 
on air of smoking cars, 145 | - matter, dissolved in water, . BY 
NIGHTINGALE, ae notes on hospi- matter, in water, 4 : 57 
tals, : 217 | —— matter in water, FRANKLAND’S 
Nimbus or rain n cloud, . 418 method, . ; 684 
Nitrate of lime causing diarrhea, 59 | — matter in water, inferences 
Nitrates and nitrites in water, in- from, 682 
ferences from, ; 682, 701 matter in water, plans for its 
—— effects of, on metals, . 59 determination, , 690 


INDEX. Ton 
PAGE PAGE 
Organic matter in water, WANKLYN’S Peas, Indian, F 5 296 
method, : 684, 691-3 | Peat charcoal as filter, ; ; 84 
matter of sediment of water, Pectin, ; c . 6 254 
determination of, 4 676 | Pellagra, 294 
——-— matter, oxidisable, in water, PELLISCHEK on darnel, 287 
tests for, 679, 690 | Pemmican, : : : 311 
——— nitrogen in water, . 51, 684 | ———analysis of, . ; : 243 
Organisms in air, > 134-9, 154-6 | Penicillaria spicata, . é 295 
in water, : 672 | Penicillium glaucun, 5 5 427 
Orinoco, temperature of eranite rock —— lactis, 304 
on the, : F 2 13 | Pentonville prison, air of, ; 140, 183, note 
Orizaba, impure water Bit 0 . 58 | Pepper, . ; 0 : 301 
ORSBORN, Dr, cases of zine poisoning, 37 | ——— drawings of, 351-2 
Outflow, ‘opening of, for drying soil, 11 | Perchloride of iron for purifying water, 80 
Outlets for air, position of, 196 | PERKIN’S system of heating, . ‘ 230 
—— for air, plans of shafts, 197 | Permanganate of potassium for clean- 
——— for air, with and without arti- sing filter SANG : 6 87 
ficial heat, . c 196, 197 | ——— for purifying water, : 80 
Overflow pipes of cisterns, a 37 method for organic matter, 684, 695 
Oxalate of ammonium as a test for —— standard solution, : 733 
lime, 678 | ———with alkali, Scnunrz and 
Oxalic acid as a test for lime ‘water, | 710 IGOR, 5 5 : ae 
solutions, preparation of, 735 | Permeability of soil, 
Oxen, water required Oi, 6 : 30 | PErTENKOFER and VOIT on diet, 235, 2 
Oxford boat-race, work done in, 367 on effects of exercise, . : 356 
Oxidisable matter in air, ° 712 | PrrreNKOFER on CO, exhaled by 
in water, 6 55 men, : : : : 176 
in water, determination, 695 on cesspools at Munich, : 15 
Oxygen, absorption of, during exercise, 356 | t—-— on cholera at Munich, 5 69 
diminution of, at altitudes, : 392 | —— on ground water, A 5 4,8 
in soil air, : . ° 2 | ——— on ground water as a cause of 
in water, 0 676 enteric fever and cholera, 8,9 
Oxytricha, : 5 674 | ——-— on effects of subsoil drainage, 8 
Oxyuris vermicularis. is, 0 0 U0 on movement of ground water, 5 
Ozone, . " 395, 419 on evaporation from oak trees, 12 
as air purifier, : : : 432 | —-—— on measurement of ground 
effects of, 5 F : 391 water, |) dal 
—— modes of estimating, . 419 | ——— on measurement of soil air, 3 
——— observations, fallacies attend- — his method for carbonic acid, 710 
WA. 6 ; : ‘ 419 | Prarr on moisture of soil, . : 4 
Phosphate of calcium, WEISKE on, . 238 
“* Pain biscuité,” 9 : 5 290 | ——— of sodium, as a test for mag- 
x —de munition,” : : 290 nesia, 6 680 
Pali plague, ; 459 | Phosphates in water, action on lead, 41 
PALMER on river water in India, 0 52 | Phosphoric acid in water, inferences 
Panicum miliaceum (millet), . : 295 from, . : : 682 
Paramecia in water, HASSALL on, 674 — in water, test for, 680 
Paramecium, . 674 | Phosphorus Poisoning, in making 
PARENT-DUCHATELET on Paris water, matches, . : d 152 
55, 58, 59 | Phthisis at Gibraltar, 584 
on sewer air, . 6 146 — at Malta, . 589 
Paris water supply, . ‘ 55, 58, 59 | ——— causes of, OM 
PARKES’ measurements of water, . 98 | —— diminished by drying of soil, 6 
——- on ascaris at Moulmein, a 77 | —— effect of altitude upon, ; 392 
— on cholera at Southampton, . 68 from vitiated air, 160-2 
on Liverpool (with Burpon- Phthisis in India, 641 
SANDERSON), ; 110 | ——— in European armies, 564 et seq. 
Paroxysmal fever, factors of, : 6 mortality compared with civil 3 
— pr evention of, 448 life, . : 565 
causes of, . ; 0 6 | ——— pulmonalis, prevention of, 467 
effects of soil air Oily 4 | Physical characters of drinking 
—_-— fever, effects of soil water on, Th iil, water, j 47, 668 
Passions, regulation of, A i 376 Pimlico depot for clothing, i . 524 
PASTEUR’S fluid, 672 | Pipe filters, . : 87 
Partison Murr on the action of Pipes and drains, cleaning of, : 102 
water on lead, . : 41 | ——— and drains, examination Olin o 106 
Pavy on effects ‘of exercise, 359, note | ——-— for water, 5 : . 937, 40 
PAYNE on diminution of cholera at ——— junctions of, . : . 102 
Calcutta,  . : : 72, note | -—-— water, main-pipe, ; 0 08 
Pea and bean, . : : 279, 296 | ——— sub-main, 5 : ; 38 
———— drawings of, 281-2 | — service, 5 38, note 
Pea sausage, . ¢ : é 313 | ——— materials of, . : : 40 
Peas, 243, 296 | Pistia in water, c : . 30 


758 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
Plague arrested by dryness of air, . 390 | ‘ Punch-bowls,” objectionable sites, ie 
Plague at Gibraltar, . 583 | Punjab, sands unhealthy i in, . 
at Malta, : 588 | Punkahs, 206, 508 
bubo, or driental, prevention of, 459 | Pupa forms of insects in water, 675 
Plains at foot of hills bad Bua: 2 11 | Purification of air, . p 3 431 
PLAYFAIR on diet, : 240 of rooms, &c., . : : 434 
on potential energy, . 247 of water, 79 ef seq. 
Pleuro-pneumonia of cattle, . 257, 265 | Pus globules in air, . 3 155 
Plutarch on regulation of mental Pyrolusite, used in filtration, x 84 
work, 3/7, note 
Pneumatic plan of sewerage, LIER- Qualitative chemical examination of 
3, NUR’S, . 127 water, : : 678 
Pneumonia and acute ‘bronchitis, : 571 tests of water, inferences 
from sewer air, é : 166 from, 681 
Pocket filter, . : : Z sy) for water, Kupen and Tr- 
Poisonous fish, : : : 263 MANNoD, . : 681 
meat, . : : : 264 | Quality of drinking water, . 45 
Potsson’s formula, . ; . 480-1 | Quantitative examination of solids in 
Pola in Istria, fever at, 2 : 7 water, 683 
POLE, Dr, on water supply, .- 27, note tests for water, inferences 
Poles of heat and cold, : 404 from, : 699 
Pollen in air, . 136, 154 | Quarantine in cholera, 453 
Polygastrica in water, P : 57 | Quebec, 605 
in aie, - 5 134 | QUETELET’S tables, 488 
Polygonum fagopyr um, buckwheat, 284, 295 
Polyphemus i in water, 4 : 675 | Rabies, meat from animals with, 267 
Polyps in water, : 674 | RAbCLIFFE on cholera outbreaks, . 68 
PONCET on impure water in Mexican Radiant heat, 228 
war, . : - 58 | Radiation from ground, effect of, 386, note 
Ponies, water required LOn ee ; 30 | Radiating grates, : 229 
Poor, amount of water used by, - 28 | Ragi or raggy, a kind of millet, ‘ 295 
Porosity of soil, ‘ : Dror ain oe 3 414 
Portland cement for cisterns, z 37 affecting ground water, 5, 6 
Potassium permanganate, examina- calculation of, for water 
tion of air by, 712 supply, 2 - 32, 739 
examination of water by, 684, "693, 695 —--— cloud, . é - 418 
Potatoes, 299 | ——— fall, cause of, . : é 415 
cooking of, 300 excessive, producing fever, if 
—-— dried, 313 in different places, 415 
—— preservation of, 300 | —-——in England, mean, . , 33 
—— solids of, i : 300 Tn India, : a 625 
specific gravity Ole : 300 gauges, : 414 
Potato starch, detection of, . : 278 water as a source of supply, ; 44 
POUCHET’S aeroscope, : : 145 collection of, . c 52 
Poudrette, . ; : 122 | --—— composition “of, : 44, 51 
POWER, on scarlatina, : . 305 contamination of, - : 51 
Prague, effects of impure water in, . 57 | ——— impurities i ries 44, 51 
Precipitants of sewage, 113 | RarNey’s capsules, Psorosper mia, : 261 
Preparation of site for military pur- RAINEY on air of cholera wards, 138 
poses, - : : 24 | RANKE on diet, : : ; 240 
Pressure of air, increase of, . c 393 on enteric fever, 8, note 
—-— lessening of, . : : 391 | ——— on nutrition, 236 
Prevention of disease, 447 | —-——- on quantity of air required, 178 
Previous sewage contamination of RANKINE, on water supply, . : 30 
water, - 5 s 682 | Ransom on heat asa disinfectant, . 429 
PrIice’s fumigating lamp, : 455 | RATH, on enteric fever, 8, note 
PRINGLE on ‘dysentery from impure Rations of foreign armies, 519 et seq. 
water, ; 59 soldiers’, nutritive value, 516 
Prison, amount of water used i nie 4 28 —war, . ‘ 517 
diets, Indian, . : - 523 | RATTRAY on body temperature, 386 
military, sickness in, . 578 —on effects of heat on weight 
Proof spirit, . - : 727, 737 and height, . ; 387 
Protococci in water, 674 | Ravines not to be taken as sites, 11, 18 
Protococeus pluvialis, 36, 44,135 | RAWLINSON on sewer ventilation, : 110 
Protozoa in water. 674 on water pipes, ; - 43 
PRovT on principles of diet, 233 | Reaction of water, . - : 678 
Prussiate of potash as a test for i iron, 679 | REAUMUR scale, : ; 404, 738 
Psorospermia, RAINEY’S capsules, . 261 | Recruit, age of, 487 
Psychrometer, : = - 404 height of, 488 
Puccinia in wheat, . ; f 271 the, 486 
— in flour, : ; 275 | ——— training of, physical, mental, 
Puebla and Mexico, dryness of air, 392 and moral, P 2 : 489 
Pulmonary disease of miners, 152 | height and weight of, 488 


INDEX. 709 
PAGE PAGE 

Recruits, effects of gymnastic train- Rules for sy DEOVANE: healthiness of 
ing on, 542, site, . a 3 24 
sickness and mortality among, 491 — for mensur, ation, 208, 209 
Red-River Hispessucn alcohol not Russian soldier, rations On. 6 j 522 
used in, : 323 | Rye, as a food, : 294 
Regulations, army, on water, é 25 | ——— detection of, in 1 flour, . . 282-84 

—-—— army, on ventilation, F 199 

sanitary, : 25 | “‘Saddle-backs,” good sites, . : ili) 
ReEtp’s method of ventilation, $ 202 | Saddlery, weight of, é ; 533 
Relapsing fever, 2 ; : 460 | Sago, as a food, 6 : 3 297 
RENK, on porosity of soil, . : 3 | Sagus farinifera, : : : 297 
Remittent fever, : : i 4 | Satnr-LAGER on goitre, ; 75 
Renkioi hut hospital, : 507 | Sainfoin, in flour as adulteration, 285 

Reservoirs, cleansing of, : : 3D Salisbury, phthisis at, diminished 
materials of, . C : 30 by drying of soil, . . 6 
for water, 3 ; 3) || Sell, = F 352 
Resistance, coefficient of, in air Salt beef, analysis of (GrraRpIN), > 243 
shafts, : 191 | ——— inspection of, ‘ 3 262 
—— coefficient of, in exercise, 367 | Salting of meat, 262 
Respiration, air of, 140 | Salts, in food, 238, 239 
air of, effects of, 160 | —-—~ essential for food, : 238 
in the tropics, 387 in articles of diet, 243, 245 
Respiratory impurity, limit of, 177 in diets, ‘ 238-245 
Results of water analysis, state- —-—— of vegetable acids, 238, 239 
ment of, 685, 707 | Sandals, 531 
REYNOLD’S manhole and trap, j 105 | SAnpER, F., on n cholera, : . 9, note 
Rhamnus theézans, ' 343, note | Sand filters, : ; : 81 
RHAZES on marsh water, ; 61 | Sands, as soil, . F ; F 16 
Rhinanthus major, F 284 loose, alrin, . . , ; il 
Rhine, affecting g eround water, : 6 | ——— temperature of, 5 i 13 
Rhizopoda in water, 674 | Sandstone, water from, . ; 48 
in air, 134 | Sandstones, soft, air in, : 4 1 
Rhus Toxicodendron " gives rises to as soil, . : 16 
poisonous milk, 305 New Red, rocks salt i ane cs 16 
Rice, as a food, : : 294 | Sandy plains at foot of hills, malarious, 19 
fields, effects of, c 17 | Sanitary officers’ duties in war, : 659 
structure of, 9 ‘281, 283 regulations on water, j 25 
RICHARDSON on effects of water in Sanwa Chenawari, a kind of millet, 295 
Norfolk, . . 74 | Sarcina botulina, 264 
RICHTER on cholera from water, ‘ 69 | Sausage, pea, . 313 
on enteric fever from water, . 65 | Sausage-poisoning, . 264 

on weathered rocks in Saxony, 15 | Savory on the food of the dog and 
Rinderpest, . : 258, 266 the rat, : : 235 
Rio Grande, effects of water of the, 57 | Saxony, weathered rocks i THs iG . 15 
RitcHiz, plan of ventilation, : 188 | Scarlet fever carried-by milk, 305 
River-water, composition of, ; 46 — disinfection in, 2 5 437 
Rivers, 33 ; calculation of yield, 33, 84 | Schizomycetes, NAGELI ON, 426 

in India purer than tanks, . 52 | ScHLESINGER on chemical reaction of 
—— Pollution Act, 96, 112 fabrics, é : 370 
- Commissioners, 96,116 | ScHONBEIN on ozone, mae 419 
—— on results of irrigation, 116, 118 | ScHONBEIN’S ozone paper, 419 

—— on sewer-water, : 96 | ScHUBLER on retention of heat in 
—- report of, 27, 47 soils, : j : 13 
Roasting of meat, 269 Seinde, rainfall i Thy) 6 7 
ROBINSON’S Enemuouteter, : 417 | ScHUMACHER’S formula for barometers, 409 
Rocks, air in, . : : 1 | Sclerostoma duodenale, 3 ‘ 77 
Rocks, ‘‘ weathered, Dy ; ; 15 | Scolecida in water, » _ 6/4 
Roll-cumulus, . : 418 | Scorr on mean temperature, . : j 401 
Rome, public baths in Ancient, : 28 | Scorv’s instructions, : 418 
Roofs of barracks in hot countries, . 505 | Scrofula from vitiated air, 160-2 
Rooms, purification of, . : 434 | Scurvy, danger of, in India, . : 632 
Roscoe on air of schools, . : 141 grass, . 301 
on air of towns, 147 in war, its great danger, 658 
ROSSIGNOL on effects of calcium salts — prevention of, < 468 
in water, . 75 | Sea-level, correction ‘for, : 409 
RorH and "LEX on arsenic poisoning Sea-weed charcoal as filter, . 3 84 
through water, ; c 78 | Secunderabad, dysentery at, 5 60 
—on quantity of air reduited: 178 | Sediment of water, chemical examina- 
Rotheln, 437 tion of, 676 
Roti ifera (wheel animalcules) i in water, 675 microscopical examination of, 671 

RovurH on cholera in Russia in winter, 72 | Sedimentous water, means of purify- 
on fecal fermentation, 251, note ing, . j : 80 


Round-worms, . : ; : 77 


Segment of circle, area a of, . ; 209 


760 


PAGE 
SEIDEL on probable connection of 
enteric fever with level of ground 
water, : : A j 8 


Selenitic waters, 49, 58 
Sepoy diet, 523 
Serge frock, 529 
Service of the soldier, 486 
—-— on board ship, 648 


pipes for water, : 38 
Setaria Germanica, a kind of millet, 295 


Ttalica, a kind of millet. 295 
‘Sewage, A B C process (SmnuaRr’s) for, 114 
carbonisation of, j 126 
—— cement (Scort’s), 114 


comparison of different methods 
of removal of, . z 128 
deodorisation of, 123 


dry methods of removal of, 122 
famns, . sell) 
——-- filtration at Merthyr Tydvil, 115 
— filtration, DYKE on, ; 115 


———- FryYeEr’s process of dealing with, 126 
interception, system of, 121 


irrigation, 116 
irrigation, effects on health, . 118 
—— LIERNUR’S pneumatic system, 127 
matter, decomposition of, . 94 
vitiation of air by, 146 
precipitants, 113 
the separate system of, : 121 
Sewerage. See under Sewage and 
Sewers. 
Sewer-air, effects of breathing, 164 
Sewer emanations from fecal matter 
thrown on the cr 
effects of, 170 


—— gases in water causing diarrhoea, 58 
reflux of, prevented by con- 


stant water supply, ¢ 39 

—— men, health of, : 168 
Sewers, . : é ; 95 
—-— access to, 107 
air of, 108, 146 


—— emount of water required for, 29, 98 
—-— construction of, 3 98 
—— discharge from, calculation, : 107 


———- flushing of, 110 
—_— influence of, on health and 
death- rate, : 118 
producing typhoid fever, 116 
inspection of, : 110 
main, . 3 106 
objections to, . 119 
ventilation of, 108 
Sewer-slime, . 110 
Sewer-water, composition of, 96 
—— discharge into running water 
prohibited, it 
— — discharge into the sea, 112 
disposal of, 111 
microscopic examination of, 96 
—— precipitation, . 112 
—-—- storage in tank with 0 over flow; 111 
Seymour HADEN on perishable coffins, 379 
Shaking-bottles for soap-test, 688 
Shako, ; ; : , 528 
Sheerness, fever at, . : c 62 
Sheffield, water supply, . : 26 
Shell-jacket abolished, 529 
SHEPPARD, analysis of Delhi waters, 74 
SHERINGHAM valve, ; : 198 
Ship filters, . 4 c 88 
Ships, air in holds of, 150 


INDEX. 


Shoddy, how recognised, 
Shoeburyness water, . - : 51 


Shoes and boots, . 530 
SHONE’S ejector, 110, 113, 127 
Sick, aggregation of, risks, . ; 217 

amount of air required for, 181 

men, water supply for, é 27 
——— necessity for distribution of, . 218 
—— in war, division of, 661 

rooms, air of, 163 
Sickness, causes of, 576 

loss of service from, 574 
Sida in water, 675 
Sieges, sanitary duties during, : 665 
Sierra Leone, . . 19, 609 
Silica in water, determination of, 699 
Silicic acid in water, test for, 681 
Silicon fluoride, toxicity of, 152 
Silk, as a material for clothing, 369 
Silver, nitrate of, as test for chlorine, 678 


——— solution, standard, prepara- 
tion of, 3 733 


SIMON on effects of i impure water, 55, 58 
Siphon traps, . , 103 
annular, FIELD’ SS 110 
closet-basin, 104 
Sirocco, effects of, 390 
Site, preparation of, military pur- 
poses, = 24 
Size of barracks in the tropics, 502 
Skin diseasesfrom impure water, . 73 
“Skip-jack,” or ‘‘water-boatman,” 
in water, . : : 675 
Slate for cisterns, best, s } 37 
Slope of soil, in connection with CO, 2 
Sluice, discharge of water through, 34 
Small-pox, discharges from, in air, : 156 
disinfection in, 437 
— in sheep, 258, 266 
prevention of, . : 461 
SMART on mountain fever and ma- 
larious water, 45, 63 
Smell as a test of good ventilation, : 176 
SMITH, ANGUS, on composition of a 131 
on lead poisoning, . 42, 
on marshy soils, ; ; 18 
on rain water, 44 


researches on air, 131, iB} 142, 143, 
146, 148, 149, 151, 157 


SmitH, EDWARD, on diet, 245 
—— on exercise, : : 395 
on muscular action, . : 235 
SuitH, F., on CO, in stables, ; 142 
on mortality of horses, 150 
on water for horses, . j 30 
SNELL, SAXON, on anemometers, 3 210 
SNELLEN on cholera in Utrecht, 5 67 
Snow-line, height of, . 403 


Syow on cholera from drinking water, 68 
on specific diseases pro pagated 


by water, . 61 

Snow water, cause of unwholesome- 
ness of, : 45 
Soap solution, graduation of, F 733 
preparation of, : : 733 
Soap test, rationale of, ; : 687 


for hardness of water, z 687 
Sodium carbonate, for purifying 
water, ; ; : 80 
chloride, in water, 44, 51 
+—- chloride, for graduating standard 
silver nitrate solution, ‘ 733 
Sodium salts in air, : 134 


INDEX. 761 
PAGE PAGE 
Soil, airin, . : 1 | Stables, 6 : : ‘ 499 
amount of, measur ement, : 2,3 | ——— air of, 0 141, 142 
— chemical examination of, . 20 | ——— ventilation of, ¢ 185 
conformation and elevation of, 11, 23 | Standard barium nitrate solution for 
- examination of, : 2 soap test, . 733 
—— from West Coast of Africa, : 19 | ——— nitrate of silver solution 5 733 
——— mechanical condition of, : 20 | t—— soap solution, . . 733 
—— method of rendering drier, ; 11 | ——— solution of ammonium chlor ide, 734 
———— moisture of, . : : 4 | ——— solution of permanganate of 
—— solid constituents of, . 11, 14 potassium, . ; 733 
——-—- temperature of, : . 13, 20 | ———sulphuric acid solution for 
water in, ; ‘ : 4 carbonates, . : : 730 
Soils, . : ; 1 | SPANFORD’S pipe joint, A : 102 
= absorption of heat, . c 13 | Starch grains of arrowroot, . 297-9 
alluvial, : j . 18 — of barley, : : : 279 
———- animal matter in, : ; 14 | ——— of beans, : : o 281 
chemical composition of solids —— of maize, 9 A é 280 
Hips : : 4 14 | ——— of oat, . 3 ; F 282 
cultivated, . : : 17 | -——— of pea, . : ; c 282 
——— different kinds of, . : 15 | ——— of potato, ‘ : : 280 
impermeable, . : : 4,5 | ——— of rice, : : 2 283 
iron, as cause of fever, : 19 | ——— of rye, . : j F 284 
loose, airin, . j : 1 — of wheat, . 274-5 
———— made, . 6 3, 17 | Starches and sugars, . : 234, 297 
malarious, . ; 17 | Starches, plate of, . : 6 314 
—— mineral constituents of, : 15 Starches, tabular. ayalopels of char- 
of India, : 5 . 13, 620 acters, : . 298-9 
permeable, . é : 5 | Starchy substances, . : : 234 
radiating power of, . ; 13 | Stations, dressing, . c : 660 
——— vegetable matter in, . 14 | ——— regimental, . : , 660 
Soil water, fever produced by impeded Statistics, . : c : 479 
outflow of, : 4 7 | —-in war, : : : 560 
Solanum tuber osum, : : : 299 military, ; : P 557 
Soldier, clothing of, . : : 523 | Steam pipes for warming, . 5 230 
food of, 5 : 5 515 | Stentor, 5 : 674 
service of, : S : 486 | Stephanurus dentatus, . 258, note, 261 
Soldierly qualities, - : 578 | STEVENSON’S thermometer screen or 
Soldiers, supply of water to, . é j 27 stand, : : 420 
cubic space alloted to, ; 184 STEVENSON, R. L., on forests, 12, note 
Solids, fixed, in water, : ; 686 | Stewing of meat, : : 269 
in water, dissolved, . 678 | St Helena, F : 5 é 608 
quantitative examination of, 683 | St Lucia, : 9 5 601 
total, in water, : : 685 | SropDART on lime j juice, : : 393 
—_— volatile, in water, . és 686 | Stomach, affections of, from impure 
Somerset patent trap, : : 106 water, : ; : ¢ 56 
Sore feet, : 553 | Stone for reservoirs, . 5 3 37 
Sorghum ‘(or Panicum) vulgar € (millet) 295 | Storage, calculation of, : : 35 
saccharatum (millet), ; 295 | ——-— of water, HAWKSLEY’S for- 
Soojie, flour, . ‘ 289 mulafor, . ‘i 3D 
Southampton, water supply, . . ; 26 | Stoves, cast iron, dangers of, ° 231 
SOXHLET’S apparatus for fat, 721 Stratus, c 418 
Spain, immunity from cholera of Streams polluted by fecal matter, : 51 
towns with pure water supply, . 71 | SrromEYER on military conjunctivitis, 156 
Specific diseases, prevention of, 5 448 | Strongylus duodenalis, 5 : ih 
Specific diseases propagated by water, 61 é 258 
SPENCE’S metal, 5 : 37 | Strychnos potatorum for purifying pies 80 
Sphere, cubic contents Oe c ; 209 | Stylonichia, . 674 
ratio of solidity to surface, 228, note | Suakim, distilled water g going bad, 79 
Spirillum in water, . 3 ; 673 | Sub-mains for water, . : 38, note 
Spirits, 5 : 318 | Sub-soil, : 
composition of, ; 319 air, to be cut off from houses, 4 
——— used in different countries, ; 319 water, ; C : 50 
Splenic apoplexy in sheep, . 258, 266 | Sugar, . : 0 243° 299 
Sponge as a filtering medium, 82 Sugars, 6 234 
Spongy iron as a filter, 84 et seq. | Sulphates in water, action on | lead, : 41 
iron does not favour growth Sulphates, effects che : c c 58 
of fungi, : : 673 test for, 679 
iron filter, figure of, fig. ORNS: 91 Sulphides, met allic, as cause of goitre, 76 
Sporendonema casei, . ; : 309 | ——— in water, tests for, . 679 
Spotted typhus, - 2 F 458 | Sulphur dioxide. See Sulphurous acid. 
SPRENGEL pump, use of, 3 : 677 | Sulphur, quantity required for fumi- 
Spring water, composition of, : 45 gation, : c 435 
Springs, calculation of yield, 33, 3 in articles of diet, : : 245 


762 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
Sulphuretted hydrogen. See Hydro- Temperature mean, ways of obtaining, 400 
gen sulphide. of the air, recording. . : 399 
Sulphuric acid in water, determina- —- of the body, ; 385-9 
tion of, by soap test, F 691 periodic changes of, . : 402 
acid by weight, : : 691 range of, : 400 
qualitative test, . : 679 required for evaporation of 
acid solution for carbonates, . 735 water, in analysis, . 685 
Sulphurous acid as air purifier, ; 433 | ———— variations of climate due to, . : 384 
acid for preserving meat, 5 270 | TLenay (millet), P ; : 295 
acid gas, effects of, . c 159 | Tent, circular or bell, 2 509 
acid in water, effects of, : 74 209 
pone rays, effects of direct, . } 385 | ——— circular, : 5 P 509 
unstroke, rarity of, in mid-ocean, . 385 marquee, 5 ; : 509 
prevention Cee 466 shelter, 5 é ‘ 509 
Supply of water, constant and inter- Tente abri, ¢ : : : 510 
mittent, 38, 39, 40 | Tents, American, ; : : 511 
Surface water, 32, 50 | ——— and camps, : 4 508 
Suspended matters in afte, . x 133 French, : : : 510 
matters in enclosed spaces, . 137 hospital, : ; 509 
SUTHERLAND on hard water, 5 56 Indian, 510 
Surron’s method of ventilation, . 203 | ———— officers’, ‘ pe LY) 
SUVERN deodorant, 125, 445 Prussian, : . ; 510 
Swansea, sulphurows a acid from copper Russian, : ‘ : 511 
works, é , : 74 ventilation of, : : 509 
Sweet potato, . : . 300 | “Terai,” unhealthy region, . ‘ 19 
Swinemiinde, fever from rotten Terebene, BOND’s, 125, 445 
leaves at, . : 19 | Terrestrial radiation thermometer, A 400 
Syenite, weathered, in Brazil, : 15 | THACKRAH on diseases of workmen, 151 
SYLVESTER’S plan of ventilation, . 188 | Thames water, objects of Ebi Il. 
Syutonin, , ‘ : 234, 239 and Ill), . 674 
Syphilis, effects of, in producing water, substances in, . : 674 
aneurysm, . 5 569 | Thermantidote, : 5 : 505 
Syphilis. See Venereal diseases. Thermometer, common, 5 400 
scales, . ‘ 3 : 738 
Table of useful measures, Appendix B. relations of, : : 404 
to show discharge of air, = 211 stand, War Office, . : 420 
Tabular view of qualitative tests in —-— stand, STEVENSON'S, . : 420 
water, : 678 | Thermometers, maximum, . : 399 
of inferences from do. be : 682 minimum, ; . ‘ 400 
of classes of drinking water, 703-706 reading of, . ; : 400 
Tacea or Otaheiti arrowroot, . - 297 spirit, . : : : 400 
Tenia, c . : < 76 wet and dry, . : : 404 
marginata, : 261, note | Thirst, sufferings from, 5 54 
mediocanellata, . 258, 260, 267 THORNE THORNE on enteric fever, 5 66 
Tallow-makers and bone-burners, . 174 | Thread worms, : 674 
Tanks, cleaning of, . ; ; 37 | Throat ulcer from i impure water, s 73 
for water, 36,37 | THuUpICHUM and Dupri on the 
materials of, . ; 5 Glo, BY albuminoid ammonia method, . 684 
Tank-worms in India, ; ; 675 | TIcCHBORNE on street dust, . , 137 
Tannin for purifying water, . ; 81 | Tidal river, influence on wells, 5 51 
Tape-worm, . : ; 76 | Trpy, process for oxidisable matter in 
Tapioca, : 297 water, ; 696 
Taps, screw, required for constant TIEMANN on carburetted hydrogen 
water supply, ; 5 : 39 in water, . ; 678 
Tartaric acid in wine, ; 5 318 | Tilbury Fort, cases of ague at, 63, 64 
acid in scurvy, ; ; 469 | ——— marsh- -poisoning through water, 63 
Tasajos (dried meat), : : 311 objects in water from Spe 
Tea, action of, ’ : 238 Ve) sue 674 
adulterations of, 5 : 344 | Trinpury Fox on Zr ichoph yton in air, 138 
— as an article of diet, . : 343 | Tin lining for lead pipes, - 42 
—_ composition of, : e848 || 2 avater pipes, . 43 
— examination of, , : 346 | Tobacco, Prodnes of combustion ots 145 
——— for purifying water, . : 81 | Toronto, 605 
—— leaf, structure of, 244-5 | Tortola, impure water of, ‘causing 
Telluric effluvia, diseases attributed to, 4, 17 dysentery, . ; ; 59 
Temperature, conditions affecting, . 403 | Total solids in water, . ; : 685 
corrections for, for heights, . 403 | ‘*Tous-les-mois,’ ; - 297 
— corrections for, : < 401 | Town wells, water from, : F 52 
— effects of elevation on, ; 621 | Towns, air of, 148 
— effect of land and water on, . 403 | TOWNSEND on cholera i in India, 9, note, 70 
— effects of, on health, . ; 384 on fever from marsh water in 
—— effects of rapid changes of, . 389 India, : : 62 
—— in India, ; : : 621 | Towns, supply of water bom - : 26 


INDEX. 763 
PAGE PAGE 
Trades, dust produced in, and effects, 139 | Vegetables, preserved, ‘ : 314 
vitiation of air by, . : 148 — succulent, : 299-301 
Training, 368 | Vegetation, effects on soil, . 12 
Transports, amount of water allowed i in, 29 | Velocity of air currents in chimneys, ‘201, 202 
for healthy troops, . é 648 of work, effect of, . : 367 
for sick troops, : : 648 | Venereal diseases, : 5 473, 576 
Traps (for drains, &c.), : . 99, 103 at Gibraltar, . ‘ : 585 
efficiency of, . 2 ; 103 | —-——in Jamaica, . : ; 597 
Trap rock, water from, F ; 48 | —-— at Malta, F d Z 589 
Trap rock in soil, : : 15 at the Cape, . : : 613 
TRAUTMAN on minute cells in air, ; 134 | ——— in India, j , : 645 
on putr efaction cells, . ‘ 434 prevention of, . F 5 473 
“Trembles,” . : : 305 — statistics of, 476-8 
Trees, effect of, on soil, 5 5 12 | Ventilating traps for drains, . 104, 105 
evaporation from, . ; 12 |) Wi entilation, . : 175 
protection against malaria, . 12 | ——— area, amount allowed in bar- 
Triangle, area of, : F ; 209 racks, : j 3 200 
Eeichane spiralis, 77, 259, oe 261, 262, 267 artificial, : ¢ : 201 
Trifolium arvense, . 284 by action of winds, . : 187 
Trinidad, : , iy 597 by diffusion, . : : 187 
Tropical climates, causes of unhealthi- —— by extraction, : 3 201 
ness, : ‘ 382 | ——— by propulsion, 6 é 205 
Tropics, water supply i Ti, _ g 31 | —— experiments, apparatus re- 
TROUBRIDGE, Sir T., his yoke valise, 538 quired, 718 
Trousers, c 5 529 | ——— improved, good effects of, in 
Tubercular diseases, . : 564 cavalry stables, : 6 130 
Tubes, vertical, TOBIN’s and others, 196 | ——— mechanical, . 6 : 183 
Tunic, . : ‘ ; 528 | — natural, 186, 189 
Turbidity of water, ; . 47,55 | ——— natural and artificial, ‘relative 
Turkish or Roman bath, 386, note, 376 value of, 5 5 206 
Turmeric, as reagent, : : 678 | ——— of Indian ‘barracks, : : 504 
TURNER on butter analysis, . : 308 | ——— of sewers, : 99, 108 
Tuscan Maremma, marshes in, 14,18 | ——— openings, size of, c ‘ 195 
TYNDALL on bacteria, . 79, 137 practical applications of theo- 
on influence of humidity on retical statements, . : 192 
climate, : ; : 389 SYLVESTER’S plan, . : 188 
on radiated heat, c 6 14 system adopted in the army, 199 
on suspended matters in air, . 137 | Ventilator, M‘KINNELL’S, 198, 199 
Typhoid fever. Sec Enteric fever. Ventilators, WATSON, MUIR’s, F 198 
Typhus, cessation of, due in part to “‘Verderame’”’ or ‘‘ Verdet” of maize, 294 
more abundant water supply, 54 | VERNIER scale, : ¢ j 408 
disinfection in, ¢ 3 437 | Vibriones in air, é é , 134 
Typhus exanthematicus, 437, 458 in flour, : ‘ 276 
in war, great danger, . ; 658 | VreRoRDT on effects of heat, : 387 
propagated through air, : 156 | Vienna Congress on ozone “observa- 
Tyrotoxicon, or cheese poison, : 305 tions, : 5 : : 420 
Vinegar, : i 347 
UHLE on effects of ozone on malaria, 395 adulterations of, ‘ : 349 
Ulmicacid, . 5 : : 18 and ammonia, as air purifiers, 454 
Underclothing, ; 526 a preventive of scurvy, : 470 
Universal disinfecting powder, ' 445 examination of, c : 348 
Uredo in wheat, : : 271 | VircHow on ground water, . . 8, note 
Urea, elimination of, during exercise, 306, 359 | Vitreous glaze (DE LAVENANT’S), 
Urinals, ; 498,506 |  forpipes, . : 40 
Utrecht, cholera i Ts re ‘ 3 69 | VorLcKER on water from the Lias, . 49 
VOGEL’S lactoscope, .« c 721 
Valise equipment, . 538 | Vort’s experiments on food, : 23 
VALLIN on the effect of heat on VoGH of Bern on enteric fev er, . 8, note 
fabrics, . 429 | Volatile solids in water, : : 686 
VAN HECKE, plan of ventilation, : 188 | Volga, effects of water of the, : 57 
Vanne, as source of water in Paris, 55, note | Volumetric analysis, standard solu- 
Vapour, weight of cubic foot of, . 407 tions for, . : : é 732 
Varagu (millet), ‘ ‘ 295 
VAUGHAN, Prof., on tyrotoxicon, ; 305 | Walcheren, dysentery at, . 60 
VAUVRAY on dengue, . : 452 | Waupig, Mr D., on ‘filtration of 
VEALE on air of wards at Netley, : 13 Hooghly water, : ‘ : 82 
Vegetable acids, salts of, 238, 239 | Walking, work done in, : c 366 
and peat charcoal as filter, . 84 | Walls of barracks in tropics, . 503 
growths in tanks, &c., ; 36 passage of air through, Prrren- 
—— matter, dead, in water, - 3 KOFER’S experiments, : 187 
suspended matter in water, . 57 | WaAtz on enteric fever from water, . 65 
Vegetables, dried, . , 314 | WANKLYN, miniature gallon, ; 685 


—— dried, as antiscorbutics, 314, 470-1 


on analysis of milk, 


764 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
WANKLYN on composition of milk, . 302 | Water, contamination of, by cholera 
on tests for metals in water, . 680 and enteric discharges, 65, 67 
——— simple form of steam bath, 685 | —— contamination of, through pipes, 53 
method for organic matter in —— deficiency of, effects of, , 04 
water, : 692 | ——— dissolved animal organic matter 
Ware é : : : 652 AT ee : : : 57 
amount of hospital accommo- ——— dissolved mineral matters in, 58 
dation during, 664 dissolved solids in, 78, 685 
causes of sickness and mor- dissolved vegetable matter in, 58 
tality in, 657 distilled, action on lead, 4] 
cleanliness in, . 655 distilled, pure, 734 
+=— cooking of food in, 659 distribution in India, 53 
entry on, - ; 655 distribution of, 37 
equipment, . , : 525 distribution to every ‘floor of 
food in, 517-519, 659, 665 house, 4] 
hospitals, 660 effects of i impure, general con- 
sanitary duties connected with, clusions, 78 
659, 664 effects of, in producing calculi 
inspection of meat during, 268 in China, . 74 
marches during, 547 effects of suspended vegetable 
preparation for, 653 substances in, Hen 
sanitary regulations for, 657 | ——— epithelium in, 672 
sickness during, 657 | ——— examination of dissolved mat- 
statistics in, 560 ters in, 676 
Office experiments on ‘water, . 27 | ——— examination of, for hygienic 
Warm water pipes, . 230 purposes, 667 
formula for, 230, note | ——— filtration, 81 
Warmth, degree of, for houses, 227 filtration “of, in reservoir, 4 36 
required in disease, 228 fee Board of Trade minute 
different kinds of, 228 40 
Warming of houses, 227 eA solids i in, 686 
Warming pipe, for constant water foetid gases in, 58 
supply, : 39 free ammonia in, 691 
Washington, water supply, 27 from granite strata, 48 
Waste preventers, water, 29 from marshes, . c 50 
Water, ; e 25 from town wells, 52 
action on lead, 6 4] from wells near the sea, 51 
albuminoid ammonia in, 693 fungi in, 673 
amount allowed in transports, 27 gases in, 676 
——— amount for domestic purposes, 27 good, . 703 
amount for water-closets, 29 | — ground, 5 
——— amount required for adults, . 27 hard, effects on horses, 56 
——— amount for women, . 27 LEECH on, 56 
— amount for children, . 27 SUTHERLAND on, ‘ : 56 
— amount for animals, . 29 | ——— hardness of, determination, . 687 
——— amount for baths, 29 | ——— impure, 48, 706 
——— amount required for the sick, 31 | —— impure, at Gibraltar during 
amount supplied to soldiers, . 27 yellow fever epidemic, 73 
—— amount used by poor families, 28 | ——— impure, causing boils, 75 
——— amount used in model lodging- impure, causing diarrhcea, 57 
houses, : 28 impure, causing diseases of 
amount used in prisons, 28 the bones, 74 
—— analysis, form of report, 707 | impure, causing dysentery, 59 
—— animal mattersin, . 57, 672, 674 impure, causing dyspepsia, 56 
——— army regulations on the sub- impure, causing erysipelas and 
ject of, : 25 throat ulcer, diphtheria, . 73 
— bacteria, vibriones, or micro- impure, causing skin diseases, 73 
zymesin, . 672 impure, effects of, on pulmon- 
brackish, effects of, : 59 ary and urinary mucous 
chemical examination of dis- membranes, . 61 
solved solids, : 678 impure, effects of, SmM0N on, 65 
chief ingredients of impure, . 54 | —-—— impure, effects on alimentary 
chlorine in, determination, 687 mucous membrane, . 56 
= classification of, 47, 48, 703-706 impure, effects on stomach, 56 
collection of, 31 | ——— impure, producing goitre, . 75 
collection of, for examination, 667 | ——— impure, propagating cholera, 67 
= collection of sediment, 671 | ——— impure, propagating enteric 
— colour and transparency of, 668 fever, 6 : 5 
—— composition of, 3 | ——— impure supply, 54 
— concentrated, examination of, 680 impurities of distribution, 53 
—— constant supply, 27 impurities of source, . 48 
— containing iron, effects of, 51 | ——— impurities of storage, D2 
——— contamination of, by coal gas, 53 impurities of transit, . 51 


INDEX. 765 
PAGE PAGE 

Water, impurities from manufactures, 51 | Water, total amount  seduined per 
impurities from sewage, : 51 head, 5 26, 27, 28 
— in China, purification of, ¥ 79 | —— troughs, 98, 100 
in soils, - : 4 | ——— turbidity of, 57 
insufficient supply, : ° 53 usable, : 48, 704 
intermittent supply, . ; 27 | ——— vegetable matters in, 671 
iron in, taste of, 5 695 | —-— volatile solids in, 686 
determination of, 699 | ———— War Office experiments on, . 27 
living organisms in, 672 | ———— waste preventers, 29, 37 
limits of taste in, 669 | —-— waste of in towns, 30, 39 
lustre of, : 669 | Water-boatman, or skipjack, in water, 675 
measurements of streams and bottle, soldiers’, 89, 534, 535 
springs, 33 | ——— carts and water-sacks, : 89 
——— measurements by Dr PARKES, 28 | t—— cisterns and reservoirs, 35 
——— metallic impregnation of, . 59 | —— courses, measurement of flow, 33, 34 
microscopic examination “of, 671 closets and water-troughs, 29, 98 
microzymes, alge, fungi, infu- closets, water required for, 28, 29 
soria, in, : : . 57, 672 | ——— fleas in water. 675 
mineral particles in, . 671 | —— gnat, larve of, in, 675 
— mineral substances in, : 58 latrines, water oe 29 
nature of suspended matter in, 670 pipes, . 38, 40, 41, 42 
not concentrated, examination Waterproof clothing, 373, 525 
Of a 5 Z 678 courses in walls, 214 
organic impurities, : A 52 | Waterproofing of boots, 531 
organic matterin, . ‘ 57 of cloth, ; 532 
oxidisable matter ier 57, 695 | Water supply for hospitals, . 31 
physical characters of, 669 for the sick, 31 
precautions in estimating dis- in India, 31 
solved solids, 683 permanence of, 3D 
producing cholera in Holland, 69 in transports, 27 
propagating entozoa, 76-78 | Water-tanks in India, impurities of, 52 
propagating malarious fevers, 61 | Watery vapour in air, 713 
propagating specific diseases, 61 | WATSON on air of phthisical wards, . : 138 
propagating yellow fever, . 73 on suspended matter in air, . 709 

pure and wholesome, . 48, 703 | Weather, BEAUFORT notation for 
purification of, é 79 registering, 420 
purification of, in open chan- — in connection with disease, 420 
nels, . 51 | ‘‘ Weathering ” of rocks, 15, 19 
qualitative chemical examina- WEAVER, on CO, in workrooms, 145 

tion of, 5 3 678 | WEBER, Brothers, their calculations 
quality of, - : 45 on length of step, . 545-6 
quantitative chemical exami- HERMANN, on Alpine climates, 392 
nation of, 683 on coefticients of resistance, . 367 
quantity of, 0 25 on hydrogen sulphide in water, 58 

——— quantity necessary for ana- Wess, H., on overcrowding in Indian 
lysis, : 667 barracks, 501 
——— rain, 32, 51 | Weedon, water from, 49, note 
— restriction of, by trainers, Weevil in flour, : 276 
wrong, 7 363 | Weight of cubic foot of air, 407 
river, . : 3 3 45 of the air, 413 
search after, . 88 | Weights and measures, metrical, 737 

sediment of, inanimate sub- — of articles of dress and of 
stances in, 671 accoutrements, 532 
sediment of, chemical examin- —— modes of carrying, 535 

ation of, 676 | Weirs, used for measuring water 
smell of, 670 supply, 34 
—— solids in, : = 678 | Well-water, objects i in, Plate i 674 
spring, - . < 45 composition of, - 45 
— storage of, - 5 35 | Wells, Artesian, : 32 
~ a subsoil, collection of, . 32 | ——— calculation of yield of, 35 
— supply ‘of, - 25, 26 effect of tide on, 51 
— supply of, to soldiers, ; 27 near the sea, water from, 51 
— supply of, to towns, 26, 27 | ———— Norton’s American tube, 32, 88 
— suspended animal be ra —— protection of, BYA 
effects of, . 57 shallow, 52 
suspended fecal matter in, WENZEL, on alluvial soil, 18 
effects of, . 57 | West Coast of Africa, 608 

suspended matters, examina- West Indian stations, effects of im- 
tion of, ; 670 pure water in, 59 
suspended mineral substances West Indies, . 691 
in, effects of, - : 57 | Wet and dry bulb ther mometers 404 
suspicious, 48,705 | Wheat, 270 
taste of, 669 | ——— grain, structure of, 272 


766 INDEX. 
PAGE PAGE 
Wheat, envelopes of, E 272-274 | Woollen underclothing, 5 : 526 
starch, grains of, : : 275 | Worms in water, : : j 674 
——— flour, adulteration of, 2 277 | Work done, calculation of, . < 364 
diseases of, . 275 | Work of the soldier, . 366, 368, 540 
grains, Examination of, : 272 
Wheel animalcules in water, ; (VKy || Mei 6 . : 5 : 300 
WHITWELL on hill diarrhea of Yaws, - : : 600 
India, 7, note | Yeast, Beanination of, rae ; 719 
WILSON, Dr G., on amount of water Yellow fever, a fecal disease, 5 450 
, ‘used in Portsmouth prison, 28 | ——— communicability ‘of, : 451 
on air in prisons, - : 141 | ——— fumigation asa preventive, . 452 
——— on prison diet, : 245 | ——— at Gibraltar, . : : 583 
WILson, D. J. B., on goitre, 76 | ——— at Malta, 4 : : 588 
Wind, direction of, : LS. 188, 416 in Barbadoes, 600-1 
— force of, calculation, : 417 | ———in Bermuda, . : . 604 
—-—— velocity of, . c 417 in Jamaica, . : 596 
Winds, summary ‘of direction, ; 417 | ——— incubative period of, : 451 
Wine, acids in, : : 318 localisation of, 450 
——— adulterations of, : : 731 | ——— on the West Coast of Africa, 609 
alcoholin, . 3 316 | ——— prevention of, 449 
—— colouring matters i in, : 317 | ——— quarantine in, 451, note 
—— composition of, : : 316 | ——— water, propagating, Res 451 
—— dietetic value sh : 5 337 | -——— remittent, different from true 
——— ethers in, : - 317 yellow fever, : : 449 
— examination of, Bin 730 | Yerrauda, cholera at, ; : 70 
Wirt’s experiments on pone : 82 
WOLLNY, on soil-air, . 2 | Zine cisterns, . ; : 37 
WOLPERT, on amount of air requir ed — chloride, 113, 449 
for lichts, : : 180 pipes containing lead yield it it 
WOLSELEY, Lord, on alcohol, : 333 to water, : 47 
——— on wooden huts, 5 : 514 poisoning, through water, os ih, Us 
Women, supply of water for, : 27 — tests for, in water, 680, 681 
Woop on thermic fever, 387, note | Zooglea in water, ; ‘ 5 673 
Wood products of combustion of, . 144 | Ziirich, enteric fever at, . 8, note 
Wool, : : : . 372 | Zymotic diseases from water 21 é seq. 


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